Contains spoilers for the first episode of The Diplomat Season 4.

The fourth season of The Diplomat picks up exactly where the previous one left off, with Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) discovering that her husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell), now Vice President of the United States, and President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) have decided to do something no one should ever do: secretly steal a Russian nuclear weapon. And the worst part? The Americans and the British had already negotiated a solution to neutralize it. Diplomacy? Who needs it, right?

The Poseidon missile, which was supposed to remain disabled aboard a Russian submarine, has been taken by the Americans. To Hal and Grace, it is a brilliant operation capable of changing the global military balance. To Kate, it is monumental irresponsibility. After all, when the Russians realize their weapon is missing, who will be held responsible? The British, naturally, since the submarine is located near their territory.

The argument begins in the car as the American delegation attempts to reach the airport. An anti-American demonstration blocks the route, forcing everyone to seek shelter at Windsor Castle. It is an improvised solution, but a perfect setting for the series: the grandeur of the British monarchy as the backdrop for an international crisis and two marriages on the verge of exploding.

Kate wants answers. Hal wants her to trust him. Grace does not seem particularly concerned about the ambassador’s outrage. And here we have one of the show’s most interesting contradictions: Kate can identify the dangers of other people’s decisions with remarkable clarity, yet she has extraordinary difficulty managing her own emotions.

Hal believes the United States has made the world safer. Kate understands that the operation could produce precisely the opposite result. Possessing the most powerful weapon is not enough; one must also consider the political consequences of stealing it. A basic principle of diplomacy that, curiously, seems to have escaped both the Vice President and the President.

But the real confrontation is not merely political.

Grace and Hal have developed an alliance that deeply bothers Kate. Not necessarily because of romantic jealousy, but because Hal has found in the President someone willing to admire his ideas, his brilliance, and, above all, his ambition. Kate knows this man better than anyone. She has been seduced by his grand proposals before and has spent years dealing with the consequences.

When Kate attempts to warn Grace about her husband’s powers of persuasion, however, she makes a mistake. The President interprets the warning as an attempt to reduce her decision-making ability to the influence of a man. And Allison Janney is excellent at showing just how offended Grace feels by the suggestion. She may be making a disastrous decision, but that does not mean she is in love with Hal or incapable of thinking for herself.

Todd Penn (Bradley Whitford), the President’s husband, is also uneasy about the closeness between the two. Grace does not forgive him. Her reaction exposes the additional burden women face when exercising power: even a military decision can be interpreted as the consequence of romantic attraction.

Meanwhile, Kate must deal with Callum Ellis, who is looking for answers about the missing missile. She manages to deflect his immediate suspicions, but at the cost of ending their relationship. Once again, she sacrifices something in her personal life to prevent the political crisis from escalating.

And Hal?

Hal is still Hal. Brilliant, arrogant, manipulative, and absolutely convinced that he can solve any problem. Rufus Sewell understands the character so well that he manages to make him charming even when we desperately want to shake some sense into him.

The episode’s most intimate moment takes place in a small chapel inside the castle. Kate reaffirms her commitment to her husband, placing particular emphasis on the part of their wedding vows about difficult times. It is almost a declaration of love for turmoil itself. These two do not know how to live without conflict and, somehow, seem to need it to stay together.

When the delegation finally prepares to leave Windsor, everything suggests that the immediate crisis has been contained. Kate and Hal appear reconciled. Grace has regained her composure. There is even talk of the two couples having dinner together in Washington.

Then, a gunshot.

Grace Penn is shot in the abdomen, right there at Windsor Castle.

And here we go again. After attacks, conspiracies, betrayals, and nuclear weapons, The Diplomat finds yet another way to turn up the volume on its political melodrama.

The first episode ends with the American President wounded, Hal facing the possibility of taking command of the United States, and Kate realizing that her efforts to control the situation have suddenly become almost irrelevant.

The question is no longer simply what will happen when Russia discovers that the Poseidon has been stolen. Now it is who will govern the United States — and for how long.