Working an overnight shift is typically uneventful, depending on the job of course. You’re literally there in case something happens at a time when things usually don’t happen. A few customers might wander up to the drive-through or trudge in for a pack of gum. They call it the graveyard shift for a reason. Now take that third-shift mindset to the basement of the White House, waiting for emergency calls from spies. It’s going to be more intense, that is of course unless the phone never actually rings. Until one night, it does.
This is the premise of the new Netflix action thriller The Night Agent. We’ve been up to our necks in spy thrillers lately. From the John Krasinksi-led Tom Clancy adaptation Jack Ryan, to Charlie Cox’s across the pond MI6 series Treason, and the Russo Brothers rogue agent runs amok romp The Gray Man, the file of streaming espionage has grown significantly. Add The Night Agent to that dossier.
The Night Agent: The Plot
The Night Agent revolves around a cub FBI agent who mans a dusty phone beneath the halls of power. He acts as the emergency contact for spies who run into insurmountable trouble in the field. The stakes are high, but the action is low. The dust is kicked off the phone one night when it actually rings, and a terrified woman is on the other end of the line. The green fed is now charged with protecting this civilian from a deadly conspiracy that, of course, goes all the way to the top.
The official description of The Night Agent is below.
“Based on the novel by Matthew Quirk, the series is a sophisticated, character-based, action-thriller centering on a low level FBI Agent who works in the basement of the White House, manning a phone that never rings — until the night that it does, propelling him into a fast moving and dangerous conspiracy that ultimately leads all the way to the Oval Office.”
The series is based on a 2019 novel of the same name by author Matthew Quirk. The adaptation will come to life thanks to an avid reader, Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield. For such a heavyweight show creator to be so inspired that he wrote a pilot after finishing the final chapter tells us we could have an extremely compelling story and series in The Night Agent.
The Night Agent: The Cast & Crew
The Night Agent is utilizing mostly lesser-known actors to fill out its cast. The lead role of the newly-minted FBI agent Peter Sutherland is played by Gabriel Basso. Basso is best known for appearing in films such as Super 8, The Kings of Summer, and Hillbilly Elegy.
In an interview with Cinema Express, show creator Shawn Ryan said of Basso's character:
“Peter doesn’t exist in the novel as some kind of unbeatable killing machine superhero. He’s an FBI agent, so he has some training, but he’s not Jason Bourne. He’s not a trained assassin. He’s very much an underdog in the middle of all this. He’s someone who, when he’s in a fight, those bruises stick around. He’s not just miraculously recovered immediately afterwards.”
Luciane Buchanan portrays Rose Larkin, the frantic caller on the other end of the spy hotline. Buchanan has appeared in Stray, The New Legends of Monkey, and Baby Mama’s Club.
Filling out the cast will be Hong Chau (Downsizing, The Watchmen) as Diane Farr, the President’s Chief of staff. D.B. Woodside (Lucifer, Romeo Must Die, 24) portrays Erik Monks, an ex-Secret Service agent who is looking to return to the ranks of his former organization. Enrique Murciano (Without a Trace, Black Hawk Down) appears as Ben Almora, the even-keeled handler of all Secret Service activity within the White House. The series will additionally feature Eve Harlow as Ellen, an unstable killer who bites off more than she can chew. Sarah Desjardins appears as Maddie Redfield and Fola Evans-Akingbola portrays Chelsea Arrington.
The series is created and will be run by the aforementioned Ryan, with Seth Gordon directing the ten-episode run. Gordon is known for his work on The Lost City, Cry Wolf, Pixels and The Goldbergs. The writing team consists of Corey Deshon (Daughter), Seth Fisher (The Alienist, Masters of Sex, Saints & Strangers), and Ryan himself. Ryan spoke to Netflix about who should be watching the series.
“If you like the Jack Ryan books, the Jack Reacher books, if you like the Bourne Identity stuff, if you like political intrigue, then The Night Agent is for you."
Release Date
All ten episodes of The Night Agent will start streaming on Netflix on March 23.
As we said, spy stuff has been piling up on the streaming services, but the quality has been there. Hopefully, The Night Agent can keep this trend moving on an upward trajectory.