The Night Agent season 2: What to expect from Netflix’s spy thriller

Gabriel Basso, the Night Agent

Gabriel Basso, The night agent

Christopher Saunders/Netflix

I’m not sure anyone predicted Netflix’s success The night agent. Once you get past the obvious names of Netflix’s most popular English-language shows of all timeWednesday, Stranger Things, Bridgerton, Dahmer, The Queen’s Gambit — Shawn Ryan’s spy thriller rears its head like the strange in one of Sesame Streets “one of these things is not like the others” segments. The night agent doesn’t boast a big star, didn’t have much promotion when it premiered, and isn’t based on a super popular franchise (Matthew Quirk’s novel was a New York Times bestseller, but is limited to only one book), but there it is, and is at no. 7 on the most watched English-language programs of all time (and no. 12 on all programs), ahead of mammoth hits such as Stranger Things Season 3 and Bridgerton Season 2.

Soon it is very likely The night agent will occupy two places on the list. The impending release of The night agent Season 2 on Thursday, January 23 will be a big test for the franchise to see if it can avoid the slump in second place. While he can’t predict that everyone who watched Season 1 will return for Season 2, Shawn Ryan is confident that those who tune in will be very pleased with what they see. “I think Season 2 is stronger than Season 1,” he told TV Guide.

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Season 1 was based on Quirk’s 2019 novel The night agentfollowing FBI agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), whose humble job answering a classified phone line during graveyard hours in the basement of the White House goes nowhere as he uncovers a government conspiracy with enormous geopolitical reach. But that’s where Agent Peter Sutherland’s adventures on the site ended, leaving Ryan and his staff of writers with the challenge of coming up with a new story for Season 2. Thanks to Quirk’s creation of The night agents two main characters, Sutherland and technology specialist Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan), Ryan was able to take that base and put his own spin on it for Season 2.

“I was really interested in changing the perspective of the world, so I moved most of the action out of the DMV, as they say — the DC, Maryland, Virginia area — mostly to New York,” Ryan told TV Guide. “There was talk early on (and asking), do we want to take the show overseas and see Peter’s first mission as a night agent? And one thing that we decided was that we wanted to keep it in the U.S., but we wanted to bring the world to us.”

That’s why early in Season 2, you’ll see Peter in Thailand learning the ropes as a full-fledged Night Action agent—and yes, The night agent on alien soil is as cool as you hope it will be – but the majority of season 2 is spent in new york city. When Peter sneaks through the concrete jungle, the mood is very different from when he was on the run in rural Virginia in season 1. Think The French connection or Person of interestand you’ll get an idea of ​​how urban grittiness plays into the mood of Season 2.

Arienne Mandi, The Night Agent

Arienne Mandi, The night agent

Netflix

While season 1 was mostly Peter learning about the secret government’s Night Action team, season 2 is about what it means to be a Night Agent. One of Ryan’s main attractions to the book was that Peter was an underdog, and while Peter was such a success in Season 1—he did save the president’s life, after all—Ryan was eager to bring him back to underdog status by making him a low-level night agent who was still learning about this new world he’s in and the tough choices that come with his new job.

“One of the things I talked about with the writers was that Season 1 was logistically very difficult for Peter, but morally pretty easy,” Ryan explained. “You know, he’s someone who wants to do the right thing, especially to make up for the things that his father did. And then Season 1, if he knew what the right thing to do was, he’d kind of do it , and It was just a very difficult process One of the things I wanted to do in Season 2 was I wanted things to continue to be logistically difficult for him, but I wanted to make things more morally difficult for him working in some years with David Mamet on a show called The device on CBS, way back when, and one of the things he always talked about was that good drama was never the choice between right and wrong, but good drama was the choice between two wrongs.”

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The complications Peter faces this season will come thanks to major storylines involving Iranian embassy staff, a cruel dictator who leverages the family’s ambitions into a complex story with major global ramifications, and powerful and shady characters with no allegiances , who pulls strings behind the scenes. You will meet Noor (Arienne Mandi), an aide at the Iranian embassy who puts herself in danger when she makes a risky decision to try to help her family, and a mysterious man (Louis Herthum) whose business of obtaining sensitive information becomes a major part of The night agent universe. Plus, with Diane Farr (Hong Chau) behind bars for her actions in Season 1, Peter has a new handler: steely Catherine (Amanda Warren), who doesn’t fully trust Peter. But they all support the beating heart The night agentwhich are Peter and Rose.

Peter and Rose certainly became romantic throughout Season 1, but by the end of the finale, they were on separate paths: Rose was heading back to California to continue working in technology, while Peter followed his destiny and settled on a plane to start his life as a night agent. But their paths cross again in Season 2, and not only are they great partners when it comes to the Secret Service, but they need each other to keep their humanity.

“A guy as morally pure as Peter, working a job that’s very difficult to be morally pure… how does that affect him?” Ryan said. “And I think we’re able to do a decent job with Rose, essentially saying you don’t lose the Peter that I know while you’re doing this. And then while Peter’s trying to save world in Season 2, think in many ways, Rose is trying to save Peter’s soul.”

The night agent Season 2 premieres Thursday, January 23 on Netflix.