Review: The Night Agent series two, Netflix (2025)
An in-depth analysis of the second season of The Night Agent. Advisory note: contains plot details and potential spoilers!
© Netflix
TL; DR
Series two of the Netflix series, The Night Agent, effectively captures the zeitgeist of geopolitical tensions and shifting tides of diplomacy and statecraft, while scrutinising the motivations of its characters throughout.
The exploration of elements of the military industrial complex, ethics of technology, morality, human decision-making and vulnerability, family ties, greed and ambition mean events are rarely as straightforward as they seem.
Although the ultimate conclusion of the ten episode run provides a well-balanced launch point for a third season, the somewhat bittersweet scenarios which the key characters find themselves in by then poses questions to the viewer, over just how far the complexity of human interaction, and the motivations of state actors, can be used to justify their actions.
The plot begins in an almost pedestrian way, and we are only brought into the fuller picture of proceedings a few episodes in, but from there, the escalation and twists provide compelling viewing.
If you're interested in my more detailed analysis of themes within show, please read on further.
Relationships
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the main crux of the show continued to be the relationship between Peter (Gabriel Basso) & Rose (Lucianne Buchanan).
In the earlier episodes, we see glimpses of the duo's concern for each other, and allusions to their shared past, without the spark necessarily leading to anything bigger. Yet there are subtle references to an ongoing indecisiveness and lack of clarity about just how platonic their relationship really is, including instances where Alice (Brittany Snow) and Catherine (Amanda Warren), respectively, challenge Peter about how much his feelings for Rose are leading his decision-making.
Nevertheless, this jeopardy seldom gets in the way of their cohesiveness in carrying out mission tasks, even if there is occasional friction over the two characters' moral compasses and interpretations of the boundaries involved. Rose as a character demonstrates vital emotional intelligence, which counter-balances Peter's narrower scope of matters, and they complement each other well.
The revelation, towards the latter part of series two, that Peter and Rose spent a day in Washington D.C., living in the moment as a couple, is heart-warming, even if it felt inevitable.
Yet Rose's words to Noor (Arienna Mandi) in the closing scenes of season two that she doesn't know of Peter's current wellbeing or whereabouts, and that she reckons that's a good thing, feel a bit too neat for it to be a genuine end to their interplay, leading into series three.
The more intriguing story arc to follow is arguably that of Noor and Javad (Keon Alexander). Initially bonding over their fond memories of a particular food vendor in Isfahan, the pair seem to tilt between playful flirting, and cynicism towards each other, such as the moment when Noor remarks, “is this is a date, or an interrogation”, to which Javad jokes “is there a difference?”.
As with Peter and Rose, there is plenty of ambiguity over where Noor and Javid are destined to find themselves. The instance of Javad bringing homemade aash shalgham to Noor's desk in the Iranian diplomatic mission, to help her feel better from a phantom illness, is perhaps the point at which they are closest, but things gradually spiral downwards from there.
With just ten episodes to fully tell the story, the producers can be forgiven for not letting the viewers gain more insight into the relationship between Tomás (Rob Heaps) and Sloane (Elise Kilber). The impression I was left with, is that the relationship permitted Tomás to feel safe and comfortable in his own right, as an intellectual, while Sloane was able to share her interests and appreciation of high culture with him.
On the other hand, there is the underlying fact that Tomás is in the business of trying to deploy malicious actors against the U.S., and there are only sparse hints during the plot that Sloane is fully aware of the full extent of his alter ego.
Family
The familial elements of the series present a multitude of supplementary scaffolds to the plot, and link in with a number of the other themes.
At various points, we see relatives utilised as bargaining chips.
The actions of Peter's father are held over his head like a sword of Damocles. Not only does the somewhat spiky attitude of Catherine towards Peter senior sit uneasily as an unwelcome guest throughout proceedings, but the topic seems fair game even for Solomon (Berto Colon) and his employer, Monroe (Louis Herthum), as they take their own digs at his memory, in attempts to intimidate Peter and throw him off-script.
Of course, once we learn the full context as to why Catherine has reason to be sceptical of Peter, given how his father's leaking of state secrets affected her, earlier in her career, we begin to see it less as a millstone which Peter carries individually, and more of an open secret in the intelligence community.
The exploration of the siblings dynamic is intriguing. Solomon's immersion into the private contractor sphere comes as a result of his wish to help his sister, Celeste (Danielle Perez). Likewise, Noor's primary focus in engaging with the CIA is to stop her brother, Farhad (Kiarash Amani), being conscripted into the armed forces in Iran. They are taking decisions which risk their own security, to ensure those they love are protected.
