The Night Agent may have only just dropped on Netflix, but viewers are already hooked. The 10 episode action series follows FBI agent Peter Sunderland as he goes from a low-level agent working the night shift manning an often silent phone in the White House, to a fully-fledged field agent wrapped up in a dangerous political conspiracy.
Audiences watch on as Peter tries to save the country, rescue the Vice President’s daughter Maddie, and find an undercover mole, but with all of the action and a plot filled with twists and turns, the Netflix series has left The Night Agent ending needing some explanation.
The Night Agent ending explained
The ending of The Night Agent thankfully sees the Vice President’s daughter, Maddie, saved from her kidnappers. While this appeared to be the main plot of the series, throughout the episodes, viewers learn of an assassination plot hatched by Vice President Redfield, Peter’s boss, and the President’s Chief of Staff to kill a foreign leader named Omar Zadar and make it look like a terrorist attack. Peter, along with Maddie and his team, work together and successfully prevent the attack.
The President’s Chief of Staff and the Vice President are forced to stand trial for the assassination plot, and Peter is rewarded for his work by the President who offers him the position of the night agent.
There's also another happy ending, because even in hard-hitting spy dramas there is always room for love. Viewers were delighted when, after a lot of hints, Peter and his love interest Rose finally kissed and ended season one in a relationship, as Peter left for his new roles as the night agent.
Who was the mole in Netflix's The Night Agent?
The President’s Chief of Staff, Diane, is revealed as the mole in Netflix's The Night Agent despite her acting as one of Peter's closest government alliances throughout the entire first season. Peter appears to realise this in episode six as he is discussing his suspicions surrounding the Vice President, which end up being corroborated later, with Diane herself.
Viewers grew suspicious of Diane when she made a comment about one of Peter's friends when he had never mentioned anything about that friend to her before. Peter then begins to focus on Diane, for good reason, and eventually foils her plot.
Is The Night Agent based on a book?
Yes, Netflix's The Night Agent is based on the 2019 book The Night Agent by New York Times bestselling author Matthew Quirk. The book's description explains the story, saying "To save America from a catastrophic betrayal, an idealistic young FBI agent must stop a Russian mole in the White House in this exhilarating political thriller."
According to his website, before venturing into fiction, Matthew Quirk spent five years "reporting on crime, private military contractors, terrorism prosecutions, and international gangs" at The Atlantic, showing where his love of crime stories originates.
Matthew Quirk has also written 2012's The 500, 2017's Dead Man Switch, and 2020's Hour of the Assassin.
Will there be a season 2 of The Night Agent?
There has not yet been any announcements verifying whether Netflix's The Night Agent will be renewed for a second season. Considering the show has only been on the streamer for a few days, while it has so far received rave reviews, it is too early to know of the demand for more episodes.
While season one did not end on a cliffhanger, it did finish with Peter receiving a new post as the FBI's newest night agent. This job role definitely opens the door for the character to have some more exciting adventures and continue to experience Netflix-worthy drama. We can only cross our fingers!
