Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Diplomat season 2 and The Handmaid’s Tale finale!
The Handmaid’s Talemay be over, but Bradley Whitford’s recent casting in Netflix’s hit seriesThe Diplomatis a great follow-up for the actor. Since 2017,The Handmaid’s Talehas followed the lives of the Handmaids, a group of oppressed women in the dystopian society of Gilead. The series delved into some harrowing issues concerning gender, class, sexuality, and more. While some of the handmaids slowly found their way to freedom outside the oppressive state,The Handmaid’s Tale’s main characters, including June, returned to Gilead to take it down from the inside.
The Handmaid’s Taleseason 6saw June and the Handmaids take on Gilead’s leaders one last time, hoping to finally destroy them. Going into thefinal episode ofThe Handmaid’s Tale, audiences got a big shock when Bradley Whitford’s Commander Lawrence chose to sacrifice himself to blow up the Commander’s plane. While his actions helped secure a victory for the Handmaids, Whitford’s final scene was a huge surprise. Though his character, andThe Handmaid’s Taleis now finished, Whitford’s next role is a great follow-up.
Bradley Whitford’s The Diplomat Season 3 Role Is A Great Political Thriller Follow-Up To The Handmaid’s Tale
Whitford Will Take On A New Type Of Leadership Role
The Diplomat’s season 3 teaser trailer has recently been released by Netflix, and it finally gives more information about what exactly Bradley Whitford’s character will be getting up to.Whitford will play Todd Penn, the new First Gentleman of the United States. Now-President Grace Penn’s husband has been mentioned in previous episodes ofThe Diplomat, but this will mark the first time that the character is seen on-screen, and he already seems more than willing to rock the boat.
Though there are still plenty of secrets and twists to look forward to going intoThe Diplomatseason 3, the new footage teases Grace and Todd Penn meeting with Kate and Hal Wyler in what could presumably be the White House. Given the tension that the show has raised so far between Kate and Grace and how much Hal becomes involved in Kate’s business,it seems likely that Whitford’s Todd Penn will be just as politically savvy, creating a connection to hisThe Handmaid’s Talecharacter, Commander Lawrence.
WhileThe DiplomatandThe Handmaid’s Taleare undeniably very different shows in terms of content, they do create an interesting case for comparison. The complex political strategies and secretive hierarchy of knowledge in both shows is an interesting parallel, especially consideringThe Handmaid’s Taletakes a far more dystopian approach. However, given the heavy prices that characters inThe Diplomatare often forced to consider and the secrets they are forced to keep in doing so,Whitford’s cunning, morally complex character in each may be more similar than expected.
Bradley Whitford’s The Diplomat Character Gives Him Another Politically Complex Role After Commander Lawrence
The Diplomat Has Plenty Of Complex Characters
Whitford’s Todd Penn has not yet been seen inThe Diplomat, but his reputation certainly precedes him, asthe previous two seasons made it clear that his actions would ultimately get his wife fired from her role as Vice President. Instead, however, season 3 will have them step into the roles of President and First Gentleman, which is sure to cause a lot of drama. Much like Hal Wyler, it already seems like Todd Penn is not the type to sit at the table quietly.
Bradley Whitford’s Commander Lawrence was far from being a good guy, but the moral complexity that he drew on for that role may find its way into his performance as Todd Penn.
What’s more,Netflixhas already teased the “unnerving bond” that Kate forms with Todd Penn, meaning that there may be yet another voice in her ear instructing her on what to do.The Diplomatis already a politically complex and intriguing serieswith lots of different characters acting in lots of different, often hidden interests. Whitford’s Commander Lawrence was far from being a good guy, but the moral complexity that he drew on for that role may find its way into his performance as Todd Penn.
The stakes of the two series feel very different, yet Whitford’s character in both sits atop a fragile power structure. InThe Handmaid’s Tale,Commander Lawrence certainly benefits from the structures of Gilead, but at the same time feels guilt about his role in its formation. InThe Diplomat, Todd Penn’s actions had already set his wife up for failure in her role, but with her rise to the Presidency, their power is even more precarious because of her plot with Roylin and Lenkov, meaning the Penns may have to fight to keep their power inThe Diplomatseason 3.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Cast
The Handmaid’s Tale is a television adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel, released in 2017. It is set in a dystopian future where a woman is compelled to live as a concubine under a strict fundamentalist theocracy.
