12 Comments
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Beth Lisogorsky's avatar

You’re not wrong with your assessments. I can speak to “the agency” not being as good. “The night agent”

Was too long but that’s not unique to this show

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Danyel Smith's avatar

i began and then rejected Night Agent. The Night Manager, though, with Hugh Laurie, is a great show.

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Will's avatar

Great article! I liked The Bureau a lot. In addition to everything you mentioned, I liked that they kept the stakes realistic for actual intelligence work. For example, the first season has a storyline about retrieving an agent from Algeria. He’s not there to disrupt some heinous plot, he’s just there because they wanted to get intelligence from Algeria… because they just want to get intelligence all the time. I probably won’t watch the US remake based on your write up and the impression I was already getting.

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Liam Mathews's avatar

Yeah, if you watched The Bureau there's no reason to watch this. The same story, told in a less interesting way. I might feel differently about The Agency if I hadn't seen the original first. I wonder if people who watched Israeli Homeland felt the same way.

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Tom Violett's avatar

I've watched the entire second season of the Night Agent. The main character is appealing to me insofar as he is relatable despite the ridiculous plot. As a Dad I'm just as interested in the romantic story line. I think Rose is a great character. A fierce moral anchor to Peter's complicated moral compass. Season 1 was much better. I don't know if I'll watch season 3.

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Liam Mathews's avatar

Yeah, I like Rose a lot better than Peter.

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Adam's avatar

The Recruit is Night Agent with the Gen Z dial turned up to 11. Not me handling a high-stakes game of chicken with a former asset in my first week on the job! It’s the work trip to Yemen for me fam!

“Episodic flaccidity” is an all-timer phrase

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Liam Mathews's avatar

The CIA hired him for his rizz

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Story Has It's avatar

I think I'm going to have to watch The Bureau. Watched the whole of The Agency really wanting to love it but there were times that I really questioned why I was persisting. And you are so right I love Fassbender generally but he was giving off Batman vibes...

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Liam Mathews's avatar

Yeah, it seems like one of those shows that has the right ingredients but doesn’t turn out as flavorful as it should.

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Jason Allison | A Second Act's avatar

Hard to believe the showrunner who made The Shield also pumped out Night Agent.

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Liam Mathews's avatar

It's like if David Chase had gone back to Northern Exposure after The Sopranos.

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