Netflix ‘The Night Agent’ Season 3 Review - Slick, Smooth, and Efficient

The third season of The Night Agent opens with these words from Peter's mother: "Do the right thing even if it's hard." Having known Peter (Gabriel Basso) for two seasons now, we can confidently say that he will obey this command under any and every circumstance. What do you know? Season 3 opens with him carrying out an operation that puts a husband and wife behind bars. They tell Peter they are ex-Pentagon employees and entered this illegal business to recover what they were owed for all those years of service as government agents. In these few seconds, they come across as innately kind and decent people, which is why, when Peter calls in his team, we feel a little sad. The couple, alas, is arrested and separated from their child.

This opening tells you quite a bit about what will happen in this third season. That parent-child split is not limited to the first few minutes. Season 3, in fact, has more such instances. One of the new characters here is a journalist named Isabel (Genesis Rodriguez), and she is estranged from her father. A hitman (Stephen Moyer) looks after a boy (Callum Vinson) who, we soon learn, is not his biological son. You could say that the boy is sundered from his real parents—he, of course, doesn't know that. Then, obviously, there is Peter and his dead parents. Finally, there is the gap between the POTUS and FLOTUS and the citizens of America. One can—bear with me—see the President and the First Lady as parents of their countrymen, and if they are not fairly and democratically elected and have skeletons in their closet, then discord arises between the politicians and the voters—or between the "parents" and their "children."

It's no surprise that the real villains in Season 3 turn out to be the First Lady and the President. The Night Agent is, in its own way, trying to be relevant. This doesn't mean it scores brownie points by merely hitting obvious targets. The third season is as exciting as the other two. Netflix often gets flak for churning out disposable content, but with shows like The Diplomat, The Lincoln Lawyer, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, and The Night Agent, the streaming service proves that a part of it still knows how to bet on the right horse. What I immediately liked about Season 3 is that it understands how much time passes before we get to watch new episodes and that not everybody would have the time to refresh their memory by sitting through ten whole episodes—make that twenty if we take both seasons into account. So what does creator Shawn Ryan do? He takes us into a new storyline, a new mission, and dispenses the required information from earlier episodes through brief dialogue. As a result, you don't find it difficult to get involved in what's happening now, and at the same time, you grasp what has already happened—at least the highlights.

Towards the end of the second season, Peter reluctantly shook hands with Jacob Monroe (Louis Herthum), an intelligence broker, and, at Catherine's (Amanda Warren) instructions, became a double agent. If you think you have an idea of how the series will continue from this point on, think again, because Season 3 has many surprises in store. I'm not just thinking about the deaths that are superbly and unsentimentally handled, but also about the trajectory of a bad guy like Jacob in this show. Without delving into spoilers, let's just say that almost everyone this season is physically and emotionally vulnerable. Some are burdened by the weight of their mortality, some are distraught because of their strained relationships with their children, and some are worried about sensitive leaks that could destroy their image and careers. The fact that Season 3 allows its villains to be fragile makes them fascinating to watch. They make choices that send the story in interesting directions, keeping things fresh and engaging throughout.

Another aspect of The Night Agent that appeals to viewers is its attention to minor details, such as how it casually depicts the lives of small, inconsequential characters going about their everyday routines in the background. It's evident in the scene where a cook and a guard exchange friendly comments in front of Isabel at Jacob's house. What's also amusing is how some details that seem insignificant at first prove to be of great importance later. All those first-edition novels, for instance, sitting in Jacob's mansion like museum pieces, don't just signify a harmless quirk. There is a reason why Jacob has collected those books, and the answers are deeply personal. Amid all the emotional grief and tense encounters, the show finds enough room for humor, as is apparent when Peter's partner is stuck in a room while two characters suddenly start having sex. I was initially tickled by the sight of a PlayStation controller, but it serves its purpose elsewhere later, popping up like a dark joke that hits you at an unexpected moment.

If Ryan's action thriller still has more juice left, it should definitely return for another run. The Night Agent is slick, smooth, and efficient. From the word go, it grabs you and never, even for a second, becomes a chore to watch. If more creators can pull off what Ryan has done here, I don't think anybody would mind sitting through ten—or even more—50-minute episodes. The boredom arises when the story is thin, and the series moves without any clear purpose. Thank God, The Night Agent doesn't suffer from this problem. It moves with a sense of direction. Ryan knows exactly what he wants to do with his thriller.

Final Score- [8/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times