A year after foiling a terror attack in the subways of New York, a phone call changes the life of FBI agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), who quickly finds himself in the quicksand of conspiracy, with moles in the White House and only a computer engineer by his side. Based on Matthew Quirk’s eponymous novel, The Night Agent is a slick action thriller directed by Seth Gordon streaming on Netflix that doesn’t let the adrenaline rush drop at any point through its 10 episodes. Within 48 hours of its release, the web series made it to Netflix’s Top 10 shows in 93 countries; it is currently at No. 1 in India. Here’s how The Night Agent kept us on the edge of our seats.
The opening scene
The first scene of the first episode itself will get you hooked. The scene opens with Peter offering his subway seat to a woman with a kid, and then noticing a hooded man leaving a bag under a seat. The bag is fitted with a bomb, and Peter’s quick decision to get everyone out of the trains foils the terror attack and saves many lives.
Yet, instead of being hailed a hero, Peter is accused of being in collusion with the attackers because of his background (his father was accused of being a traitor). Peter is pulled out of this sticky situation by White House Chief of Staff, Diane Farr (Hong Chau), who recruits him as the correspondent for the Night Agents at the FBI. The low-level job has Peter manning a phone in the basement of the White House that never rings, until one night when it does.
Gabriel Basso makes a mark as the soft-spoken yet hard-hitting FBI agent. Other than being a well-known child actor, Basso was a regular on the Showtime series The Big C. The 28-year-old actor also starred in the science fiction film Super 8 (2011) and the comedy-drama The Kings of Summer (2013) before landing the lead role in The Night Agent.
The introduction of Rose Larkin
Every new character adds a new layer to the plot. The introduction of Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan), a computer engineer and the CEO of her own cyber security firm, serves a bigger purpose than you’d imagine at first.
Rose survives an attack at her aunt’s home where both her aunt and uncle are killed by gunmen. Before the shootout, her aunt had sent her away to a neighbour’s house with a phone number to call the Night Agent. Though one of the shooters comes after Rose, she is rescued by the FBI with the Night Agent/Peter’s help. With Peter assigned to keep Rose safe, she reveals a secret to him — that there is a mole in the White House. As the series progresses, Rose becomes an important character, going from an ex-CEO to teaming up with Peter to nail the traitors inside the White House.
Contract killers Ellen and Dale
The cold-blooded contract killers Ellen (Eve Harlow) and Dale (Phoenix Raei) become worthy antagonists against Peter and Rose. Hired by the Pentagon, Ellen and Dale go around the country on a killing spree while romancing each other. Their introduction too leaves a question mark. The two, posing as a couple with a baby in hand, bait a lady into letting them into her house. During conversation, the woman figures out that Ellen is lying to her, leading to the two killing her and leaving the baby at her house. The couple are then hired by someone at the White House to take out Rose and Peter, who are getting close to finding out the truth.
Peter realises he can’t trust anyone
Peter’s officer-in-charge and FBI deputy director Hawkins becomes his first suspect in the murders of Rose’s aunt and uncle. His suspicions, however, go nowhere as Hawkins is murdered soon after, making Peter realise that he cannot trust anyone, specially the higher-ups in the government.
Rose and Peter’s investigation takes them to secret agent Chelsea Arrington (Fola Evans-Akingbola), who is assigned to look after the US vice-president’s university-going daughter Maddie Redfield (Sarah Desjardins). As the two try to convince Chelsea that Maddie’s life might be in danger, the university student is kidnapped. A close government official is revealed to be involved in the conspiracy, and things go downhill for Peter again when he is implicated in the kidnapping of the vice-prez’s daughter.
The Night Agent manages to keep the stakes high at all times, especially in the last two episodes where secrets and conspiracies spill out, changing the course of the narrative. Netflix has announced a second season, scheduled for a 2024 release.
