THE NIGHT AGENT Season Premiere Recap: (S02E01) Call Tracking

Diana Keng

Updated on:

The Night Agent. Gabriel Basso as Peter Sutherland in episode 201 of The Night Agent. Cr. Siviroon Srisuwan/Netflix © 2024

Netflix’s The Night Agent Season 2 premiere drops us into the action right away and expects us to keep up. A lot of things have changed in a relatively short time since we last saw Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) accept a position with the secretive FBI Night Action agency in Season 1. After saving the president’s life and foiling a plot that led all the way to President Travers’ (Kari Matchett) Chief of Staff Diane Farr (Hong Chau), Peter’s friends list now includes some pretty heavy hitters.

In a nutshell, Night Action investigates possible corruption in the government’s most sensitive agencies — FBI, CIA, DEA — as well as among the intelligence handlers that live with a foot in various worlds. Night agents are spies spying on spies. It’s a recipe for never sleeping well again.

The Night Agent. Gabriel Basso as Peter Sutherland in episode 201 of The Night Agent. Cr. Siviroon Srisuwan/Netflix © 2024
Photo Credit: Siviroon Srisuwan/Netflix

The Night Agent, “Call Tracking”

The season opens with a lightly bearded Peter sitting and chatting with a woman in a Bangkok resort restaurant. They get up to go for a stroll, the woman regaling him with a story about getting suckered into a bowling bet that resulted in a Shrek tattoo on her lower back. Stepping into a shopping arcade, she pulls him to the side. The man they’re following hasn’t spotted them, but she tells Peter he’s checking for tails, so they need to amp up the honeymooners act.

Soon, they’re on the move again. Their mark is moving quickly, and if he’s who they think he is, he may be passing on intel. They follow him to a Bangkok tourist attraction. He meets up with a bald man in a polo shirt and jeans. When they part ways, Peter and his partner get a look at the contact, but neither recognizes him. The partner decides to follow the new guy and tells Peter to follow Warren (Teddy Sears). They put in their ear comms and split up.

RELATED: What’s New on TV This Week (Jan 19 – 25)

Hours later, Peter’s still tailing Warren when he sees him drop something into a planter near a street market. Peter tells his partner, who gets ready to ditch the bald man. Just then, a man in a blue tank top strolls over to the planter and retrieves a thumb drive. A short-haired woman on a cell phone watches from across the street. Peter reports that the drop’s been picked up. His partner tells him to follow the pickup guy. 

Outmaneuvered

As Peter follows him across the street, a grey, bearded man in a white shirt and linen suit stands on the opposite side, watching Peter. The linen suit walks away as Peter approaches, heading in a different direction than the blue tank top.

The Night Agent. Brittany Snow as Alice in episode 201 of The Night Agent. Cr. Siviroon Srisuwan/Netflix © 2024
Photo Credit: Siviroon Srisuwan/Netflix

Peter’s partner checks in over the comm, and he tells her where he’s at. She tells him she’s on her way. Just then, a couple of nearby locals pull guns and start shooting at Peter. He turns and finds another thug coming up behind him. He returns fire and runs. The short-haired woman and another man follow him with guns drawn. His partner, Alice (Brittany Snow), hears the gunfire and calls his name. Peter reports that he’s made. At the same moment, the bald man Alice was following, and his companion turns and draws their weapons on her. She realizes they’ve known she’d been following them the whole time.

She bowls a motorcycle helmet through a gift store window and escapes into the back alley. Realizing she’s still being pursued, she tells Peter she’s calling for an extraction. She calls the Night Agent line.

RELATED: TV Review: Squid Game Season 2 

Over the comm, she tells Peter there’s a helicopter coming for them at Rama VIII Park. Peter arrives first and spots Alice coming towards him. Suddenly, the bald man steps out of the shadows and shoots Alice. The rest of the bald man’s team comes behind him, and Peter runs. The bald man shoots Alice again before following his team. 

