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There is a justified chorus of readers and critics, alike, who often refer to John LeCarrè as the master of international spy fiction. His series of books, including those featuring the character George Smiley have been read, re-read, turned into feature films and television series that have attracted loyal followers.
When a screen adaptation of LeCarre’s book “The Night Manager” appeared as a six part series in 2016 with a production budget worthy of a major motion picture, the audience response was overwhelming. Locations in Egypt, Switzerland, London, Syria, a mansion on the Mediterranean Coast — swirling plots and sub-plots — intrigue, passion and deception. Magic!
The program starred Tom Hiddleston in the title role as the enigmatic Jonathan Pine and featured masterful performances by Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman. The audience couldn’t seem to get enough … and then, six episodes later, it was over. The story had been told. Master storyteller John LeCarrè had died. There would be no second season.
Not so fast … or in this case, not so slow.
Some ten years later, the second season of “The Night Manager” has returned, the cast still headed by Hiddleston and Laurie, this time supported by a new cast with a cameo appearance by Olivia Colman, and a very new story. Once again, production values have not been spared as the story ping-pongs back and forth between England and Columbia, wends its way through a storyline tightly wrapped with sub-plots, chases, escapes and deadly deceptions that hook the viewer in episode one and refuse to let go until the final scenes, which (no spoiler allowed) are simply heart-stopping.
The literary and family descendants of LeCarrè are very much a part of this new production. The Cornwell family have clearly inherited the creative gene from their father (LeCarrè was the pen name of David Cornwell). The family taste for intrigue and dramatic twist live on in fine measure. Dad may have passed on, but the high-intensity storytelling is very much alive and well.
And, the story. Could something as heinous as the act presented as the main plot fixture actually happen? Could the highest offices of a government be corrupted to the point that armaments could be diverted to rebel groups, graft and corruption become the “coin of the realm,” foreign governments toppled and the perpetrators allowed to easily slide into comfortable repose? As the story evolves, the likelihood of that happening becomes less and less a spun fiction and more and more a stark warning of what could … perhaps what will … happen.
Perhaps it already has.
Supporting roles in the current production continue to provide seasoned actors with platforms that sustain the tension as the story unwinds. Diego Calva is at one point the embodiment of evil and at others, so vulnerably human as he is revealed as the illegitimate child of Laurie’s Richard Onslow Roper. Noah Jupe, most recently of “Hamnet,” appears as Roper’s favored son. It is the embodiment of the irony of evil.
Season three of “The Night Manager” has already been announced as being in production, with Hiddleston and Laurie returning. That is some consolation as the final scenes of the current season unfold and leave us with too many questions. The cliff from which we’re hanging has us in such a precarious position, how can we quietly wait until season three is unveiled?
We may have to wait another year to see how the conflict of good and evil plays out in “The Night Manager,” but while we wait, season two is a delicious six-part indulgence.