Creator Explains Mid-Season Assassination Attempt on President in 'The Diplomat'

Deborah Cahn, creator of the Netflix series The Diplomat, has offered insight into a significant plot point in the show's fourth season: an assassination attempt on U.S. President Grace Penn, portrayed by Allison Janney. Cahn explained that the writing team aimed to craft a situation where characters surrounding the president could rationalize her subsequent decisions, even if those choices appeared poor or potentially dangerous.

Speaking with Decider, Cahn elaborated on the complexities of portraying a leader under immense pressure. "I wanted to create something where everybody around her feels like they have an excuse for her behavior and an explanation for it," Cahn stated. "And I think from her perspective and largely from mine, there is an explanation for every decision that she makes that has absolutely nothing to do with that."

The aftermath of the attempted assassination thrusts Penn into a new role, transitioning from vice president to president. Cahn highlighted the vast difference in responsibility, noting, "There is a change that happens when you’re the vice president and [then become] president. They’re not the same thing. And when the buck stops with you and you’re the leader of the free world, you are dealing with questions that are just vaster than anybody else can get their head around."

Cahn emphasized the importance of understanding the mindset of a leader recovering from a near-death experience while managing a global superpower. The immense stress, she suggested, can lead to a release of pressure that, while perhaps not globally catastrophic, places the character in a precarious personal and political situation.

"I want to give the character the benefit of the doubt to say she’s really intelligent and she is making what she thinks is the most sane, most safe decision that exists and try and figure out what the thinking is that gets her there," Cahn added. She also acknowledged that casting a beloved actor like Janney makes it easier for audiences to connect with and potentially forgive a character making questionable choices. "I’m not gonna lie, it definitely helps," she admitted with a laugh. "I don’t like writing villains, and I try not to because I think the world of narrative has taken care of that."

Drawing from her experience with shows like The West Wing and Homeland, Cahn views The Diplomat as an examination of leaders who often face difficult choices with no easy answers. "I don’t think that people who are making major geopolitical moves have the luxury of there being a good decision and a bad decision. They’re always dealing with, like, a handful of horrific options. And whenever possible, I wanna be able to say, ‘I don’t love what this person, what this character decided to do, but I understand how they got there.'"

The Diplomat Season 4 is currently available for streaming on Netflix.