The Diplomat season 4 kills off Austin Dennison

This article contains spoilers for season 4 of The Diplomat.

Netflix’s political drama The Diplomat killed off British foreign secretary Austin Dennison, played by David Gyasi, in its fourth season, which was released in full on Oct. 15, entertainment outlets reported.

Dennison dies in a helicopter crash while serving in Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge’s government, and the loss hits Keri Russell’s Kate Wyler hard, Marie Claire reported in its breakdown of the season. The character’s name drew more than 200 searches in Canada on Saturday, according to Google Trends, as viewers who binged the eight new episodes looked for answers about his fate.

Dennison had been one of the series’ central characters since its 2023 debut. Marie Claire noted that he and Kate shared a flirtatious relationship in the first two seasons, and that he was often the only person she trusted to keep Trowbridge, played by Rory Kinnear, from acting recklessly. Yahoo listed Gyasi among the returning cast for season 4, alongside Russell, Rufus Sewell as Vice-President Hal Wyler and Allison Janney as President Grace Penn.

The death drives much of the season’s British storyline. According to a recap by The Viewer’s Perspective, Trowbridge learns of Dennison’s death at the moment Hal tells him the truth about a secret U.S. operation, and the prime minister grows increasingly unstable. When Trowbridge refuses to let Kate attend Dennison’s funeral, she confronts him with evidence about his role in an earlier plot, and he soon announces his resignation, the recap said. Outlets differed on whether the death is revealed in the third or fourth episode.

The season opens with a shock of its own: President Penn is shot by a sniper in the final seconds of the premiere, IndieWire and other outlets reported. Jodie Whittaker joins the cast as Bethan Vaughan, who becomes prime minister after Trowbridge steps down, What’s on Netflix and Marie Claire reported.

Critics have largely praised the new episodes. Forbes reported the season holds a 100 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes, and Collider called it arguably the show’s best, noting that Janney won the series’ first Emmy in September.

The season also has a Canadian connection off screen. Russell and Sewell spoke about their affection for Canada in an interview broadcast by Global News on Oct. 15, the day the season was released.

Netflix had not announced a fifth season as of Saturday, according to the reports reviewed. The streamer’s Canadian slate has drawn big audiences this fall, including Below, which set a record for a Canadian title. Netflix also released its Norm Macdonald documentary on Oct. 16 and has set an Oct. 27 date for a Matthew Perry docuseries.

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Sources: Marie Claire; The Viewer’s Perspective; Yahoo; IndieWire; What’s on Netflix; Forbes; Collider; Global News; Google Trends Canada.