The Night Agent returns: Inside 2025's hottest spy drama 

When The Night Agent debuted on Netflix in 2023, it emerged as an unassuming sleeper hit—a throwback conspiracy thriller that leaned on tight plotting, relentless twists, and an earnest, everyman hero in Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso). Against the odds, it clawed its way into the platform’s most-viewed charts and earned a spot on critics’ year-end lists, proving that straightforward, well-executed storytelling could still captivate in an era of flashier prestige dramas.

Season two builds on that foundation, shifting gears from domestic political intrigue to a broader espionage thriller. The result is a sophomore outing that’s both familiar and refreshed—bigger in scope, messier in execution, but still undeniably gripping when it hits its stride.

The transition feels natural enough. After thwarting a presidential assassination in season one, Peter is no longer the rookie FBI agent manning a basement phone. Ten months into his tenure as a full-fledged Night Agent—a covert operative for a shadowy intelligence outfit—he’s thrust into a high-stakes mission tracking leaked CIA intel.

The season opener sees him in Bangkok and New York, chasing a USB drive of secrets alongside his partner Alice (Brittany Snow), only for their cover to blow and tragedy to strike. From there, the plot spirals into a web of Eastern European warlords, Iranian defectors, and chemical warfare threats, pulling Peter—and the audience—into a geopolitical chess game that echoes the fraught international stakes of Homeland more than the insular Washington betrayal of season one.

Creator Shawn Ryan (The Shield) keeps the pacing relentless, a signature strength of the series. Much like its predecessor, season two weaves disparate threads into a cohesive, propulsive narrative. The writing doesn’t overwhelm, even as it juggles dense layers of intrigue—think covert missions in Tehran, double-crosses at the UN, and a mole named Noor (Arienne Mandi) risking her life inside the Iranian ambassador’s mansion.

It’s not groundbreaking television, but it’s executed with a craftsman’s precision, delivering the kind of edge-of-your-seat tension that makes you forgive the occasional stretch of believability. A standout episode set at a diplomatic gathering, where Peter and his tech-savvy love interest Rose (Luciane Buchanan) infiltrate enemy territory, crackles with suspense, while a later foray into Iran mines every ounce of danger from its hostile setting.

Peter remains the show’s beating heart, and Basso’s performance continues to anchor the chaos. He’s still the square-jawed, morally unshakable hero we met in season one, but season two tests that goodness in new ways. Now a seasoned agent, he grapples with the ethical grayness of his job—most notably in his dealings with Noor, whose cooperation hinges on withheld truths. Basso conveys Peter’s internal conflict with subtle heft, adding depth to a character who could easily feel one-note in lesser hands. It’s a smart evolution, ensuring The Night Agent doesn’t stagnate even as it doubles down on its core appeal: a good guy punching above his weight in a world of bad actors.

The supporting cast shines, too. Mandi’s Noor brings a fragile intensity to her arc, her every move shadowed by the threat of a brutal regime. Newcomers like Rob Heaps, as the smarmy son of a Balkan dictator, and Marwan Kenzari, as a fellow Night Agent with his own agenda, inject fresh energy into the ensemble.

Meanwhile, Amanda Warren’s Catherine, Peter’s steely boss, offers a grounded counterpoint to the heroics. And then there’s Rose, whose romance with Peter—chaste by today’s TV standards—deepens into a quiet emotional lifeline. Their bond, though sparingly explored amidst the action, pays off in the season’s final stretch, particularly in a heartfelt exchange that underscores why they’re better together.

Where season two falters, however, is in its refusal to fully embrace its own ambitions. The shift to a grander scale is exciting, but it exposes the show’s self-imposed limits. The Night Agent still shies away from the sexiness, humor, or stylistic flair of its genre peers—think James Bond’s polish or Reacher’s wry edge. It’s stubbornly unpretentious, which is both its charm and its Achilles’ heel.

Early episodes flirt with redundancy, retreading familiar beats (Peter going rogue, shootouts in dingy alleys) before the larger plot kicks in. And while the action sequences remain crisp and well-choreographed, the lack of tonal variety can make the ride feel flatter than it should.

Audience reception reflects this tension. On Rotten Tomatoes, season two boasts an impressive 86% from critics, a step up from season one’s 74%, praising its escalation and craft. Yet general viewers have been harsher, dropping it to a 43% approval rating (based on roughly 250 reviews as of now), a stark contrast to the first season’s 78%. The divide suggests a show caught between satisfying its loyalists and stretching beyond its original blueprint—some crave the scrappy simplicity of season one, while others find the sophomore effort’s earnestness too quaint in 2025’s cynical landscape.

Does it matter? Not entirely. The Night Agent isn’t chasing trends or prestige—it’s a meat-and-potatoes thriller that knows its lane and runs it well. When it leans into its strengths—breathless missions, impossible odds, and Peter’s dogged heroism—it’s as addictive as ever. The body count rises, the stakes soar, and by the finale, you’re left both satisfied and hungry for more. It may not reinvent the wheel, but it lands its punches with enough force to keep you hooked. For a show that started as an underdog, that’s no small feat.

Collider and Fangirlish contributed to this article.