Every Plot Twist in The Night Agent, Explained (2024)

The Night Agent surprised everyone when it premiered on Netflix. What was seemingly going to be just another action thriller in an already oversaturated genre turned into one of the streamer’s biggest hit shows of the year. In fact, The Night Agent took the title of being the biggest series premiere for Netflix after Wednesday and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. While the series isn’t deeply cerebral or complex – this is bubble gum entertainment at its finest - the plot does have plenty of exciting twists and turns that made fans want to press play from one episode to the next.

From betrayals and the revealing of true identities to backstabbing, romances, and murder plots gone wrong, there is a lot going on in the series. The Night Agent begins with Peter (Gabriel Basso) sitting in a room with nothing but some paper reports and a phone, waiting for it to ring. But eventually, the young FBI agent gets the chance to show off his amazing skills as he's caught up in a large conspiracy. Through his dangerous and action-packed journey, several plot twists are revealed.

Rose Reveals the Meaning of Night Action

Rose's Aunt and Uncle Worked for a Secret Off-Books Government Group

Peter Sutherland is a Special Agent for the FBI who, after saving civilians from a bombing at the Metro station, is recruited by Diane Farr (Hong Chau), White House Chief of Staff. Initially excited about this supposed promotion, Peter soon realizes that the job isn't exactly glamorous. He works as a Night Action Telephone Operator, sitting in a basem*nt room in The White House, filling in reports and waiting for something to do. When the only phone in the room finally rings, he springs into action to answer it and figure out what these mysterious phone calls entail. On the other end of the phone is a terrified woman named Rose (Luciane Buchanan). She is hiding from assassins who just murdered her aunt and uncle. Rose's aunt gave her that number to call if there was ever an emergency.

Peter’s job never really made sense on The Night Agent, but it starts to come into focus when Rose rings the phone. Fans learn about the existence of Night Action and the night agents. What they do remains a mystery, but fans learn from the beginning of The Night Agent that, although Peter’s job is very boring, it is also very important.

Rose and Peter learn that her aunt and uncle worked in counterintelligence as night agents, part of a clandestine program with the FBI. These agents work on assignment from The White House, but typically, no one knows who they are nor what they do. After learning this, Rose is still suspicious of the information that The White House provides. Instead of taking the government's advice, she and Peter follow a trail based on what Rose overheard her aunt and uncle say about a White House traitor.

Vice President Redfield Is Revealed as the Mole

He Had Selfish and Nefarious Intentions

Vice President Ashley Redfield (Christopher Shyer) is an insincere The Night Agent character, and the show reveals early on that he is, in some way, a "bad guy." He’s a client of the assassins and the person who ordered the metro bombing. As Peter and Rose investigate and try to figure out who the suspected White House mole is, they are led to Turn Lake Industries, a government contractor suspected to be behind the bombing. Peter learns about them from the widow of the now-deceased FBI Deputy Director Jamie Hawkins (Robert Patrick).

Turn Lake is traced back to Redfield, who, as it turns out, was receiving major political donations from the company. Andrej Pavelić, a relative of the royal family in Serbia, was a vocal campaigner against contractors like Turn Lake conducting black ops in the Balkans. He was killed by assassins Ellen (Eve Harlow) and Dale (Phoenix Reai), as revealed in a flashback. Omar Zadar (Adam Tsekhman), PIF leader, was close to coming to an agreement with President Michelle Travers (Kari Matchett) to become an ally in the Balkans. But Redfield was so deeply against this that he went to extreme measures and tried to orchestrate the bombing to kill Zadar.

Further details about Redfield’s character are revealed in a flashback whereby his youngest daughter Sarah drowns in the family pool due to his negligence. Rather than admit his wrongdoing, he blames his older child, Maddie (Sarah Desjardins), for the event, driving a wedge between father and daughter. This ties into the present-day plot when viewers learn that Maddie returned to her old home to retrieve the old nanny came footage of Redfield assaulting her and blaming her for Sarah’s death. She had planned to leak the footage to ruin him once and for all. Matteo (Andre Anthony), meanwhile, kidnaps Maddie to prevent her from doing so.

