The Diplomat (2023) s03e03 Episode Script

Hal, I'd like you to
be my vice president.
[Hal] Should've been you.
I don't want this unless you want it.
Tell me what to say.
Say yes.
[Nora] Vetting you
for vice president is going to be
an extremely complicated process.
- What about Kate? What's her portfolio?
- Um
Don't play chicken with me, Billie.
What do you want?
[Hal] A job for Kate. A real one.
The president is appointing me
special envoy to Europe.
I couldn't ask you to come with me
as second lady, but this
I could be an ambassador.
It's what I've been working toward
for 20 years.
Yeah. Me too.
[Eidra] I haven't quite figured out
how to say
a British citizen killed herself in a CIA
safe house she wasn't supposed to be in.
- Are you
- Gonna get fired? Probably.
We had a secret relationship for
14 months. We can have a secret divorce.
Make it official in a couple of years
when I'm a has-been.
As a hypothetical, what if
she stayed in London as ambassador?
She can fly to DC for the big things.
Is that what you want?
To be 3,000 miles apart?
No.
[poignant music playing]
[plan engine whirring]
- [engine gushes on take off]
- [music fades]
- [Nora] Welcome.
- [Kate] Thank you.
- How was the flight?
- Long.
[Nora] Did he tell you what this is?
[Kate] We haven't talked much
the last couple days.
- [Nora] Yeah.
- My calendar says "reception."
I assume it's a soft launch
of the dynamic duo for leadership?
We're calling it a gathering.
"Reception" sounded a little festive
for before a funeral.
But this is the pre-gathering.
So, same, but sooner.
I can grab him for a quick pull-aside
before we go in.
- I'm good.
- This can be a lot.
- If you need a minute to
- Get you to relax?
No.
- Hal and I have done this 1,000 times.
- That's a lot of times.
I got the one sheet,
I read the bios. I am okay.
[man] Would you like a mint?
No. I need to have a quick meeting
tomorrow morning.
- We can talk schedule after the
- Gathering?
- And he can take your bag.
- Oh.
- Anything else we want to adjust?
- No.
[laughter and indistinct chatter]
functional democracy, rule of law,
neither of which has had an easy decade.
[man] If we start a conversation
about membership
Beijing's hair'll be on fire.
Is that the worst thing?
It's something concrete to worry about.
We'll take it off the table
the minute they stop playing bumper cars
with Philippine ships
and Second Thomas Shoal.
- Exactly.
- [Nora whispers indistinctly]
- [man] Good to know.
- Excuse me.
[Billie] There he is.
You haven't had the chance
to meet Congressman Rob yet.
Where are you from?
- Phoenix.
- Hmm.
- [Billie] Look who's here. Welcome.
- Thank you. I feel welcome.
- You'll be a great help.
- I hope so.
And we will sort it all out,
the back and forth.
We've done it for years.
- Let me know if there's anything you need.
- Nothing.
You sure? I want to make sure
this works for the both of you.
There is actually one trade meeting with
commerce that I was It's not even
Ambassador Wyler,
have you met Senator Pikorski?
- You come with the other one? [laughs]
- Hal, yes.
[laughs] He's gonna be a great VP.
Second she nominates him,
he's got my vote.
- Any day now.
- So you were somewhere. Where?
- London.
- London.
England.
They don't air-condition over there.
- Not as much as we do.
- Fucking barbaric.
- I like both places.
- I'm gonna give you my card.
The office can hook you up
with David, my better half.
- He knows schools up, down, and backwards.
- Oh.
You think you're gonna go public,
you're not. You can't feel bad about it.
No kids.
[laughs]
- Good for you.
- I'm gonna be going back and forth a lot.
- Back and forth where?
- London.
- Oh, you're keeping the London gig.
- Yes, I am.
- Like your style. Fuck this place, right?
- No, no. [splutters]
- It's rough on the marriage, though.
- We've done it before.
I mean, separation's not the worst thing.
- Oh, you're separated?
- No, no. Not separated.