The conflicting narratives encompassing Tomás, his father, Viktor (Dikran Tulaine), and Markus (Michael Malarkey), were among the threads I was most keenly observing. There is the 'Bala' name and the dichotomy of what it represents in play.
To Viktor and Markus, the surname is a symbol of pride and strength, but to Tomás it swings like a pendulum, between safeguarding his privilege and sense of entitlement, and a drag on his ability to wholly pursue life as he desires.
There is undoubtedly an undercurrent of toxic masculinity and conservative values in Viktor and Markus' perspectives of Tomás, and in the end their thuggish lust for violence puts paid to the latter's ambitions to wage a more sophisticated act of revenge on the West.
Patriotism and nationalism
The competing interests of patriotism, and at times ultra-nationalism, displayed by different caucuses in the series, are seldom far from the forefront of the story.
Certainly, the overt references to the nationalist rhetoric of the U.S., Iran, and the undefined republic formerly ruled by Viktor Bala serve their purpose in maintaining the simmering tension.
Yet there are also examples of characters feeling a sense of inner torment when it comes to how they should, and conversely, do act. Peter conducts himself with good intentions, and a sense of virtue in trying to do 'the right thing', in spite of his father's reputation as a 'traitor'. Yet he often lapses back into an attitude of acting as though America is morally superior to the rest of the world.
For Javad and Noor, they each find themselves treading a fine line between enjoying the lifestyle they are able to have in New York, and observing the customs and behaviours which are in-line with Iranian society. It soon becomes clear that Javad's role in charge of security detail at the diplomatic mission, and his past as a member of the Quds Force, reinforce his conservative instincts.
As previously outlined, the duality that Tomás feels as a member of the ruling elite, but reluctant to acknowledge his birth-right, exhibits well the contradictions of ultra-nationalism in practice. When he first appears, we are given the impression he is a committed advocate for his father's justification of dictatorship. But it's not long before his uncertainty over the validity of the ultra-nationalist rhetoric begins to shake his resolve.
Technological advancement
As sporadic as they may be in this show, some of the explicit observations on the rapid progress of private technology firms stood out for me.
These range from seemingly innocuous examples, such as Rose's interaction with the cab driver - where the remark “that's not how Uber works”, is quickly superseded by the presentation of cash dollars, a reminder that sovereign currency remains relevant even today - to the discussion between Rose and her boss, Artoun, (Ar'iel Stachel) over the ethics of rolling out their bespoke tracking software and the chilling implications of it being deployed in the military and defence sectors.
The link between academic research and the intelligence services
Elsewhere, we see a parallel ethical conflict occurring within the character arc of Dr Wilfred Cole (Jay Karnes), one of the architects of the classified CIA science experiment, Foxglove.
In echoes of the Manhattan Project, which birthed the atomic bomb, Cole reflects on how he initially worked on the Foxglove project through a desire to help protect against future nefarious acts, but subsequently finds himself and his family under pressure from Markus and his goons, to develop the chemical agent, KX.
Even amidst the chaotic environment, there are periodic reversions back to the curious and knowledgable university lecturer. For me, this ably contrasts the ethics of academia's primary aims and how its valuable intellect and intelligence can at times be twisted by the state in the geopolitical arena.
In conclusion
As far as individual characters go, I was most impressed by how well developed and multi-faceted Catherine, Noor, Javad and Tomás were over the course of the show. I particularly enjoyed the turning points at which Peter, Noor and Rose opted to take the agency of the situation into their own hands, and I was in awe of how well Catherine's character transitioned from seemingly aloof and disinterested, to efficient and intuitive when in mission mode.
However, I would have liked to have seen more exploration of the backgrounds of Markus, Abbas (Navid Negahban), Solomon and Monroe.
The series takes licence to tentatively turn some paradigms on their head. In Noor's pursuit of diplomatic documents, we see her surveilling, rather than being surveilled, and the light-hearted moments where Noor and Haleh (Anousha) have satirical and gossip-fuelled conversations, are refreshing against the backdrop of the stuffy, formal setting of the diplomatic mission. The wildcard inclusion of the French diplomats involved in suspected skulduggery is a solid enough red-herring, but thankfully it doesn't dominate too much of the plot.
The staggering of interests between the U.S. Security services, the Iranian diplomatic mission, and Viktor Bala's caucus was clever, as it prevented the series becoming stale or stodgy. On the other hand, although the presidential election ongoing in the background eventually provides a key piece of the whole plot, it felt superfluous, and at the same time, under-developed.
I will be eagerly awaiting series three, which has now been confirmed, in any case.
What did you make of The Night Agent series two?