The Identity of the Bomber Is Revealed

He Impersonated His Twin

While it's known that Redfield and Wick from Turn Lake Industries were behind the Metro bombing in some way, the actual person who carried out the attack isn't known until that twist is revealed. It was done by Colin Worley (Anthony), a former Turn Lake employee. His twin brother Matteo was killed by Turn Lake to cover their tracks, but the company didn't realize they killed the wrong man by accident.

Colin used the opportunity to take over his brother's identity while he was assumed dead. He kidnaps Maddie as leverage and urges Redfield to confess to ordering the bombing if he doesn't want Maddie to die. While Maddie is rescued eventually, Worley is killed by the assassin Ellen, who has been tracking them, right before Rose pushes her off a crane and kills her, too.

Diane Farr’s Betrayal Leaves Peter Gutted

She Was a Reluctant Accomplice

One of the biggest over-arching mysteries in all the episodes of The Night Agent is Diane Farr’s true motivations. Is she really on Peter’s side or has she been working with Redfield all along? While Peter is determined to trust her, it becomes difficult to do so when he suspects that she orders his arrest. Her suspicious behavior raises eyebrows as well, even though he doesn’t want to believe that she could betray him.

In a flashback episode, it’s revealed that Diane was indeed an accomplice, albeit a reluctant one. When she learned what Redfield was doing, she agreed to work with him, but only to protect the president’s reputation. If anything were to come out, Travers would be ruined.

Diane does try to help Peter and Rose enter Camp Wick, having no choice now that they know what she has done. There’s a suspected plot to assassinate Zadar underway, but Peter later discovers that the plot also involves killing Travers. This would allow Redfield to take over as president, and then issue pardons for himself and anyone else involved.

Diane’s involvement is one of the biggest twists of the series and does a number on Sutherland. He’s gutted to learn the truth about her. When she’s shot, Rose decides not to leave her for dead. Instead, they decide it’s more important for her to stand trial for her wrongdoings. This further solidifies Peter’s loyalty to his country and steadfast desire to always do the right thing.

Peter Learns the Truth About His Father

Was He a Traitor?

Once the bomb threat is literally diffused and Peter has saved the day, he is recognized by President Travers for the talent that he is. Throughout the series, one fact that has always loomed over Peter's head is the knowledge that people think his father was a traitor. He constantly lived in the shadow of his father's reputation, desperate to prove to others that they were wrong about his dad.

His father, Peter Sutherland Sr., previously worked for the FBI but was taken into custody for treason when Peter was young. He always believed in his father's innocence, but could never uncover the truth. Deep down, he also wondered if maybe his father was a bad guy, and lived his life to try and redeem the sullied reputation his father had left.

In a twist revealed at the end, Peter finally learns the truth as President Travers decides that he deserves to know. Now that she is offering him a position on the Night Action and he has proven himself trustworthy, she is comfortable telling him. Peter learns that his father was indeed a traitor. But his dad also realized the error of his ways and agreed to become a double agent right before his death. He was going to help the U.S. government but was assassinated before he could, not killed in a car accident as Peter had always been told.

This gives Peter some much-needed closure and allows him to finally move on, satisfied with the truth about an event that had haunted him his entire adult life.

The Night Agent

TV-MA

Action

Drama

Thriller

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Low-level FBI agent Peter Sutherland works in the basem*nt of the White House manning a phone that never rings - until the night it does, propelling him into a conspiracy that leads all the way to the Oval Office.

Release Date

March 23, 2023

Cast

Gabriel Basso , Luciane Buchanan , Fola Evans-Akingbola , Sarah Desjardins , Eve Harlow , Phoenix Raei

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

2

Creator

Shawn Ryan