We are out in two.
- I like this one. She's got balls.
- Yeah.
Sounds like you're gonna have to be
the second lady.
- What?
- [Kate] No.
- Friends. Please
- Hey.
- Hi.
- [Billie] Can ask you to pause
- You're okay?
- Yeah.
[Grace] Thank you.
Some of you have been
quietly wondering what my plans are.
So let me be clear.
This is Bill Rayburn's presidency.
I am simply here to fulfill its promise.
[Kate] My office is calling.
[dial tone rings]
- [Neil] Ambassador! How's the White House?
- Hey, is Stuart still in the Zang?
Yeah. Just got started,
but I can pull him.
No, no. That's okay.
I was just, uh, checking in.
Seeing how everything was going.
Back-to-back-to-back, but I can slip in
a message. It's no problem.
- Um, no, that's okay.
- Should I let him know
- [phone beeps]
- [man] Yes, ma'am.
- Kate.
- Madam President.
- Thanks for hopping across the pond.
- Of course.
I hope Hal told you I will hop on over
for all the big things.
I'm sorry. I probably generated
an awkward moment
or two in your household.
Not at all. I like my job.
- Didn't want to leave in the first place.
- Good.
Hal is gonna be fantastic.
- He was made for this.
- I sure hope so.
Um, sometimes he starts talking,
and he can't stop himself.
He has no idea he's doing it.
But if you pinch him really hard,
right above the elbow, he will stop.
- Okay.
- Come up with your sign.
But, um, you have to really spell it out.
You'll think you're mean when you say,
"When I tap my nose, you gotta zip it."
But if you don't, it's like [whooshes]
right over his head.
Thanks, Ambassador.
- [Tom] Here's the good news.
- [Eidra] Please.
[Tom] Not a single red flag
in the coroner's report.
That's very good news.
It says Roylin died in her own home
of apparent suicide.
Nothing about the body being moved?
See, that would come
under the category of red flag.
Fair.
- Not a single one of those.
- Good.
Did you talk to Downing Street?
I didn't.
Okay.
When are you planning to?
I'm not.
I'm planning not to.
I didn't know you had Roylin,
because you never fucking read me in.
I didn't know who I could trust.
That's hardly
a winning talking point, is it?
For my own government?
If your government
doesn't want me here
I'm done.
What case could I make?
Trust my counterpart,
even though she doesn't trust me enough
to tell me what in holy hell is going on.
You looking for new blood?
Maybe a counterpart who doesn't
know that "yes" means "maybe,"
and "we'll look into it,"
means "absolutely not"?
I'm looking for a way to save you
without sacrificing myself.
I've yet to find one.
What do I do now?
Should've fucking read me in.
Blair House is Hal's base of operations
till he's confirmed.
- Schedule. Map of the building.
- You'll have full run of the place.
And if I wanted to use one of its
109 function rooms for a little sit-down?
- How little?
- A chat with the USTR in Commerce.
- Get the ball rolling.
- On?
- A deal.
- So a major trade negotiation?
No, it's talking about
thinking about a roadmap to a process.
Historically, Blair House has been
better suited
for hospitality, not so much
Hauling in a bunch of bureaucrats
and implying
it's a five-alarm White House fire.
[Nora] I was going to say policy,
but sure.
So by run of the place, you mean
- Maybe don't use it for anything.
- I'll push it to your next trip.
[Hal] There's a lot I like
about your proposed schedule.
- It's not a proposal.
- I'm canceling Congressman Siegel.
Slotting in Moran in his place.
- Moran won't even meet with the president.
- I texted him. He's bringing donuts.
He's a backbencher who doesn't believe
in evolution. Your whip count is fine.
I haven't been nominated.
My whip count is theoretical.
They always are.
You don't set a meeting like this,
and then cancel it.
It's bad form. Plus, I like a donut.
Call if you need me.
- Are you the welcome wagon?
- I am.
I want to talk about our messaging.
- I'm gonna take a call.
- With both of you.
