The Night Agent Review

Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) is an FBI agent parked on the night shift in the White House basement, minding a phone that never rings, until Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) calls it after her aunt and uncle are murdered. Shawn Ryan, who created The Shield, adapted Matthew Quirk's novel for Sony Pictures Television, and the first season runs on the old engine: a mole high in the government, a pair of hired killers and a cliffhanger per episode.

Lucy Mangan called it propulsive, slick fun and credited Basso with finding two or three notes in a one-note part, which is fair, and Hong Chau sharpens every scene as the chief of staff. Mike Hale found it cheerfully, maddeningly implausible, and that is the other half of the verdict. The dialogue is mostly exposition delivered at a run, and the conspiracy holds together only while it is moving.

Later seasons send Peter to New York and an Iranian mission at the United Nations, then, without Buchanan, into a plot around a new President, and the reviews warmed a little. By Netflix's own figures it was the most watched original on the service in the first half of 2023, and a fourth season, announced as the last, is on the way. It is competent and rarely more.