Plot: Based on the novel by Matthew Quirk, The Night Agent is a sophisticated, character-based, action-thriller centering on a low level FBI Agent , Peter Sutherland, whose efforts to save The President in Season 1 earn him an opportunity to become a Night Agent in Season 2. But working in the secretive organization of Night Action will propel Peter into a world where danger is everywhere and trust is in short supply.
Review: I was not kind to Netflix’s first season of The Night Agent. Despite the chemistry between stars Gabriel Basso and Luciane Buchanan, I found the espionage series dull and not as good as the cast deserved. Hailing from The Shield creator Shawn Ryan, The Night Agent became an immediate hit with Netflix viewers and earned a second season pick-up. Along the way, the series was renewed for a third season well before the second hit the streaming service. With the new season going beyond the 2019 novel by Matthew Quirk, I found the second season of The Night Agent to be a substantial improvement in every way. With a more engaging narrative and solid additions to the cast, the series finally comes into its own in a way that will please existing fans and invite all new ones.
Picking up almost a year after the first season’s events, The Night Agent opens with Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) working on an undercover mission with his partner Alice (Brittany Snow). While tracking Warren Stocher (Teddy Sears), their cover is compromised, and Peter disappears. Peter’s superior, Catherine Weaver (Amanda Warren), is contacted by Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) after she receives a cryptic message about Peter from a stranger. Not satisfied with the response, Rose takes it upon herself to find Peter, and the pair become embroiled in a new plot with major ramifications for the United States. Over the ten-episode second season, Peter and Rose work together and independently to save the day, both allied with the Night Agent department and outside the law’s scope. The action is amped up this season, as are the stakes, making the first season feel like an origin story that frees this season to be a full-tilt thrill ride.
The changes this season are significant, mostly in the split narrative this season. While Diane Farr (Hong Chau), the President’s Chief of Staff, is no longer a central character, the balance of operational storylines, field action, and subplots fills this season with a ton of material, setting up the already-announced third season. The first season spent a lot of time with Peter and Rose, partnered on the run and as romantic interests, but this season allows them both to grow as distinct characters who are not dependent on one another for the story to work. Yes, the romantic tension is key to the chemistry shared by Luciane Buchanan and Gabriel Basso, but it is not the driving force of this season. Peter’s past, which includes his father being a traitor to the United States and Rose’s parents being Night Agents, factors into wanting to serve their country even when the best interests fly in the face of the political leanings of those in power.
The new additions to the cast this season help amplify the multiple story elements at play this season. Amanda Warren (The Leftovers) is fantastic as Peter’s boss, Catherine. A strong leader, as well as a skilled operative, Catherine and Peter butt heads throughout the season, which will cause a lot of viewers to either love or hate her. We also have Arienne Mandi as Noor, an Iranian whose work for Abbas (Navid Negahban) is directly implicated in Peter and Rose’s investigation. Several other additions, including Michael Malarkey as Markus, Keon Alexander as Javad, Louis Herthum as Jacob Monroe, and more, add to the ensemble, which feels far bigger this season to support the global storyline. At the core, Basso and Buchanan are the anchors of this story, and both are ingrained in these characters, which helps the series feel much more balanced and consistent than it did in the first season.
Series creator and showrunner Shawn Ryan is known for his military, police, and espionage series, including The Shield, The Unit, and S.W.A.T. Still, The Night Agent shares more in common with his sci-fi project Timeless thanks to the balanced lead actors who are more interesting at times than the narrative they are involved in. The first season of The Night Agent was so focused on delivering new characters embroiled in mystery as fugitives that it sacrificed being original. This season hits familiar beats in storytelling from writers Tiffany Shaw Ho, Corey Deshon, Imogen Browder, Anayat Fakhraie, Munis Rashid, and Lukas Johnson. Still, they also create interesting and likable characters on both the good side and the antagonists. This season’s directing team includes Guy Ferland, Adam Arkin, and Millicent Shelton, returning from the first season to helm two episodes each, along with new helmers Nina Lopez Corrado and Ana Lily Amirpour on the remaining four. All of these directors use the global setting of this series to great effect and deliver some of the best action sequences of any Netflix series in recent memory.
While I found the first season of The Night Agent to be generic and somewhat underwhelming, the second season is a vast improvement. The directing continues to be solid, but the writing has been punched up significantly, giving us well-rounded heroes and villains and a season-long arc with a satisfying conclusion while still setting up what will come in the third season. Gabriel Basso and Luciane Buchanan make a hell of a pair of protagonists. They are surrounded by an improved ensemble cast that balances multiple storylines that connect for an engaging and exciting television season. A solid binge, The Night Agent manages to improve more than I had any expectation that it could for a solid thrill ride.
The Night Agent returns for season two with ten episodes debuting on January 23rd on Netflix.
The post The Night Agent Season 2 TV Review: The action series returns with an explosive sophomore run appeared first on JoBlo.
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