‘The Night Agent’ Season 2 Finale: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Editor’s Note: The following post contains spoilers for “The Night Agent” Season 2.
“The Night Agent” Season 2 ends with Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) in a precarious position — but it’s not the first time he (or his family) has been there.
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Shawn Ryan’s Netflix series released another 10 episodes on January 23, with Season 3 already confirmed. That announcement was enough to guarantee an open ending, but Season 2 still wraps up its central arcs pretty neatly (it’s no “Squid Game 2” cliffhanger, at any rate). But how exactly did it weave together a formidable dictator, intelligence broker, Iranian intelligence, and a Presidential candidate? We break it all down below.
The Attack
The nerve-racking finale opens with Peter and everyone else converging on the U.N., which is being evacuated to assess a threat in the HVAC system. Very few people know that the threat is K.X., the chemical agent that Rose (Luciane Buchanon) helped Dr. Cole (Jay Karnes) to produce in a lab for Markus (Michael Malarkey) and his team. The pursuit sequences are easily some of the most tense in this show’s history, with casualties on every side as Markus absconds with one canister, holds Sloane (Elise Kibler) hostage, and is eventually killed.
It’s always refreshing to see Rose get more to do on this show. Season 2, Episode 10 provides payoff for her work in facial recognition — both digital and analog — as well as utilizing the chemistry knowledge imparted by Dr. Cole to save thousands of lives. Throughout Season 2 she got more and more physically involved in the action, even as Peter’s instincts around her grew more protective.
The Casualties
There’s a lot of bloodshed this season, from Alice (Brittany Snow) in the cold open to Tomás (Rob Heaps) at the end of Episode 9, but one of the most impactful deaths was that of Farhad (Kiarash Amani), Noor’s (Arienne Mandi) brother who was supposed to evacuate Iran on her orders. It happened in the middle of the season, but stands out because of Marjan Neshat’s performance as his mother, who witnesses the whole thing. From there the reality sets in slowly, dread permeating the show through other characters until Noor finds out. Her story is mostly wrapped by the finale, but there is one scene of mother and daughter learning that they’ve been granted asylum and accepting an ostensibly paltry check for their troubles.
“This is what America thinks my brother was worth?” Noor asks in disbelief.
Depending on when Season 3 picks up and based on what we saw of Governor Hagan’s (Ward Horton) supporters, Noor may not find America as safe and welcoming as she hoped — and without her brother, any hope for a normal and carefree life died with him. As painful as this whole arc is, it’s worth noting that “The Night Agent” is a show that started out with Rose losing her loved ones, and rooted in the fact that people, above all, are ultimately worth protecting.
The Deal
This happened in Episode 9, but it’s critical to the finale and future seasons; Peter released Solomon (Berto Colon) in exchange for a meeting with his boss Jacob (Louis Herthum), and a deal. Peter went AWOL for the second time this season to secure those files, and though Solomon didn’t last long, he was free at the time of his death and threatening Catherine (Amanda Weaver).
Beyond the moral gymnastics of making deals with Jacob, these actions betray the strength of Peter’s feelings for Rose — and how vulnerable those feelings make him. He’s forthright enough to finish the mission and save everyone, and also to turn himself in, but not without having a serious conversation with Rose. As long as he’s a Night Agent, she’ll never be safe, no matter how much she doesn’t care and wants to stay by his side. (Anyone else feel like rewatching “Spider-Man 2?”)
Secret Service Agent Chelsea Arrington (Fola Evans-Akingbola) pops up in the finale, as part of the detail protecting Governor Hagan (Ward Horton). Hagan is fully in cahoots with Jacob, the “information broker,” using his knowledge to get ahead in his Presidential campaign. The favor Peter did for Jacob was to secure audio files linking Hagan’s opponent to Viktor bala (Dikran Tulaine) and Foxglove — forcing him to rescind his candidacy for President and all but guaranteeing Hagan’s victory. Catherine explains all of this with clarity; Peter’s actions will have massive consequences for the country.
The episode ends with Peter doing something all-too-familiar: waiting by a phone. Catherine tasks him with being a double agent (like his dad!); all he has to do is answer Jacob’s call — and no one knows better than Peter Sutherland how much a person’s life can change from one phone call.
“The Night Agent” is now streaming on Netflix.
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