I hear you had a nice chat
with Senator Pikorski.
That was nothing.
If she's not second lady, who is?
He's a nice man.
He talks a lot. Doesn't stop to breathe.
What did you say?
Just that I would be doing both jobs.
Exactly like we discussed.
If you two came up
with some language you think works,
I'd love to hear it.
Make sure we're all
singing the same song.
Um
Yeah, I mean Go ahead.
No. You You
You've given it some thought.
I I've had a lot going on
the last couple of days.
- Um
- [Hal sniffs]
Yeah. We
We have two careers.
[inhales deeply] Um
I have two jobs.
And, like many couples
- Most couples.
- Yeah, uh
We
make it work, like people do.
I'd add a little something something
about love.
Um, how difficult it is,
because you miss each other so terribly.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah, we we miss each other,
and, uh, it's very difficult.
We do it for the country.
- What's the cadence?
- [Kate] For?
When you're here.
Whenever you need me to be here.
Well, if you're asking what we need
No, we will, with respect for
the other role that Kate is inhabiting,
ask her to come
for any high-visibility events,
and she will say yes.
- Yeah.
- [Billie] Couples have rules.
We don't like to go a week or a month
without seeing each other.
- A week is a lot of flying.
- We need you here more than once a month.
- For what?
- Things go on here.
At least once a month. Mm-hmm.
We'll load up on joint events
when you're here,
and do what we can
to downplay your absences.
[scoffs] What do you mean by downplay?
- What it sounds like.
- [Kate] I'm not in witness protection.
I'm an ambassador. Isn't that an asset?
We are two people with two careers. Both
matter, if we're messaging something.
You're right.
Yeah, we should play a little offense.
A fresh take on political marriage.
You do important work.
Let's shine a light on it.
Plus all the joint events.
I like the idea of the first
truly equal marriage in the White House.
Well, half in the White House.
We'll take it to the communications shop.
Maybe a think piece in the Times or
Post highlighting your own initiatives.
I don't have initiatives.
I have one of the G7.
Okay. [sighs]
We'll get you a draft
once it's been staffed out. Thank you.
I'm sure it's not easy.
[door opens]
[door closes]
[bedroom door closes]
- What'd you say to him?
- The guy?
The guy runs Senate Foreign Relations.
He wanted to help me
pick private schools for our children
and then had to backpedal mightily
while trying not to ask me
about my fertility.
- That's it?
- Well, I don't have a transcript, but
Well guy probably knows more
about my marriage than I do.
[chuckles] I was
five minutes off an airplane.
I was pissed when Billie first showed up,
but then I realized
that might be the only briefing I get
on the state of our union.
Sorry there isn't another bedroom.
Whatever.
I mean, there is, but
[Kate] What would the staff say?
Well, yeah, it matters.
I know it matters.
That's why I flew across an ocean.
I mean, thank God for the staff.
They had to remind you
to pretend to love me.
Please don't act like it's that simple.
Please do me that one favor.
I'll take the couch.
Well, you can't sleep on that.
- Now you're worried about my comfort?
- I'm worried your back's gonna go out.
Then I'm gonna have to scrounge
for meds in the middle of a funeral.
The The pressure point thing
makes it stop,
underneath my shoulder blade.
What?
- I'm not massaging your back.
- I didn't ask you for
It is historically
a stepping stone to sex,
and I think that is
no longer part of the plan.
Where's my fucking copy of the plan?
Or has it been staffed out
and waiting for sign-off?
- Public marriage, private divorce.
- We're talking about a back spasm.
So the shit we do in private
should look like the actions
of people who are divorced.
- Divorced people fuck all the time.
- Back to the trough a couple times a year.
I despise that phrase.
I've told you that more than once.
I'd love if you didn't use it
around me again.
Oh, you would love it?
[inhales sharply, sighs]
Can we or can we not sleep in the same
bed and just keep our hands to ourselves?
Why are you acting like
I'm a sex offender?
I'm talking about both of us,
or me, or I know myself.
