This article was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Let’s watch a spy thriller in series format! Everybody loves a good spy story, they’re as perennial as romances and vampire stories. We’ll start with The Night Agent on Netflix.
Is it based on a book?
Why, yes it is! The book was also called The Night Agent and it was written by the fantastically named Matthew Quirk, who Wikipedia tells me is a journalist who “likes surfing at Sunset Cliffs and hiking Lagunas,” so I guess that IS quirky.
Is the spy a man?
Duh. Of course. Aren’t 99% of spies in books/TV/movies?
Does the conspiracy go to THE HIGHEST LEVELS????
Indeed it does, in this case meaning it involves the Vice President of the United States, the President of the United States, and a billionaire. I’m not telling you which ones are good or bad, though. You have to figure that out for yourselves along with our main character.
Who is our spy?
Glad you asked! He is the titular night agent, a low level FBI agent named Peter Sutherland, whose job is to answer phones in an office in the White House as a Night Action operator. It’s a pretty cool setup where there’s a secretive branch of the service that functions as essentially a clean-up crew for when things go sideways. Peter’s phone doesn’t ring often, and he feels like he’s there doing time because his dad was a suspected traitor who sold classified info when he himself was high-level FBI agent. Everyone thinks his father committed treason, which makes Peter a bit infamous, and then there’s the fact that Peter thwarted a terrorist bombing on the D.C. Metro a year before. All in all, Peter has a lot of baggage and plenty of people have opinions about him. He’s dealt with the pressure by being the straightest of straight arrows and dedicating his life to clearing his dad’s name. He has almost no friends and his fiance left him after the bombing.
Is he sexy?
Again, duh. Say hello to Gabriel Basso. Don’t hold it against him that he played J.D. Vance in Hillbilly Elegy.
Does it hook you right away?
Yes. Not only through the aforementioned Metro bombing, but by starting off with a taut, tense nighttime phone call from a woman in trouble to Peter’s Night Action line. He talks her through a home invasion with professional calmness and zero pandering, even as we watch the assassinations taking place mere feet away from her. Neither of them know quite what’s going on, but Peter makes you feel like everything will be okay as long as he’s there…and that’s how it continues between the two of them for the rest of the season.
Is there romance?
There is, and it’s incredibly well done! This is one of those shows that functions as a partnership first and foremost, as Peter and his charge, Rose Larkin, set off on an adventure neither one of them were looking for. She’s being pursued, he’s been tasked with keeping her safe until her secrets can be delivered to the proper government authorities…and they both quickly realize they can’t trust anyone but one another. Still, they focus only on staying alive and solving their problem like any rational people would do. Their attachment grows organically and feels true to character when it eventually turns romantic. There are shades of Mulder and Scully in the feeling of anxiety that takes over whenever these two are separated, and the slow burn is similar.
Are the bad guys interesting?
They’re all quite well-defined and several are even as three-dimensional as the leads. Special props go to the team of killers working through their complicated romantic and sexual-compatibility issues.
Any big stars?
Check out Oscar nominee Hong Chau as the President’s Chief of Staff!
Will there be more?
The door is left open for the further adventures of Peter as a full Night Agent, and the show was a hit for Netflix. It was picked up for a second season, and presumably there will be one. But with the way the strikes are going, I’m going to cross my fingers while I say that.
Should you watch it?
Hell, yes! It’s a romp.