Betrayed

Peter hides in an empty building and calls the Night Agent line. He (codename Copperhead) reports that Alice (codename Hummingbird) is dead and demands to be put through to Reindeer. Outside the White House, a woman answers her phone. She’s connected to Peter, and he tells Catherine (Amanda Warren) that his pursuers knew where the extraction point was and that someone tipped them off about him and Alice.

Before he hangs up because the pursuers have found him, he tells her that Alice is dead. Catherine looks stunned. To avoid the brunt of a grenade explosion, Peter leaps through a nearby window. Still woozy from the explosion, he jumps off the high pathway and makes his way to street level via cables and a car roof. One of the pursuers reports that he’s heading towards the river.

Elsewhere, the blue tank top hands the thumb drive to the linen suit sitting in a private car. Linen suit plugs it into his laptop and opens a file with a cover sheet for Top Secret intel.

RELATED: Squid Game Season 2 Teaser Reveals Gi-hun’s Return to the Deadly Contest

At the river, Peter escapes by jumping into the river. The bald man and his team rush to the water’s edge, but besides a single water taxi speeding away, there’s no sign of life in the water.

One Month Later

In California, Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) asks her therapist when she’ll get better, stating her progress isn’t happening fast enough. Her therapist reminds her that it’s not a race. Processing trauma takes time. She points out the nightmares have stopped. Rose responds that she’s doing all the work she’s supposed to do, but the anxiety’s still there. Her therapist suggests she try EMDR therapy with a specially trained professional but warns her she’ll need to be more open than she’s been so far with her.

At her office, Rose pitches the AdVerse program she’s been working on to a potential client. Repeatedly, her phone’s buzzing interrupts the presentation. Noticing how distracted she’s getting, her boss takes over the pitch. The phone won’t stop ringing, so she steps out to answer it. A man’s voice asks her if she knows where Peter Sutherland is. He tells her Peter’s in trouble, and he wants to help. Rose tells him she doesn’t know where Peter is. He won’t answer any of her questions but says he’ll try her again in a few days and hangs up. Confused by the call, Rose pulls out a card with a phone number to “Michelle,” presumably Michelle Travers, the U.S. President.

On the Run

Peter steps out of the shower. He’s clean-shaven now. In the mirror, he examines a wound on his ribs and winces in pain. He looks determinedly at his reflection and heads out.

RELATED: Netflix’s One Piece Adds Three New Faces to Season 2 Cast

Catherine’s waiting for Rose on a bench in a park near a pond. They go for a walk. Catherine informs Rose that President Travers made her fly to California to meet with her. Rose asks about Peter. Catherine tells her that he went AWOL about a month ago, and they haven’t been able to track him down since then. Catherine asks about the phone call. Rose wants to know what caused Peter to run. 

When Catherine prepares to leave, Rose says she has more questions. Catherine tells her that although she was instrumental in saving the President’s life the year before, she is not a part of the government family. She’s not entitled to the answers she’s looking for. Catherine gives her her number in case the man on the phone or Peter gets in touch again. She promises to let Rose know if Peter’s found safe.

Back at her office after hours, Rose runs new code on the AdVerse algorithm to search for Peter. She overrides the original source code with momentary hesitation and then sits back to wait for a result.

Waiting for Warren

In his apartment, Peter watches a webcam livestream of a block of brownstone front doors. He switches out a phone case and examines photos of the man he and Alice were tailing in Bangkok, Warren, as well as pictures of Warren with a boy, his son.

RELATED: New Squid Game Season 2 Poster Makes Bold Statement: The Game Will Not Stop

On the webcam footage, the boy comes out of one of the brownstones with a woman. The boy bounces a basketball, and Peter gets ready to leave.

Still in her cubicle at work, Rose’s code returns images of Peter from all over the Internet. She narrows the search parameters to the last month.

