The Night Agent Season 2 review: A tense, action-packed follow-up for Netflix hit

The Night Agent Season 2 is finally here, and thankfully, the follow-up season hold ups well against one of Netflix‘s biggest thriller hits to date.

When The Night Agent arrived on the streaming service back in 2023, it quickly climbed the charts and became one of the platform’s most-watched TV shows during that time. (When it comes to the most popular shows within the first 28 days, The Night Agent still sits in fourteenth place.)

So it’s no surprise that Season 2 has already drawn in hype, with fans of political thrillers looking to see what Peter Sutherland has got himself into with his new role in Night Action. But does it live up to expectations?

Well, when it comes to run-of-the-mill spy shows, Season 2 delivers nicely on the fist-to-fist fight scenes and twisty deceptions.

What is The Night Agent Season 2 about?

The Night Agent follows newly initiated Night Action agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) as he becomes caught up in another government conspiracy.

After Peter successfully saved the president in the first season, he’s now been promoted to Night Agent. However, when his latest mission goes horribly wrong, he’s forced to go MIA and confront another round of deep-rooted conspiracy that may lead him to uncovering an international intelligence leak with deadly repercussions.

As Peter reunites with Rose (Luciane Buchanan), the two have to go against every rule in the book as they hope to put a stop to a developing attack that could wipe out a city in the worst possible way. Meanwhile, Peter is still coming to terms with his new role and what it means for those around him.

Season 2 presents an exciting new conspiracy

All-in-all, Season 2’s ongoing intelligence mission is more exciting and desperate than that of the first, with the threat extending far beyond the White House walls and into the possibility of chemical warfare.

The addition of new characters, including Catherine (Amanda Warren) and Jacob Monroe (Louis Herthum) also add new stakes. Where Season 1 established that nobody could be trusted, Season 2 builds on the looming sense of unease and double-guessing everyone who comes along.

Netflix

But it’s the addition of Noor (Arienne Mandi), a low-level aide in the Iranian embassy in New York, that becomes the biggest success of The Night Agent’s newest episodes. Seeking information to share with US intelligence in order to gain asylum for her and her family, Noor’s mission is a deeply personal one.

While she’s unprepared for the level of involvement she’ll have to undertake, her drive and desperation to earn a better life becomes the heart of Season 2.

There are some loose threads remaining

Some of the more memorable parts of The Night Agent’s first season are left behind in favor of more action and the introduction of new characters.

For one, the big revelation about Peter’s father (that he really was an informant against the US Government) seems to fall to the wayside rather than play integral part of Peter’s first real round as an agent.

What this leaves is a slightly underdeveloped storyline that doesn’t give Peter much to do outside of his (admirable) fight scenes and chase sequences. There are a few callback moments to his father’s fate, particularly in the second half of the season, but it doesn’t feel like a worthy examination of this important piece of Peter’s past.

Netflix

But with Peter’s first official mission going so wrong and falling into such a consequential conspiracy, it might have added more weight to the pressure and responsibility he undoubtedly feels to live up to (or undo) his father’s legacy.

Equally, the relationship between Peter and Rose feels somewhat jilted at first – which, admittedly, is intentional in the early days of their reunion, though the initial glaze of awkwardness never truly lifts.

Dexerto Review Score: 3/5 – Good

As an action-driven thriller, The Night Agent Season 2 is a decent follow-up with an equally enticing mystery at the heart of things.

There’s genuine intensity driving the conspiracy forward, and a few key sequences (including Peter’s interference with a father and son duo and a chase through Bangkok) really stick out as being a triumph of the Netflix spy genre.

But where it flies as a perfectly serviceable tale of government moles and secret agents, it fails to be a truly character-driven story. There’s no real throughline between Season 1 and 2, but when the rest of the mission is this easy to enjoy, it may not matter to most.

The Night Agent Season 2 is available to stream on Netflix now.

For more, check out our guides to all the new movie releases on streaming, and all the new TV shows out this month. For more information on how we score TV shows and movies, check out our scoring guidelines here.