The Night Agent had all the ingredients for a Netflix hit. An everyday-sort-of-government agent was doing the most boring FBI job, only to be thrust into adrenaline-tinged, shadowy intrigue that built to a cliffhanger season finale. Attractive spies also do usually turn heads, and leading man Gabriel Basso fit that bill alongside foremost lady Luciane Buchanan. Additionally, the show also landed in the “dad TV” realm that helped to ensure that the show squeezed into the Netflix all-time charts before 2023’s end, and for that reason, Netflix departed from its recent hesitation to grant early renewals.
Yep, The Night Agent proved to be an exception in this newfound age of cautious streaming networks. After only two weeks of audience binging, Netflix made that announcement, and since that time, the show has been in the thick of production when Hollywood wasn’t striking. Despite those works stoppages, filming is humming right along with the streamer providing sneak peeks, and since this show is character driven and not terribly effects heavy, turnaround should prove to be speedier than most series. Here’s what we can expect for a second season.
Plot
Netflix is not messing around when it comes to fast-and-furious production of this show. The streamer and Gabriel Basso took to Instagram to signal the start of the sixth episode’s filming for this season. If they’re moving strictly in chronological order, that’s a promising detail. Additionally, Basso is shown taking flight in a helicopter above towering skyscrapers in a video clip.
Basso also posted some behind-the-scenes looks at Peter in action.
The series began as an adaptation of Matthew Quirk’s bestselling, same-named book, but since Quirk didn’t follow up on the story, the Netflix show is moving past its source material after Peter Sutherland has formally moved on from basement guy to the Night Action Program. As a result, the show will move past its original (mostly) D.C. confines into New York City, where Peter will begin to learn the ropes of truly being part of the off-the-books subagency of the FBI, rather than simply being the phone guy.
Additionally, Deadline reported that the show would partially film in Thailand. At least that suggests some fun (?) admit the new job duties after Peter and Rose found themselves with a host of obstacles, including White House Chief of Staff Farr (Hong Chau) and U.S. Vice President Redfield (Christopher Shyer). Peter had halted an intricate terrorist/assassination scheme and received his new job title by the end of the first season, but do not expect this to be an easy transition for him. Gabriel Basso hinted to Collider that Peter will find himself in an entirely new mission with unfamiliar circumstances throwing up challenges for a second round of episodes:
“[H]is MO would almost shift completely because he’d now be a Night Agent. I’d have to talk to Shawn [Ryan] about what that mission would be. I’m sure it all depends on the context of where you’d see him next, but I’m sure his training would shift from, “I’m an FBI agent,” to killing people. Whatever he’s being asked to do, I’m sure the emphasis would shift and the goal would shift, significantly. He’d probably feel a little out of his depth again.
Netflix is being fairly secretive about what Peter’s second-season mission shall be, but Farr still lurks as a threat, and Rose will be part of the second season. Buchanan told Netflix that she hopes her character receives both a renewed focus and therapy (after losing family members and the aftermath) and also refocuses upon her tech dreams:
For her part, Buchanan believed Rose would love to pursue her tech goals again. “I really hope that she continues on her journey,” said Buchanan. “[The ending] leaves it really open-ended… I also want closure for her. I’m like, ‘This girl needs a lot of therapy after everything she’s been through.’”
Cast
Basso and Buchanan will return as Peter and Rose, respectively, and we might see more of Eve Harlow, Phoenix Raei, Enrique Murciano, D. B. Woodside, Hong Chau, Fola Evans-Akingbola, and Sarah Desjardins.
Since the show will head into different venues, expect to see plenty of new faces, too. That includes Brittany Snow as Peter’s new partner in Night Action; Louis Hertham as Jacob Monroe, the ever-powerful boss of Salmon, a fixer portrayed by Power Book II: Ghost‘s Berto Colon. Additionally, Teddy Sears portrays a Night Action investigation subject, Warren, and Arienne Mandi has been cast as Noor, a U.N. aid with top-secret access that comes in handy for more than it should do.
Release Date
2024 will happen, according to Netflix. They are fast-tracking this series to capitalize upon overnight enthusiasm, so between this and Keri Russell’s The Diplomat, more intrigue will be coming this year. That’s not too shabby after several months of actors and crews being on strike.
Trailer
The Night Agent received a very quick blip as part of Netflix’s recently released 2024 sizzle reel.