The Night Agent Season 2 Ending Explained: Gabriel Basso and Creator Debrief the Finale

What is the conspiracy in The Night Agent Season 2? 

It all comes down to Project Foxglove, a shuttered CIA program through which the agency attempted to develop “multiple different possible chemical weapons that they could then try to work out the antidotes for,” Ryan explains. One of those weapons was the deadly KX. Although the program was shut down, samples of KX existed — one of which fell into the hands of Viktor Bala (Dikran Tulaine), a general eventually brought up on war crimes connected to KX. 

Once imprisoned, Bala used intelligence broker Monroe to get proof of America’s involvement in Project Foxglove and the development of KX. Bala’s son Tomás (Partner Track’s Rob Heaps) and nephew Markus (Michael Malarkey) were also charged with enacting a KX terrorist attack on America in retribution for “hanging General Bala out to dry,” Ryan says. Tomás and Markus used confidential intel from the Iranian Mission in their scheme. 

Peter teams up with Rose (Luciane Buchanan), his love interest and ally, and Noor Taheri (Arienne Mandi), an aide at the Iranian Mission, to save New York City from the KX attack. “It was just cool to see everyone play an element. Noor and Rose working together, and Peter getting pulled off in his direction,” Ryan says. 

Everything comes together in the Season 2 finale, when Peter, Catherine, Rose, and various law enforcement agencies converge on the UN. The team stops the planned KX attack on the building and foils the subsequent attempted assault on the nearby (and fictional) Wynnfield Hotel. At the hotel, Peter and Rose work together to eliminate Markus and shut down the KX weapon. 

“They’ve both always been there for one another,” Basso says. “There’s a reliance and love there because of what they went through in Season 1. But then there’s the reality of, ‘Are we only comfortable with one another when people are trying to kill us?’ ” 

Did Peter and Rose really break up? 

After foiling the bioterror attack, Peter and Rose have a tearful conversation in the hotel lobby. He asks her to promise she won’t look for him again — it’s too risky. Because Rose “means everything” to Peter, his enemies will always be able to use her against him if she remains in his life. Rose agrees that she won’t wait for Peter to call or try to come find him every time something goes wrong.  

Night Agent creator Ryan appreciates the gravity of the exchange. “That’s something an unselfish person who really cares about Rose would say,” he explains. “Which makes it tragic in an almost Romeo and Juliet kind of way. ‘I love you too much to be with you’ — it’s important to honor that sacrifice.” 

The scene was filmed in a crowded New York City hotel lobby toward the end of a long day, Buchanan reveals. “Everyone [at the hotel] was just chatting and drinking while we’re trying to have this moment,” she tells Tudum. “Our great line producer, [Jean-]Paul Bernard, ran over and was like, ‘For five minutes, can you guys just be quiet?’ ” In that time, Buchanan and Basso filmed the breakup. 

Basso felt the effects of filming Season 2 during the cathartic scene. He and Buchanan had spent months running, fighting, and screaming on-camera. “Rose and Peter have been through a lot — but Luciane and I have been too,” he says. They brought those emotions to the split, which Basso says raises a lot of important questions, especially as Peter falls deeper into the dangerous world of Night Action. 

“Is this a healthy relationship? He’s put Rose now in certain positions to lie, to do things that she doesn’t agree with. And then on top of that, he’s putting her at risk,” Basso says. “So there’s this heaviness of, ‘Is this fair? Is [it] selfish for me to want you around?’ But they still definitely have love and support.” 

Christopher Saunders/Netflix

What’s next for Rose and Noor? 

The last time we see Rose, she meets Noor at her new library job. The scene promises new beginnings for both of them. 

Mandi, who plays Noor, says her character’s transformation is “night and day.” “She’s a different person when she comes out the other end of the whole experience,” she says. “It’s very intense. There are so many changes in her family life, in her work life, how she rises to the occasion. It’s an emotional roller coaster.” 

The ride slows down toward the end of Episode 8, with Noor and her mother being granted asylum in America. Now she can think about her future — with Rose’s help. “Rose really shows up and is someone that Noor can trust,” Buchanan says. “Maybe Rose can help her with a job.” 

What happens to Javad? 

Although Javad (Keon Alexander) initially seems like a love interest for Noor, he proves to be one of The Night Agent Season 2’s main antagonists. He’s the head of security at the Iranian Mission, and he slowly reveals just how treacherous he can be. In Episode 4, he recognizes Peter as a fellow intelligence officer and abducts him. He then threatens Noor in Episode 7 when he realizes she’s working with the Americans. By Episode 8, he’s blackmailing Noor and using her in an operation against Peter, which sets off a street brawl between the two men. 