Touching leads to more touching.
And then, if this is how it starts,
it can get out of control.
You're worried you're not gonna be able
to control yourself if you touch my back?
- Yeah.
- Then why the fuck are we splitting up?
Because you're more than a pogo stick.
You are a full-time job.
Two full-time jobs.
- I'll roll up a towel down the center.
- You're being a real shit.
I am trying to make this work, Katherine.
I really am.
But I I fell asleep
with your left boob in my hand
for the better part of ten years.
Mistakes may happen.
[deflated exhale]
Are you gonna fuck people?
Divorced people do that.
Yeah, I guess so.
Have you already?
In the last 48 hours? No.
I don't work that fast.
Well, you're a hot commodity.
Second you're back on the market,
you're gonna get snapped up.
I am the Second Lady
of the United States.
I'm not changing my relationship status
on Facebook.
Thanks.
- A little discretion is probably in order.
- Yeah.
[poignant music playing]
[music fades]
- [Eidra] What time is the watch party?
- Please don't call it that.
What time is
the funeral viewing gathering?
9:30.
Mm.
- What else?
- Nothing.
You want me to leave?
- No, just
- You're super-duper busy.
Yeah. I have to set up
the funeral watching thing.
And then I have 23 heads of mission
who all want me to hold their hand
and promise them that the new president
won't scrap the very special agreement
their nation had with the old president.
Dead president.
You're a bucket of sunshine.
Tom Libby won't vouch for me.
- At all.
- Why?
Because I'm a shitty counterpart,
and he doesn't trust me.
- Kate'll take care of it.
- Do you have the secret hotsies for her?
She'll be back on Thursday.
She'll call Diane.
And unicorns shit cupcakes.
Actually, she's in DC.
She doesn't have to call Diane.
She can go over to Langley
and see her in person.
She's gonna be second lady.
Diane doesn't want to pick a fight
with the White House
on day three of a new administration.
That girl's gonna break your heart.
She can get in line.
[Nora] The funeral procession starts
at the house
and goes up Oak to
the Presbyterian Church
It's three-quarters of a mile.
- Procession looks bigger than the town.
- It is.
Why are we eight cars back?
You're riding ahead of the cabinet
and the court.
No one's looking at the court.
They're looking for VP.
You haven't even been nominated.
It's fine.
Sorry. Am I supposed to not talk?
No.
- Feel free to weigh in.
- Yeah, absolutely. Weigh in.
No, I'm I'm good.
She and I are just establishing
a working relationship.
It would help
if she didn't get mixed messages.
Pretend I'm not here.
Can you please not
You're allowed to talk.
Well, if I'm talking,
the procession is locked.
This is a briefing, not a workshop.
- Let her move on.
- I don't want to move on.
The procession is the soft launch
of my nomination.
Delivers a message.
This is the wrong message.
The gathering was the soft launch
for your nomination,
as was the walk off the plane,
the walk into the White House,
and the lingering outside of Blair House
whenever there's press around.
Soft launched.
[phone vibrates]
Mine. I'll take this.
Eight cars back is not a launch.
It's hiding.
Not at all.
We want you prominent, not dominant.
Prominent looks like four cars back.
- [Kate] Hi.
- How's it going?
- How'd it go with the Croatian guy?
- Uh, his president doesn't like Grace.
He doesn't trust Grace.
He'll feel better if she spends a week
on his yacht for relationship building.
- We gotta go.
- She's no. I'll go.
I said the same thing.
Ma'am, Eidra's getting iced out by MI6.
- Shit.
- Diane's gotta show some sack here.
I can't invite the director of the CIA
to Blair House
unless it's a Tupperware party.
- Can we do it at Langley?
- You wanna schlep out there?
- Well, if it's important.
- It is.
I don't wanna take you
out of the mix that long.
You know what? Take me out of the mix.
[Nora] Seating chart for the church.
- You can't seat us here.
- We can. We did.
- These are obstructed view.
- You'll see plenty.
