The first season premiered in 2022. It centered on a young handsome man who is pulled into international espionage and government conspiracies that turn deadly. The following year, the first season of The Night Agent (2023) also premiered. It centered on a young handsome man who is pulled into international espionage and government conspiracies. Both shows involved the young man in question going on the run because he was blamed for death and destruction, ultimately having to go to extreme lengths to rescue a woman. This year, both shows had second seasons released within the same month and within a week of each other. There are a lot of similarities, but there are differences. The first is the tone. This series has a more comedic tone. It's attempting to be more funny.
Noah Centineo (Black Adam and To All the Boys I've Loved Before) stars as Owen Hendricks, a lawyer for the C.I.A., who like the protagonist in The Night Agent wasn't looking for an adventure but got pulled into one. A set of dominoes fell that forced him into action. The difference is Owen not being trained for action. He's a tall guy in great shape. He can certainly handle himself, but he wasn't trained to fight or shoot a weapon. He has no field experience unlike the CIA operatives who he has to counsel or give advice. So, a lot of the humor comes from Owen going into the field often in foreign countries and then having to fight his way out from people trying to kill him. His fight scenes are basically him bumbling his way to victory. It's almost slapstick yet the choreography can be brutal.
Colton Dunn (Superstore and Key and Peele) co-stars as Lester Kitchens, a CIA operative who is the opposite of Owen. He has field experience. He has training in fighting and using weapons. He's also been in the agency longer and has more knowledge, as well as more relationships. He knows everybody. He also knows all the terms and this show throws out all the jargon. Whether it's accurate or not, the actors sell it. Unlike Owen, Lester knows when to quit when a mission goes wrong. He's more likely to walk away and do what's easier and safer. He's also less likely to push and go beyond what might be normal CIA behavior. He's also more cynical or jaded, whereas Owen is more hopeful and caring.
One of the differences between Owen and Lester is in these situations in which they find themselves. Lester knows that killing others is often necessary and Lester has no hesitation with doing it. Owen is the opposite. He doesn't want to kill. He would and often does hesitate from killing. Unfortunately, he's forced to do so depending on the circumstance. As he goes along, he's pushed to do more things he probably wouldn't. At every step, his morality is tested and what he'll do that further compromises him is tested. By the end, a question is, "How cynical and jaded will he become?"
Teo Yoo (Past Lives and Decision to Leave) joins the cast this season as Jang Kyun Kim, an agent working for the NIS, which is South Korea's version of the CIA. One day, he realizes that his wife has gone missing and his belief is that his wife was kidnapped in connection to the work being done not only at the NIS but also at the CIA. For some reason, he can't ask the NIS for help. Instead, he uses what's called "graymail" against the CIA. Graymail is like blackmail but it involves threatening to release government secrets in order to get that government to do something. That graymail lands in Owen's hands and unless Owen helps Jang Kyun to rescue his wife, Jang Kyun will release American secrets.
What secrets Jang Kyun has and where his wife is become the main mysteries of this season. In a lot of ways, Jang Kyun is the adversary of our protagonists. At the same time, his love for his wife is the heart of this season. His love and his passion to find her are incredible. However, there is another heart and that's Owen's love for Hannah, played by Fivel Stewart (Umma and Atypical). Hannah is one of Owen's roommates and also someone he used to date. He was very much romantically involved with her, but they had to breakup. One of the causes is that Owen doesn't want to put Hannah in danger. He realizes his work can have collateral damage. He doesn't want Hannah to get hurt because of him. Unfortunately, Owen's mission in South Korea would seem to be so far from Hannah that she wouldn't be affected at all. Yet, she does get affected. She clearly has feelings for him, but she can't take the danger. She can't run into it like Owen can.
The supporting cast is excellent. One character who was a rather minor figure in the first season was Janus Ferber, played by Kristian Bruun (Murdoch Mysteries and Orphan Black). His role gets upgraded in the second season and he becomes even more comic relief. If Lester is cynical and jaded about working at the CIA, then Janus is even more so. Janus might even be to the max cynical and jaded. Of everyone who hates Owen and that's almost everyone, Janus might hate Owen the most. Janus also has no trouble telling Owen so. He does end up reluctantly helping Owen though, so it's funny.
Some of the other cool supporting characters include Dawn Gilbane, played by Angel Parker (The Rookie and Runaways). Dawn is probably the most hardened CIA agent that exists in this narrative. She's also the most cutthroat. She could be described as a psychopath but her psychopathy is a brilliant foil for who Owen is and how he operates. Vondie Curtis-Hall (Justified: City Primeval and Chicago Hope) plays Walter Nyland, one of the directors at the CIA and he's the boss of Owen and the others. He's the stern taskmaster that is present in so many films and television shows, but Curtis-Hall brings a comedic gravity to the role that is also entertaining and makes him memorable even in the few scenes in which he has.
Rated TV-MA-LV.
Running Time: 1 hr. / 6 eps.
Available on Netflix.