'The Diplomat's' creator wanted to kill off a key character. Why saving him saved the show

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I am not a baller.I said this over a telephone, standing in a field of sheep.It was an anxiety-riddled confession, so more like, I’m so sorry.

I am not a baller.I had pitched to Netflix a first season of “The Diplomat” that ended with Stuart Hayford, the beloved character played by Ato Essandoh, getting killed.I, like everyone, had watched “Game of Thrones” slack-jawed when Ned Stark met his end.

Such a baller move.That’s how we discussed it in the writers’ room.It was muscular and devastating, and we should do it.

Build a character we’d adore and kill them, from nowhere, in the second to last episode of the season.We had backstory for Kate and Hal.They fell in love on the job, stopping wars from starting or bringing violent conflicts to an end.

But there was a wound in the relationship.They worked in dangerous places.

Hal had taken risks Kate thought were reckless.People had died.

Young, idealistic people who saw Hal as a mentor and would have followed him into any battle.They were killed.I didn’t want to make a show about a marriage that was on the rocks because of infidelity.

That ground seems adequately covered in popular culture.(Succinctly, in “St.

Elmo’s Fire”: “You f— Kevin.” “You f— many.”) My experience said marriages end for a lot of reasons.Maybe this TV marriage could be forged by a shared commitment to world-changing work and broken by ethical disagreements over its execution.

Far too lofty, but I had a high school teacher who used to shout, “We’re not teaching you rules, we’re handing you a moral, ethical code.” And he coached basketball, so he would proclaim this with a ball slung under his arm, wearing a jersey that featured his exuberantly hairy shoulders.The high-low combo really spoke to me.We decided we’d meet Kate and Hal when their marriage was nearly over.

They would inch toward repair.And then it woul...