You don't introduce a VP nominee
as a guy holding a lighter
in the nosebleed seats.
Who's PA? Governor of Pennsylvania?
- Should I raise my hand before I speak?
- Don't make it weird.
- You're making her uncomfortable.
- I'm fine.
PA is Governor Synar of Pennsylvania.
Why's he row five?
The other statewides are further back.
- He's a friend of both presidents.
- So is everyone else.
Billie's office did the seating.
It's unspeakably complicated.
- I think we should move on.
- [Hal] Put me in Synar's seats.
[Nora] You're staying where you are.
Hey. Sorry this has to be quick.
I've got a concurrent budget resolution
with a nine-figure typo.
Why is Governor Synar sitting
right in the middle of the cutaway shot?
Bob's a friend of the Rayburns.
Why is half the Pennsylvania delegation
still wavering on Hal?
They're not.
I saw the whip count.
The president's thinking of dumping Hal
and picking Synar in his place.
The president expects
to announce her nominee next week.
You would be humiliating Hal. Publicly.
- Spectacularly.
- Nobody wants that.
When Grace passed me over,
she didn't tell The Washington Post
and the entire legislative branch first.
- You want to talk humiliation?
- I do.
Let's start with Tyler Moran
getting a one-on-one at Blair House.
Hal makes his own meetings.
It's annoying as fuck, but no reason
Senator Moran called the president
the kind of choice a man only makes
on a night when it's raining
and he doesn't want to get wet.
Hal believes in talking to everyone.
He's known for it.
Does he believe in promising Ag subsidies
and light rail projects
and blank fucking checks
for their home states,
which he appears
to be handing out like lollipops?
Not that I know the extent of it,
because he makes his own meetings.
I'm sure everyone knows
that Hal cannot make budget commitments.
He can only pledge support.
The president is trying to pass
Rayburn's agenda.
Not even her own.
If he would like to pledge his support
to that, he is more than welcome.
But he doesn't know what's on that agenda,
because he's busy courting the alt-right.
- You can't wanna do a 180 on this.
- The president's keeping her options open.
- So how do we get her off the fence?
- We?
You think I'm pushing for Hal?
There are not enough people
in the federal government to manage him.
I was pushing for you, not him.
Hal is made for this. You know that.
It's just going to take him a minute
to find his place.
I will rein him in.
You can try.
But we're still vetting Synar.
And you better believe
he's staying in the cutaway shot.
[Hal sighs]
[door closes]
Did you promise someone
a light rail system?
- Promise? No.
- Who?
- Dan Richter.
- Who the fuck is that?
[inhales deeply] He's a senator
from the great state of Iowa Idaho.
Is he now or has he ever been
a member of the Nazi party?
[splutters]
He makes fun of the pronouns thing.
It's a sop to his base.
But we we were spitballing. It's,
uh No hard commitments were made.
Get him on the blowhole
and tell him this administration
will not discuss infrastructure projects
unless they were blessed by Bill Rayburn.
Um no.
[exhales impatiently]
I really endorse you
separating from me
by rejecting every word
that comes out of my mouth.
But right now, I am yet again
saving you from yourself.
Please call Richter.
Public marriage, private divorce.
That is a closed door, which means you're
no longer obliged to hang over my shoulder
and shit on every idea I have just
to prove you're a superior intellect.
They're vetting Synar.
That's why he has better seats.
Grace Penn wants to dump you.
[Kate sighs]
You're right.
You have to build your identity here
on your own terms.
With Nora, with everyone.
Grace, certainly.
I will be silent whenever possible.
But you have these instincts
you're not even aware of.
- I am.
- You're not, and it's self-sabotaging.
These are behavioral habits
that served you once upon a time.
They made you who you are,
but they don't work anymore.
And I am the only one
who's gonna call you out on it.
And I'm here to tell you
that Grace noticed, and so did Billie.
Th These are not my pet peeves.
You are driving them insane.
I'm three votes away
from passing the Law of the Sea Treaty.
No.
[Hals sighs]
How?!
