Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Night Agent Season 2.Theending of Season 2 ofThe Night Agenthas arguably left the show in a fantastic position for Peter (Gabriel Basso) to delve into the darkest corruption yet, going all the way to the Oval Office with Monroe (Louis Herthum), the intelligence broker, holding the leash on the next President of the United States of America. However, new beginnings should be coupled with final endings for some storylines. Whilst they may be the beating heart of the show, we need to accept thatPeter and Rose’s (Luciane Buchanan) journey together has endedand to continue it would be a mistake forShawn Ryan.
Not only did the writing in Season 2 feel stretched at times to justify Rose’s involvement, but Season 2 leaves the pair in positions where they can move forward without each other for the better. IfSeason 3 ofThe Night Agentwants to get as dark as it seems to promise, then it can’t be wasting time on character arcs that have ended. Furthermore,by isolating Peter without Rose, we can explore a darker side to the characterthat the show has only scratched the surface of so far.
Rose’s Involvement in ‘The Night Agent’ Feels Contrived
ThroughoutSeason 1 ofThe Night Agent, it was fascinating to watch Rose become more and more active in the investigation, and since it was her aunt and uncle who had been killed, we got emotive scenes that justified her being there. It was a great use of character motivations and traits to further the narrative and explore a character’s inner arc. However, these scenes became staler as the season continued.Rather than an emotive need to find her family’s killers, Rose’s reasons became logistical, such as having access to a “proprietary search engine.” Traits like this felt superficial, as surely the government would have the best tracking and facial recognition software. Peter even suggests that she should work for the NSA before Rose denies out ofethical reasoning, seemingly hanging a lantern on the issue, a trick screenwriters use to make the audience aware that they know if something doesn’t entirely make sense.
However, there can be such a thing as too many lanterns to be hung, with the audience only willing to suspend disbelief for so long. When the use of Adverse then became a problem in her storyline, with her CEO angry, she sorted that issue out in one scene, even commenting on the quick reversal by saying she wanted to quit and ended up getting a promotion. Therefore, rather than feeling natural, it felt contrived, andthe back and forth between Rose wanting to stay or go, which we see happen in Episodes 3 and 7, became rather predictable.
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‘The Night Agent’ Concludes Peter and Rose’s Relationship Effectively
The Night Agentleaves Peter and Rose in positions where they have agreed never to make contact again, and it is for the better. When Rose then meets up with Noor (Arienne Mandi) at the end, there is a sense that both of these women are finally free and can move forward, whereas dragging Rose back in would feel like backtracking on her character’s arc ofovercoming the traumashe has from Season 1. Similarly,Peter is left in a more isolated and dangerous position than ever before, so his contacting her would feel equally contrived and irresponsible from the character, who supposedly cares about Rose. Peter’sisolation, now that he is completely off the grid, also sets up a fascinating plotline of Peter trying to stay good without Rose by his side, as we saw that when she wasn’t around, he was more likely to bend or break the rules, such as kidnapping Warren (Teddy Sears), releasing Solomon (Berto Colon), or helping Monroe.
This isn’t to say Rose and Peter’s relationship was poorly done. Far from it. It is because of how well Shawn Ryan and the writers developed these characters that it would be better to quit while they are ahead. Even by the end of Season 2, Rose’s involvement was becoming unnecessary, with the writers seemingly agreeing via the use of awkward dialogue. With how the show leaves the characters,the best material to explore appears to lie ahead in new territoryrather than backtracking on what are currently effectively concluded arcs for the interpersonal dynamic between Peter and Rose.
The Night Agent