“That was a fun fight — that carried into the subway,” Basso says with a smile. 

In Episode 9, Javad is neutralized. He attempts a power play against Abbas (Navid Negahban), the Iranian ambassador to the UN, but fails. Instead, Abbas explains how easy it would be to claim Javad was working with Noor against the Iranian government all along. The last time we see Javad, he’s being taken away by Abbas’ security.   

Christopher Saunders/Netflix

What happened between Catherine and Peter’s father? 

As Warren, who plays Catherine, tells Tudum, “I don’t think anybody trusts anybody … in the beginning.” Catherine and Peter’s relationship follows this maxim throughout Season 2. But something changes in Episode 8’s final scene, when Catherine admits to Peter that she’s the Night Agent who investigated his father. Peter Sr. (Sebastien Roberts) was identified as the mole in a Pentagon leak. Viewers see the first reference to this revelation in the cold open of Episode 6. 

“Will their relationship evolve into a collegial friendship now? Will it be a friendship that is so beautiful and involved that it becomes familial?” Warren wonders. “There’s a lot of opportunity for that — a lot of hope.” 

Ryan reveals the idea for Catherine and Peter’s origin story came up in the writers’ room. Not only does it remind viewers that the history of Night Action goes far beyond the start of the series, but it also gives the audience a greater understanding of Catherine. As we see in Episode 6, much like Peter, she too struggled with the death of a partner at the start of her Night Action career. “Even though she has this tough exterior, she understands what Peter is going through,” Ryan says.  

Who is Jacob Monroe? 

Viewers first see Monroe in the cold open of the Season 2 premiere. He is the well-dressed man monitoring the underhanded activities in Thailand that lead to the death of Peter’s partner, Alice (Brittany Snow). Over the course of the season, we learn he’s a billionaire and intelligence broker who employs various individuals — including shady veteran Solomon (Berto Colon) — to do his bidding. In Episode 8, Monroe manipulates Peter into handing over secret UN documents. 

So, is Monroe the most dangerous player in The Night Agent? “Well, it depends on your view of things. Is the guy who facilitated a chemical attack on Manhattan worse than the people who actually wanted to do the attack?” Ryan asks.  

Still, Ryan agrees Monroe is the more threatening adversary heading into The Night Agent’s already confirmed Season 3. Unlike Tomás and Markus (who are dead), or General Bala (who is imprisoned and now connected to a near-catastrophic terrorist attack), Monroe is a free man with the future president on speed dial.  

“One of the things that Season 3 will question is whether Monroe is the big bad? Is Hagan the big bad? Are the two of them as a combo the big bad?” Ryan says. “But certainly Monroe is the loose thread of Season 2. That’s going to have to be dealt with in some way in Season 3.” 

What is going on between Jacob Monroe and the President? 

Peter and Catherine’s season-ending conversation suggests the details of Monroe’s ultimate plan. Catherine explains that Hagan’s presidential opponent, Patrick Knox, has exited the race two weeks before the election. Knox spearheaded the Foxglove Program and facilitated the sale of Foxglove weapons to General Bala. Now, Hagan is all but promised the presidency. 

Catherine and Peter agree that Monroe orchestrated everything. He used Peter to get into the UN to recover the mysterious file from Episode 9, which had a recording tying Knox to Foxglove.

“So now Monroe is going to be able to use this to get what he assumes is his puppet into the presidency,” Ryan continues. However, there’s a problem with Monroe’s plan. 

“I think one thing we’ll learn in Season 3 is that I don’t think Hagan believes he’s a puppet,” Ryan continues. Hagan suggests as much toward the end of the finale, during his conversation with Monroe: The pair have a tense disagreement about who works for whom. 

What’s next for Peter in The Night Agent Season 3? 

Desperate to atone for his less-than-legal action in Season 2, Peter agrees to be Catherine’s mole against Monroe, to determine Monroe and Hagan’s exact relationship. Catherine tells Peter that Monroe will either call on him for a favor or to give orders. All Peter has to do is say yes. 

Basso recognizes Peter has a difficult road ahead. “I think he’s just going to be pulled in different directions and hopefully not torn in half,” he says.  

Ryan agrees. “Peter falls in the middle of an awkward and uncomfortable place — he’s between two very powerful people that may be up to no good,” he says. “That will be an interesting question in Season 3: Who’s really in control of that relationship — President Hagan or Jacob Monroe?” 

You’ll find out when The Night Agent Season 3 returns to Netflix. Until then, keep coming back to Tudum for more briefings. Will you heed the call?

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