By promising a light rail project
to a Holocaust denier.
- Four presidents failed at this.
- Five.
If Grace passes this week one, she's
gonna look like such a fucking baller.
[gobsmacked laugher] What?
- [splutters] Why didn't you tell her?
- She'd say no.
- No, she wouldn't.
- Rayburn's agenda.
Law of the Sea!
She doesn't want to plant
her flag this early.
She's worried it makes her look grabby.
And what if it fails?
Better she doesn't know.
Three votes away?
Four. But they're they're tough ones.
But if I get them
You can.
Who are they?
[exhales] I'm gonna need
a couple of days, but
Show me the list.
Is she dumping me?
You can't talk about anything
but the weather.
And how sad you are that Rayburn's dead.
Actually, just the weather.
And let me make all the phone calls.
I'll talk to staff about the treaty.
We have to be careful.
- And?
- Subtle.
Yes, you have the subtlety
of a kidney stone.
[Hal sighs]
Up the brightness, I can't see.
It's not even open yet.
Give me a second to find it.
[classical piano music playing]
[door knocks]
Hey, did you set up a meeting
for the ambassador at Langley?
- Really?
- What?
Can you tell Eidra Park
to calm the fuck down?
I mean, don't say that, but she
really needs to calm the fuck down
and entertain the shadow of a possibility
that I'm handling it.
The meeting?
- Yeah.
- She didn't ask me about it.
Don't tell her to calm the fuck down.
My friend Terry works
at the director's office.
He sent the following text.
"Diane had a meeting with your lady ambo,
that got slapped on her calendar
at the last sec,
and then Wyler stood her up,
which she thinks is some sort of
girl-on-girl misogyny
slash lack-of-respect thing."
"And now I got to hear about women
supporting women for the rest of my life."
"WTF, dude? Who stands up Diane Clack?"
"Your gal better wear shades,
or she's going to get a poison dart
shot right in her eyeball."
- [Hal] Classy.
- Did you?
- No.
- Oh.
No, I thought it was just us and Billie.
Me too. We're missing a plate.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- We're gonna get another plate.
- No, it's just you guys.
I wanted to let you catch up.
These trips, you're in the same room,
but you never really
have a chance to talk.
- That's not necessary.
- But very kind.
It is. Thank you.
Jordan Dini?
- I know.
- I don't think you do.
Can I just
You don't set a meeting
that doesn't come through Nora.
Nora can't handle it.
I told her I needed 30 minutes at
Commerce and 10 minutes at Langley.
- Her head blew off.
- You are not her job.
Fuck.
- Shit.
- What?
[sighs] Langley.
I missed a meeting at CIA. Shit.
- Kate needs staff here.
- She doesn't.
We are turning ourselves on our heads
to make this cockamamie arrangement work,
and you are both
making a stirring case for Bob Synar.
Have you seen the manifest
for the funeral?
Yeah.
Every congressional leader will be there.
Every ranking member
- I will be seen and not heard.
- Both of you.
Ye
This is not what we talked about.
This is the opposite
of what we talked about.
- You have to tell her.
- About the treaty? No.
- She's leaning towards Synar.
- Was Dini a yes?
He'll get there.
- He gonna be at the funeral tomorrow?
- One day of silence.
- [whispers] Who says no at a funeral?
- Hal.
Fine. [sniffs]
- She got us a nice bottle of wine.
- Yeah?
Very.
She probably thinks we'll be quieter
tomorrow if we're hungover.
- Well, she's not wrong.
- [chuckles softly]
Madam?
I gotta go make a bunch of calls,
deal with this Eidra thing.
Well, should I wait?
You know, I'm not really all that hungry.
Just jet lag.
I'm not gonna touch you in the night.
- Two glasses of wine, I'm gonna start it.
- Yeah, it's not me, it's you.
I just I think clarity is our friend.
Could you leave, please,
before this gets even more humiliating?
[somber music playing]
Diane, it's Kate Wyler
from Embassy London.
