The Night Agent review: Generic yet so entertaining

In The Night Agent, Peter, a low-level FBI agent, joins Rose Larkins to investigate a conspiracy at the White House when Larkins’ uncle and aunt get killed trying to uncover it. The series is now streaming on Netflix.

Story

Despite saving a number of people from a metro bombing, Peter Sutherland, a low-level FBI agent, is blamed for the very same terror attack, just because his father was considered to be a traitor to the country.

Peter is demoted and offered a position at Night Action, a top-secret investigative program within the FBI. Peter’s job is to sit in the basement of the White House and pick up calls from the Night Agents who would require help when things go out of hand.

All Peter would have to do is pass the message to the Deputy Director of the FBI, Jamie Hawkins, or the president’s chief of staff, Diane Farr. Peter sees this job as a glorified 911 for FBI agents, where the phone rarely ever rings.

A year later, the phone does ring. Rose Larkin, the former CEO of a cyber-security firm, makes the call after her uncle and aunt, who were secretly FBI agents, are unceremoniously killed by assassins.

With the help of Peter, she manages to escape, but she is not ready to trust anyone because before her uncle and aunt were killed, she overheard them talking about an attack taking place in seven days and a traitor that is working at the White House. 

Performances

Gabriel Basso delivers a promising performance as Peter Sutherland. He is playing a generic action hero who loves his homeland, is deemed incompetent by his seniors but loved by a specific one, and comes with a dark past.

Even with all the cliche attributes, Basso plays Peter with utter sincerity, and he stays true to the role, which will make the viewers accept him. One can say he balances his below-the-paygrade and competent sides well.

Luciane Buchanan as Rose Larkin creates space for herself. She doesn’t really rely on Basso’s Peter, and her character does come with her own sets of skills that Peter can’t perform.

The rest of the cast is playing the same-old characters that an action thriller or a spy thriller is made of. These may include cunning politicians, vicious assassins, and higher officials who won’t listen.

Positives

The show creates good conflicts and obstacles in the lead characters’ ways that will have the viewers enjoy the ride. These obstacles could be predictable and unpredictable at the same time.

One thing that helps the general plot elevate to another level is that the show has smart characters that don’t play dumb and stick to a certain level of intelligence, which is usually the case in some thrillers. In The Night Agent, ‘spies’ actually mean spies who are very careful and particular about their next moves.

The kind of characters Peter and Rose face are challenging and great decision-makers who don’t fall into traps that easily. Thus, they will leave you flabbergasted at times because, at first, the viewers are made to believe these are generic action characters.

The show doesn’t put much focus on Peter and Rose’s developing relationship. The viewers will accept them the way they are, and even if the show would have decided not to make them a couple, their dynamic would still have been enjoyable.

Negatives

The Night Agent suffers from its generic tone and characters that may remind you of TV procedural crime dramas. This tone may not appeal to some of the viewers initially.

The generic tone is, at times, accompanied by cheesy dialogue and give-and-take—the kind of dialogue where you can guess what the other character is going to say next.

The Night Agent tries to focus on the past and relationships of the antagonists too, but it fails to have the viewers connect with them. For example, it feels like there is an attempt to make the assassins coming at Rose likable to some extent.

Verdict

The Night Agent is an action thriller that is cheesy and generic but still manages to engross the viewers. With smart characters and great conflicts, it promises an engaging binge-watch.

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