Tag: Spy

Updated 01.25.25 — See updates below.

After a nearly two-year wait one of the best shows on Netflix just dropped its second season, and it’s great. If you enjoy high-octane action, nefarious terrorist plots and plenty of tense espionage, you’re in for a treat.

The Night Agent is a no-frills, unpretentious spy thriller that should please anyone who enjoys the genre. It combines a competent plot with a likeable cast of heroes and villains. The second season is out now on Netflix, but if you missed the first you should definitely start there.

Season 1 of The Night Agent introduces us to the secretive Night Action program, a top-secret federal team of spies that investigate corruption within the United States government, finding moles and double-agents in the CIA and even the upper echelons of power.

The story follows Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) who is given a job answering a telephone in a secret room in the White House. He’s basically the dispatcher for Night Action, but soon he finds himself caught up in a plot that stretches all the way to the Oval Office. He meets Rose (Luciane Buchanan) after he receives a distress call, and from here things go from bad to worse. The duo is faced with double-crosses, intense chases and plenty more as they try to stay alive and figure out who’s pulling the strings.

Forbes‘The Night Agent’ Season 2 Review: Netflix’s Best Spy Thriller Is A Genuine BlastBy Erik Kain

Season 2 adds a few new layers of complexity to the mix, juggling several subplots filled with intrigue, international espionage and even more dire stakes. Just like the first season, this is a series that isn’t trying to be super sexy or super smart, but carries out its spycraft with workmanlike efficiency. Yes, it’s over-the-top a lot of the time, but its leads are down to earth and relatable and it’s entertaining from the get-go.

If you’re looking for a binge this weekend, and especially if you’re a fan of shows like Slow Horses, Reacher, Killing Eve and Jack Ryan, do yourself a favor and give The Night Agent a shot.

Update 1.25.25

While The Night Agent is a fun spy show, it’s not the only one you should check out if you’re a fan of the genre. Here are a few other spy thrillers that are must-see TV and should help scratch that particular itch.

Slow Horses (Apple TV)

Slow Horses is the only show on Apple TV that gives Severance a run for its money. This is the sharpest, most tightly-paced and written spy shows currently airing. It’s also hilarious. Gary Oldman leads a tremendous cast as Jackson Lamb, the curmudgeonly, slovenly boss of Slough House, where MI5 sends its rejects. Every season so far has been absolutely brilliant, edge-of-your-seat television.

The Night Manager (Hulu)

This BBC limited series is based off the 1993 novel by John le Carré. It stars Tom Hiddleston as the night manager of a Cairo hotel who gets mixed up in a dangerous plot. Hugh Laurie plays a ruthless arms dealer. The cast is rounded out by Elizabeth Debicki, Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander and David Harewood. Like all le Carré espionage, this is a slow burn that builds up to a crackling finale.

Homeland (Paramount+)

One of the best spy thrillers of all time, Homeland is a must-watch entry in the genre, and with eight seasons this should give you plenty to watch. The first season is still one of the best seasons of TV I’ve ever seen. Claire Danes plays bipolar CIA operative Carrie Mathison. She suspects that a recently released POW, Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) has been turned into a double-agent by his terrorist captors. Mandy Patinkin plays Carrie’s boss, Saul Berenson. While the series has its low points, it’s still solid from start to finish.

The Spy (Netflix)

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is best known as Borat and it is a bit shocking to see him play such a serious role in The Spy, but he does a terrific job as Eli Cohen, a real-life Israeli Mossad spy who infiltrates the Syrian government in the lead-up to the Six Day War. Based on real events, this is a genuinely compelling spy drama and Cohen is terrific. Not necessarily the most thrilling of these spy thrillers, but still worth a watch.

Patriot (Prime Video)

Patriot is both wildly underrated and very, very quirky and weird. Michael Dorman plays a depressed spy / musician named John Tavner on a mission to stop Iran from going nuclear. Terry O’Quinn plays Tavner’s father, also an intelligence officer, and Michael Chernus (who you’ll recognize as Ricken from Severance) plays his bumbling brother. The show is . . . genuinely very off-kilter. It’s nothing at all like what I was expecting. Give it a shot.

The Americans (Hulu)

One of my favorite spy thrillers of all time, The Americans follows the dangerous lives of Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings—played by Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell—two Soviet spies who live in America and pretend to be Americans. They have perfect accents. They have a family, and their kids don’t even know the truth. As they lead their normal, suburban lives, they also carry out crazy espionage missions for the KGB. It’s not only an incredibly tense series, it’s also a morally complex one, where you really struggle with your feelings about these characters. Noah Emmerich also stars as the Jennings’ neighbor who, it turns out, is an FBI officer working in counter-intelligence. Another series that starts off strong and gets all the way to the finish line intact.