'The Diplomat' star Rufus Sewell breaks down the ending of Season 2 and *that* infamous call

Rufus Sewell learned the ending of Season 2 of “The Diplomat” before nearly anyone else.

“I thought the ending of Season 1 was a big shock. I really wasn’t expecting that,” he tells TODAY.com. “The ending of this season, no one could anticipate.”

He and co-star Keri Russell, who play a married pair of ambassadors forever entangled in their own games of brinksmanship, were the only members of the cast to get the final scripts ahead of time. Other cast members’ finale scripts had redacted portions until the final read-through.

“It was on the day of the read-through people were getting to that page. You could see, as they turned that page, reactions popping like a line of explosions across the read-through tables. And people going, ‘No!’ It was a very good, exciting kind of clue as to what the public reaction will be like,” he says.

While Season 2 of “The Diplomat” premiered Oct. 31, Sewell says he’s “stuck” in Season 3, which is currently filming.

“It’s dangerous,” he says. “There are things that I cannot say that are old news for us that nobody knows yet.”

He admits he “kind of likes” the feeling of having secrets. “Luckily, I’m so forgetful I can’t remember most,” he quips.

In that respect, he says he’s much different from his character on “The Diplomat.” Hal Wyler is the husband of the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), and also an ambassador himself. He is a freewheeling rogue-meets-foreign policy genius.

“You need killers on the side of good. He is one of those people,” Sewell says. “He says, ‘OK, this needs to happen. I’ve got to go in here. I’ve got to do something drastic.’ Unfortunately, the consequences of that are unforeseeable.”

What happens at the end of Season 2 of “The Diplomat” — and what does his character have to do with it? Read below to find out.

What happens at the end of ‘The Diplomat’ Season 2?

The final moments of “The Diplomat” Season 2 end with a shocking reveal: The president of the United States has died — seemingly of shock brought on following a phone call with Hal.

Over the course of the season, the Wylers unravel the conspiracy of who was behind the British warship attack in Season 1.

Turns out Grace Penn (Allison Janney), the vice president of the U.S., orchestrated it with the help of U.K. Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge’s former adviser Margaret “Meg” Roylin (Celia Imrie).

Grace hired a mercenary to attack a British ship in an effort to give the United Kingdom something to unite over. She did this so that Scotland wouldn’t vote yes for independence and the U.S. could keep control of a military base in Scotland. Nobody was supposed to get hurt, but there was a malfunction they couldn’t have predicted, which led to people being where the missile hit, Trowbridge explained.

Kate and Hal go back and forth about what to do with the information. They settle on telling Miguel Ganon (Miguel Sandoval), the U.S. Secretary of State. But then, in classic Hal fashion, Hal goes rogue and calls the president instead.

The show skips over the phone call between Hal and the president and instead skips ahead to what he says on the phone to Kate.

Keep in mind that, at this moment, Kate has just gotten out of a tense conversation of her own with the VP, during which she confirmed she was coming for her job.

“Kate,” Hal says, distressed. “I didn’t talk to Ganon. I talked to the president.”

Through breaths, he says, “Kate, he got really upset.”

“What does that mean?” Kate asks.

Next thing you know, a cadre of secret service agents are running toward Grace and Kate.

“He died, Katie. The president is dead. Grace Penn is president,” he says.

The final shot is of Grace looking at the secret service agents.

Reflecting on the twist, Sewell says, “I love the fact that it happens. I know that seems a bit grim, but it’s just dramatic.”

What does Hal say on the phone to the president?

Sewell says more of the exact conversation will be revealed next season.

“I have to explain to people what happened. Why were you talking to him? What were you talking about? There’s not much I can say, you know,” he says.

Sewell understands Hal’s decision to go rogue and call the president instead of the secretary of state; it was his original plan.

“The only way he could fully control the outcome was to tell the president directly. Going through anyone else, they could use it to their advantage and use gamesmanship against them,” he says.

His intentions were in the right place, Sewell says — this was meant to be another Hal Wyler special.

“The fact is, what he’s famous for and infamous is pulling off feats that no one else would have the bravery or the intellect to be able to work out,” he says.

Hal, he says, is always aware of the risks, and moved forward anyway.

“Sometimes there are casualties. What we’re doing is for the world and will benefit an enormous amount of people. But sometimes, if things go wrong, there can be bad results. This is one of those things. He was right to do it, right? Who was to have known that this might have happened?”

What will happen to Kate’s bid for vice president – and is ‘The Diplomat’ headed to Washington?

Kate has been weighing the vice president job all season. Following a financial scandal of her husband’s, Grace’s time as VP was at risk, leaving an opening for Kate to maneuver her way in — if she dared.

Given her charged history with Grace Penn, Kate might not be Grace’s first choice for the role. (According to , the new president does get to appoint a VP of his or her choosing).

That said, Sewell says the show’s story is “bisecting slightly,” so the cast will spend time in London and New York and is “between places.”

However, he doesn’t make any promises about where the story, or Kate’s career is going, in light of the new appointment. Certainly, the Wylers will be on Grace’s radar – they know her biggest secret.

“There’s always going to be a bit of Washington in this — I don’t know where it’s going to fully end up,” he says.

Grace Penn is now the president — which Sewell took as good news for him, personally, even if it raises complications for his character.

“It’s so fantastic, because you think, ‘Oh, great, we’re going to work with Alison again,” he says.

“I love anything that brings new difficulties, and not just difficulties in terms of dramatically, but things that alter the balance and the billing and the relationship in a way that needs to be navigated. As far as me and Keri are concerned, I think we’re the same that we want the opposite of what you want in life. You want trouble. You want obstacles. You want things to go wrong,” he says.

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