I am so sorry
about the schedule mix-up yesterday
that resulted in me standing you up.
It is really the opposite
of the message I was hoping to send.
Eidra Park is tremendously valuable
to the mission in the UK,
and I believe, to the
agency in general
[automated voice] If you'd like
to rerecord your message, press one.
If you're satisfied with your message,
please hang up or press two.
- Goodbye.
- Uh. F
Shit.
[sighs]
Are you hungover?
No.
[disapproving sigh]
- [police radio buzzes]
- [kids chatter indistinctly]
Thank you.
- May I take your coat?
- Thank you.
- [Hal] Sorry.
- Thank you.
- Seen and not heard.
- Would you do me a favor and stop?
[police sirens]
[somber music continues]
- [Nora] Good afternoon, ma'am.
- Where's Todd?
Upstairs, talking to Carolyn.
[Synar] Grace.
Bob.
What a loss.
He was a titan. But thanks to you,
his work is gonna live on.
That'll take all of us,
and we'll make it happen.
- I'm a phone call away, day or night.
- That's good to hear.
You're our eyes and ears in the
Rust Belt. Rayburn was grateful.
I think I can help even more,
but if you're open to it.
It's a question for that party
What?
- Know who that is?
- [Synar continues indistinctly]
- No.
- Bob Synar.
[Hal sighs]
Go. Put yourself in there.
- What happened to seen and not heard?
- Just hello and sad-faced nodding.
Excuse me, Governor,
do you know Hal Wyler?
- Of course.
- Good to see you, Bob.
- And Kate Wyler, Ambassador
- His wife. Nice to meet you.
Bob is the only governor in America
who isn't coming to me for a handout.
[chuckles softly] Just the opposite.
The Air Force Aeronautics Plant
outside Pittsburgh,
I'd like to call for its closure.
- Really?
- It's an obscene waste of tax dollars.
And I'm not afraid to say so.
Two of your predecessors lobbied so hard
for that plant,
I think they broke wage and hour laws.
It only builds one thing, the F-35,
which is a gilded piece of junk.
It has a few problems, certainly.
Software problems, hardware problems,
doesn't even work in the damn rain.
- Let it go.
- DOD is looking for efficiencies.
And you'd be giving up, what,
75,000 jobs in your state?
- I can't ask you to do that.
- Well, we can't have jobs at any cost.
It's time to look beyond Pennsylvania.
I'm glad to hear you say that, Governor.
"Time to look beyond Pennsylvania."
They might be starting the procession
Because letting Turkey buy the F-35
is how we got to use their airspace
to fight ISIS in northern Syria.
Okay.
Letting the UAE buy it is how
we got them into the Abraham Accords.
- [Synar] Yes, but
- And I guess it never rains in China.
Since they mounted a decade-long campaign
of bribes and espionage
to steal the technology
and stick it in copycat fighters.
- Hal, I don't think that
- Flawed does not mean worthless.
And it'll work once we get the bugs out.
But we don't need it to work.
We just need our
enemies to think it works
so they're afraid to come at us
in a modern-day air-to-air environment.
If you don't get why
your own state is building it,
why the security of everyone
in the Rust Belt
and every other belt depends on it,
then I agree, sir.
It's time to move beyond Pennsylvania.
[somber music playing]
- Katherine, stupidity that profound
- I didn't say anything.
She's a brand-new president.
She needs protecting.
Allowing that fucking shitwit
in or near her office is
a dereliction of duty.
- You're stabbing yourself in the face.
- Okay, fine, so I'm not VP.
At least she knows who the guy is.
She can dump the both of us. Happy?
Ecstatic. Saves me
a whole lot of trouble.
[music fades]
She's gonna reschedule the meeting
with Diane.
It'll happen.
Hey, I've got a great idea.
It'll cheer you up.
Wanna join me for a funeral watch party?
I would love that.
If I get fired,
you should take my shredder.
It's fast and it's quiet.
If you get fired, I want your couch.
- You have a couch.
- It has a smell.
