Based on the same name by Matthew Quirk, this series revolves around the story of FBI’s top-secret program called the Night Action. It’s a literal underground program designed to manage Night Agent who are specialized and trained to carry out high level espionage while keeping their identities hidden.
Their job is to be as clandestine as possible by blending in the immediate localities and working stealthily towards the given target.
Emma and Henry Campbell are ordinary upper middle class residents in Virginia seemingly unnoticed from the world. But their perfectly hidden identities emerge as unnamed assailants barge into their home to extract an important intel. Their refusal to compromise their realities and share classified information results in their untimely deadly end. Unfortunately, their niece- Rose Larkin gets caught in the crossfire and requires to activate Night Action as per Emma and Henry’s last wish.
Even before she could come to terms with their unfortunate demise, she has to face the brutal reality behind it. Peter Sutherland is the Night Agent who is charged with her responsibility to keep her safe from the assailants who could threaten her life being the sole witness of Campbell tragedy.
On the other hand, Peter Sutherland is notified by a possible leak in the White House by the Chief of Staff Diane Farr. Considering this is linked to the Campbell incident, they decide to keep Rose Larkin close and involved in the ongoing investigation.
During the course of this investigations, Peter and Rose manage to unearth critical plots threatening the national security and are ultimately rewarded for their contributions by the President.
This somewhat concludes the first season, at the end of which Peter and Rose part ways as romantic interest moving towards parallel existence for the sake of their individual duties.
The second season starts ten months after the first season where Peter is working as an undercover secret agent in Thailand. Once again his and his partner- Alice Leeds’ cover is attacked by unidentified assailants while chasing an important espionage lead. It brings their mission to a crashing halt and Peter decides to pivot in search of the link connecting Alice’s brutal murder to espionage actors inside the government.
Thus, Peter is suddenly back in the United States as an undercover agent carrying out his own investigation without involving the official FBI channel or even his handler, Catherine Weaver. As his investigation threatens to uncover hidden secrets, the alleged perpetrators reach out to Rose and force her to find Peter for the sake of his safety. From this point onwards, the second season picks up speed as Rose and Peter combine their forces and literally race against time to uncover truth.
While the first season starts on a high note and delivers bang for the bucks, keeping audiences hooked till the end with unexpected twists and turns thrown in between. However, the second season begins on the promise of keeping the momentum from season one going, soon fells flat. The reason behind the slow and uninteresting drag of this second season is its execution. It doesn’t feel polished and well planned as the story goes haywire in multiple directions like the poorly planned chase in Thailand, the failed leak inside the Iranian Mission, the revolt in an east European country, making of mass poisonous substances and such. It doesn’t offer a coherent idea about the theme behind the second season as it look like the makers try to combine multiple trending topics with strained connections at best.
As expected from Netflix, the production values are top notch. Even the lead actors put adequate efforts to deliver their parts. Although the chemistry between Peter and Clair looks artificial for most of the time, it comes across as an unnecessary tangent to an already complicated plot.
Till the time production rolls out for season three, you can consider these two seasons at least for an easy one time watch. Please let me know in the comments below your thoughts on these earlier seasons if you have already watched them.