The long awaited season of the newest action thriller show, “The Night Agent,” was finally released via Netflix on Jan. 23. After nearly two years of waiting since the first season’s release in 2023, we get to witness Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) start his new position as a real life Night Agent for the FBI — no more working out of a stuffy basement for him. Sutherland is thrown straight into the position without proper time to decompress from having to save the president from being assassinated.
Sutherland was first recruited by the FBI to learn how to stop deadly weapons from getting into the wrong hands, following an incident where secret CIA intel was given to foreign Iranian ambassadors. The season starts by introducing Sutherland’s new field partner Alice Leeds (Brittany Snow), as they embark on their new mission in Bangkok. The stakes are high from the first episode, and in order to continue their mission, Sutherland and Leeds have to split up and follow some potential suspects.
Sutherland has to start watching his back from the first episode, since the two end up blowing their cover and the dangerous operatives result in Leeds’ death. Sutherland, now on the run, is determined to continue the search for the dangerous weapons. Catherine Weaver (Amanda Warren), who oversees the top agents of the Night Agents program, wants Sutherland off the mission, as she believes he isn’t ready, which I felt was reassuring. I thought that having someone doubt his abilities in the beginning would make him work harder and be more determined to finish the mission, even though his partner was no longer there to help him.
Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) ends up creating software that pinpoints someone’s location using facial recognition, which helps her find Sutherland after he has been off the grid for ten months. Larkin is determined to know if he’s alive, so she sets off to find Sutherland in N.Y. This is where things get dicey in my opinion. Larkin put herself through so much danger in the first season that she had to consult therapy to help her cope, but it seems that she still loves the danger enough to go find someone who’s off grid. This was especially unsettling to me — I think it would have been a better move to contact someone in the FBI that has more access to the Night Agent program, so civilians are not involving themselves in an FBI top secret mission.
What I really liked about this season was the introduction of a new character. Noor Taheri (Arienne Mandi), who is an Iranian ambassador, tries throughout the season to get her mother and brother asylum in the U.S. I felt it was really refreshing to see someone also take center stage alongside Sutherland and Larkin. They all of course end up working together, but it was nice to see someone else introduced with their own story.
On the other hand, I felt that the second season was also very choppy, in the sense that it goes back and forth between Sutherland and Larkin’s stories, as well as Taheri’s. Since the characters are speaking Persian in the scenes involving the ambassador, it is harder to understand and follow, since the viewer has to rely entirely on subtitles. Cutting between these three stories came off confusing, since they are all in separate locations telling different stories. Further into the season, the stories eventually merge with each other and it becomes less confusing, but initially it is a challenge to track each character’s perspective.
This season, even with its downsides, was overall a really great watch for someone who loves danger and using their detective skills. Each episode is jam packed with intense fight scenes and cliffhangers that keep you wanting to continue watching. Watch your back and keep cover!
4/5 stars
jbarnes5@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @nightagentnetflix, Instagram
