The Night Agent came out a few weeks ago on Netflix and quickly became very popular, so much so that it’s already been picked up for a second season. I watched it as soon as it came out and pretty much ended up binge watching it. Clearly many people felt similarly but the question can be asked, why was it so popular?
Most shows or films that do well have to do with the marketing beforehand. You get excited for it with teaser trailer, trailers, press tours and when it’s finally released, you want to see what It’s all about. The Night Agent, didn’t seem to have that. The only bit of promotional material I saw was on the Netflix carousel where it showed that it was being released in the next week. It did have a great picture to accompany it though. Personally, I think it’s safe to say that the success wasn’t due to the marketing.
From interviews I’ve seen of Gabriel Basso (who plays Peter Sutherland), it seems even the team who were working on The Night Agent couldn’t have predicted this level of success. It ultimately comes down to three things: the story line, the acting and the editing.
The Story Line:
We start the show with some thrills pretty quickly. Peter Sutherland is introduced to us as having a traitor for a father and is desperate to redeem himself with the FBI, and then we have Rose (played by Luciane Buchanan) who is a tech entrepreneur, very smart but unfortunately, her business failed and she goes to stay with her aunt and uncle. She ends up in a situation where she needs to call a secret phone number has her life is endanger and then Peter answers. From that point on, there is a lot of action, and the plot line gets increasingly complex.
The pace of the show is what keeps you hooked. There isn’t any of it that feels like filler and for me, I loved that we start with a little bit of romance but then end up with conspiracy. There’s plenty of action in there too but it doesn’t feel prolonged. There’s not much more I can say about the story line without giving too much away but what makes it a great piece of writing is that everything is connected and by the end, you feel satisfied with the answers.
The Acting:
The chemistry between Rose and Peter is unreal and this part is partially connected to the story line but I thought it’d go well here. Peter starts off as the ‘protector’ role which fits into a lot of romance tropes but as the story develops, Peter and Rose end up equals and have to protect each other. For me, this was a fantastic piece of writing. Often when there is a male ‘protector’ you’ll notice the female lead at some point takes charge and then the male becomes the ‘sidekick’ and I hate that, as it ruins the power balance in the relationship and throws the chemistry off.
Basso and Buchanan perform perfectly together and everything they do feels real. It didn’t feel too far fetched and they aren’t superhuman, they just figure stuff out together.
Another fantastic duo in this show are the assassins (played by Eve Harlow from the 100, and Phoenix Raei from Clickbait). The contrast between calm and chaos is great to watch and by bringing and element of humanity to what they do, it makes it that much more interesting to watch the chase. They aren’t just faceless enemies.
The final duo that I feel implored to mention are the secret service duo who are assigned to protect the senators daughter. You’ve got Chelsea (played by Fola Evans-Akingbola from Black Mirror) and Erik (played by D.B. Woodside, from Lucifer). There is tension between the two, but on their journey, they develop a friendship but the best part is, they aren’t written as mindless police. At a crucial moment, they make decisions that feel realistic rather than plot driven and that makes it all the more interesting to see how it would work out.
Unfortunately, the only acting I did not like was that of Diane Farr (played by Hong Chau). It felt off from the first episode and the only bits I found believable were when she was talking about the president. The character was quite complex so I think it may be that Chau’s performance decision was to make it unreadable to the viewers but Diane Farr was the character I felt no connection to.
The Editing:
Editing is the thing that pulls it all together and the team did an incredible job. You feel immersed in the action sequences and you can capture each important detail but subtly. Nothing is too obvious, but the scenes are also pulled together perfectly. The final part of editing I want to mention is the beautiful colour grading. Just the colours used helps indicate what you should be feeling, whether it’s a safe scene or dark. Considering the whole show is about nine hours long, it feels like a well executed movie.
Overall, it’s definitely worth watching but if you are looking to make your own show or film, it’s a great idea to pay attention to how it all pulls together.
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