Intrigue … murder … conspiracy … deception … corruption in the highest level of government. That’s not a brief summary of the evening news, it’s the intertwined plot lines of “The Night Agent,” now offering its third season on Netflix.
Like so many multi-episode and multi-season programs, starting with season one, episode one is highly recommended. Like the old adage “You can’t tell the players without a program,” and following Gabriel Basso’s adventures as agent Peter Sutherland requires a bit of concentration. The effort, however, is well worth it. When a lowly FBI agent rises from answering the overnight help line in the White House to becoming a globe-trotting “night agent,” each episode over its current three season offering has a new, adrenaline triggering twist.
As with so many procedural dramas brought from book to screen (Matthew Quirk’s novel was the basis of the series) “The Night Agent” often borders on super-human escapes and visual effects, but seems to step back from the precipice at the right moment. Even when the “widening gyre” of conspiracy snakes through the White House in season 3, the impractical becomes believable.
There are love interests woven into the plot lines, which manage to keep the unfolding action that much more encompassing. Luciane Buchanan appears as Rose Larkin in seasons 1 and 2, only to be dismissed as young Mr. Sutherland’s character realizes that romantic entanglements cannot co-exist well with the peripatetic action his character demands.
So, in season 3, we’re off to Istanbul, engaged with another captivating partner in intrigue, Isabel DeLeon, portrayed with smoldering intensity by Genesis Rodriguez. Will they fall in love? Won’t they? The show runner has left a potential clue in the season’s final episode, allowing the by now exhausted audience to decide for themselves.
It’s a wonderful exhaustion, however. Oh, sure… there are a number of assassinations, frightening characters in sub-plots (Stephen Moyer called only “the Father” is so convincing, you’ll want to watch your cocktail glass if you grab a beverage at the bar) and smooth, elegantly evil characters who seem to soar above the deadly action … until they don’t. Louis Herthun defies definition through all three seasons as Jacob Monroe … a character so mysterious that it is well into season 3 before the audience even knows his character name. And, Ward Horton’s depiction of a flawed President, who with his scheming wife played by Jennifer Morrison seem to float above the consequences of their actions, manages to show just how impervious the office can be to consequences.
Production of season 4 of “The Night Agent” has been announced, and those who ravenously consumed the first three seasons have exhibited the same impatience exhibited waiting for the “Peaky Blinders” film and the not-to-be-confused next “The Night Manager” season. It would seem that our appetite for intense action seasoned with a measure of sex and violence is never sated.
Be assured, however, that until the next wave of viewable feature films appears at a theatre near you, evenings spent binging “The Night Agent” will be their own reward.