After much anticipation and after becoming one of Netflix’s most-watched series ever, Season two of “The Night Agent” is finally here. Despite its popularity, season one left more to be desired. With its mediocre plot and lackluster performances, the series emulated the popcorn flicks of recent days, an entertaining show lacking any specific artistic merit. Thankfully, Season two is a severe upgrade.
Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), who, after saving the President of the United States in season one, is finally a Night Agent. He and his new partner, Alice (Brittany Snow), trek through the streets of Thailand before it quickly becomes clear that once again, there’s a mole in their midst who may be looking to infiltrate the agency. While this plot isn’t that different from its previous one, it still feels like the series has been given a newfound life.
From the first episode, where a chase sequence through Thailand’s nightlife occurs, it’s clear that the people behind the camera know and love the genre they’re working in. Gone are the stagnant fight scenes that plagued the show’s earlier venture, making way for a pulsating and dynamic action that is impossible to look away from. As Peter runs through the night, slamming into street corners and the bodies of his adversaries, it feels like the action is more severe, and the stakes in “The Night Agent” have also been raised.
Along with these stakes is an emotionality the previous season felt devoid of. One month after the first episode’s opening chase sequence, Peter is again on the run, hiding out with no one to trust. While he’s always been a typical action protagonist, Peter’s stoicism slowly begins to crack as he grows more paranoid. Because of this, Basso–who was last seen in a brief albeit significant role in “Juror #2”—is finally given the chance to become the leading man this role should have made him. Peter’s paranoia exposes his inner core, and Basso plays this with flighty glances and a swaying physicality.
The only person he feels he can trust is Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan), whom he hasn’t seen or spoken to in close to a year. While they bonded after Rose’s aunt and uncle were killed in season one, Peter’s job makes it nearly impossible for their relationship to continue. That doesn’t stop Rose, though, who gets reeled back into his world of espionage, leaving her job and therapist to help Peter once again. Their relationship is more fraught than it previously was, but that doesn’t stop Basso and Buchanan from having some fantastic chemistry.
Without Peter and Rose, “The Night Agent” simply would not work. Thankfully, they share the screen often, and the difference in their stance on what is morally good and bad begins to drive a wedge between them. Working in a secretive organization has propelled Peter into a world that forces him to become a hardened version of himself, and Rose often does not recognize him as the man she fell in love with. As he struggles through each episode to try and keep his mask in place, the two of them struggle to accept the new life they’ve been forced into. As they go further down rabbit holes of deception, they cross paths with Noor (Arienne Mandi), a junior aide to an Iranian Ambassador, whose presence puts all their lives in more danger than they were before.
At her job, she walks around unsuspectingly, passing files on to higher-ups and making a name for herself as a trusted employee. Yet secretly, Noor is attempting to gain intel on Iranian secrets to sell to American forces, trading them in hopes that, in return, her mother and brother can gain asylum in America. Her path soon crosses Peter and Rose’s, and their storylines become entangled in a web of lies and complexity that sometimes appears too big for each party. Despite obstacles hindering them throughout, a sense of trust and care grows between them. It’s unlike any relationship (platonic or otherwise) the show has previously tried to get viewers interested in, one that solidifies this season as a more sophisticated venture into the world these characters live in.
The stakes in “The Night Agent” finally feel palpable; because of this, the series has reached its potential as thrilling and well-written action. With characters being thoroughly fleshed out and actors being given space to deliver performances worthy of them, it’s hard to believe that this is the same series that had Netflix viewers hooked on its strict watchability. Not only does the show feel more cinematic with its sharpened camera work and lighting, but it also feels like a diamond in the rough of the streaming era.