Peter exits his building carrying a black duffle bag. He gets into a white panel van and drives under the Manhattan Bridge on his way to elsewhere in New York City.

The Search Intensifies

The AdVerse algorithm results turn up Peter sitting in the background of a girl’s selfie at the 12th St Urgent Care Clinic in New York City. Rose goes to her boss and tells him her mother’s having surgery in New York, and she needs to fly out and take care of her. 

RELATED: Geeked Week 2024: Netflix Teases Squid Game Season 2 With Fun Fan Theories Video

On a basketball court in New York, Peter coaches Warren’s son. They discuss his dad. The boy shares that he and his dad talk on an app called Signal because his mom reads his texts. When his mom comes to pick him up, Peter swaps phones and brings his bag over while he’s distracted shooting free throws.

In his van, Peter opens the boy’s phone and uses the Signal app to message Warren. Warren responds that they’ll see each other the next day if he can get away from his mom. Peter starts the van, glancing in the back where he’s stored various tools, chains, and a battery. That night, he checks over his preparations in a warehouse space. There are makeshift LED interrogation lights, a metal chair with handcuffs attached, and a digital voice recorder. 

Art Imitates Life

In a fancy hotel, President Travers is asked about her endorsement for her party’s next presidential candidate. She states that she’s interested in results, not politics and won’t be endorsing either party’s candidate. Stepping away from the press with Deputy Director Mosley (Albert Jones), she meets with three Night Agent coordinators. After the other two brief her, she asks Catherine about Peter Sutherland.

Mosley and Catherine assure her they’re looking for him, but it’s a big world. She asks if they’ve figured out what went wrong in Bangkok. Catherine intimates that Peter’s inexperience contributed to Alice’s death and the mission’s failure. President Travers admits she asked Catherine to believe in him and reminds her that Catherine assured her that who Peter’s father was wouldn’t cloud her judgment. 

RELATED: Mythic Quest: It’s Time to Work Hard (and Play Harder) in Season 4 Trailer

Catherine admits they still don’t know who called Rose, where Warren is or what CIA intel he passed on to his (also unknown) buyer. President Travers reiterates her faith in Peter. She orders them to find him to learn what’s driven him underground. Before leaving, she tells them her father taught her to know the difference between what you want to happen and what you need to happen. She needs them to find Peter.

Finding Peter

In New York, Rose finds a shelter near the 12th St Urgent Care Clinic and learns that Peter stayed there for a while but moved on. He’s using the name David. 

In his apartment, Peter gets a message from Warren (intended for his son) to meet him at the Crispy Fried Chicken at nine o’clock. He looks up the address and confirms he’ll be there.

RELATED: The Official Daredevil: Born Again Trailer Is Here, and It’s Epic

At the basketball court, Rose finds Warren’s son, Ethan (Graham Harvey), shooting baskets on his own. He was supposed to meet Peter/David but hasn’t shown up. Ethan tells Rose he thinks David accidentally took his phone, but they can’t get ahold of him. Rose informs Ethan that tracking phones is her superpower.

That night, Peter has the Crispy Fried Chicken restaurant staked out, watching from his van. Warren messages and tells him to get on a bus. Peter rides the bus until Warren messages again to get off at the stop after Piedmont St. Warren’s watching when the bus pulls up. Using the messaging app, Peter lures Warren out of hiding. Warren realizes something’s not right and takes off. Peter follows.

RELATED: TV Review: The Night Agent Season 2

Warren spots him, and the chase is on. Peter tracks him into an old amphitheater, and a gun and fistfight ensue. Realizing Peter needs him alive, Warren escapes into the street and down an alley. Peter comes around the corner and finds Rose. Peter spots the bald man from Bangkok and pulls Rose to safety just as he shoots at them. Together, they run away down another alley.

The Night Agent streams on Netflix.

7 Netflix Animated Series That Have Replaced My Therapist

Diana Keng
Come chat!