It does. You can have mine.
But if you put your feet on it,
it will develop a smell.
Fair. That's fair.
[Eidra] You wanna put your feet on there,
you put down some newspaper first.
[indistinct chatter buzzes]
[Grace] Yeah?
Gannon made some
notes. He's still around.
He'd love to go through them.
Tell the secretary of state
that his written feedback
is even more valuable
than his physical presence.
You wanna talk about Hal?
He's an acquired taste.
But you give it time,
you might find you're a real fan.
Some people like cilantro.
I find it tastes like Ivory soap.
- The president would like a word.
- In the den?
Just the ambassador.
[door closes]
That was some performance. With Synar.
- He's not wrong.
- Of course he's not wrong.
That's not the point.
Now I don't have a fucking
vice presidential nominee,
because he made it clear
that he can't control himself
and equally clear that Bob Synar
can't use his own ass
without an instruction manual.
Not gonna invite me to sit down?
[inhales] Nope.
- She's giving me the boot, isn't she?
- If there's a merciful God, yes.
Well, you used to be nicer.
[Hal sighs]
That is the truth.
[sighs]
Is she asking Kate?
I don't know what she's doing.
She doesn't tell me. She tells Nora.
Because she trusts Nora.
But Nora's supposed to be running you.
So Nora's all over the place,
and the president's all over the place,
and I am running
an extremely inefficient hen house.
Fucking women. Everywhere.
Ah, just give it a couple of days.
You'll all find your feet.
Friend to friend.
A Rayburn agenda's not gonna cut it.
Everyone's sad that he's gone.
But they want a president,
not a tribute act.
Yeah.
Yeah, she needs more time.
- Must have put in a lot of hours here.
- Almost never.
I thought he came here all the time
to do big think. Wasn't that your area?
It was, but [inhales deeply]
he didn't want me here.
Wouldn't allow it.
You wanna know why?
The President of the United States
had a cheat house?
Wouldn't let Secret Service near
the kitchen. He knew I was on to him.
No wonder the wily
son of a bitch keeled over.
[Billie] A lifetime of using his body
as a trash can.
- Two minutes with you didn't help.
- We all pitched in.
Yes. It's a team effort.
To Bill Rayburn.
Born in a split-level suburban,
he built himself.
Clung fiercely to his shag carpet
and vending machine diet.
Until I brought the whole thing
crashing down.
- Amen.
- Amen.
You knew Hal's reputation.
Yep.
- What did you think was gonna happen?
- I don't know.
I thought maybe it was an act
or that it was under his control. Is it?
Sometimes.
Because if he's choosing to do it,
if he's choosing to mow down
a political rival ruthlessly in public,
I'm not sure if that's better or worse.
Yeah. I know how you feel.
[sighs] I guess I just need to know
that he can be trained,
because that
and the one-man appropriations committee,
it can't happen again.
It's definitely gonna happen again.
Then he's not my guy.
I appreciate your honesty.
Ma'am, Hal is three votes away
from Senate ratification
of the Law of the Sea Treaty.
What?
- Three votes?
- Haspel, Young, and Dini.
I spoke to Dini myself. He's gettable.
Hal stopped lobbying,
because I made him promise he wouldn't
so you wouldn't dump him.
- I guess he is trainable.
- Why the fuck didn't he tell me?
- You would've shut him down.
- Four presidents have failed.
- Five.
- Fuck me.
So you think that outweighs
the rest of it?
No. I don't.
I'm just trying to lay out the facts.
He is infuriating.
But just when you think
you can't take a second more, he
Makes history.
[sighs]
It's a personal choice.
Many,
many
have chosen less history
and less headache.
But you choose more.
I do.
How we doing?
- Can I get you a glass of
- No.
[inhales deeply]
Is this gonna be a mistake?
No.
Ride back with me tonight.
We'll talk strategy.
[pensive music playing]
[camera shutters clicking]
[music swells]
[music steadies]
[music fades out]
[pensive music playing]
[music fades out]