If you’re among the many Netflix subscribers who have become enthralled with The Night Agent, you can rest easy that the spy thriller has already been renewed for a season 2. But now that you have binged through all 10 season 1 episodes, you’re probably looking for something else to keep the heroes on the run and the conspiracy theory thrill momentum going.
The somewhat predictable action thriller feels more like a 10-part action movie than a series. The story follows Peter (Gabriel Basso) a young, ambitious, fiercely patriotic FBI agent paying his dues by working the most mundane desk job possible. He sits in a windowless room going over reports while waiting for a phone to ring that never does. It’s a direct and secure line for night agents to call when they are in trouble. When the phone rings one night, Peter gets mixed up in a twisted conspiracy involving deadly assassins, a train bombing, and a potential mole in the White House.
While you wait for a new story to be written and filmed following season 1’s explosive ending, there are some popular shows on Netflix and other streaming services that are in a similar vein. Each is worth watching if you’re a fan of The Night Agent or just want to watch a good, action-packed show.
The Diplomat (2023)
While The Diplomat isn’t out until April 20, 2023, fans are already comparing it to The Night Agent and suggesting that fans of that series will find that The Diplomat is the perfect next watch. Keri Russell stars as Kate, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, who is tasked with dealing with everything from international crises to strategic alliances. But while Kate feels pressures on the job, she also has to deal with struggles at home involving her husband Hal (Rufus Sewell), who also happens to be a career diplomat.
The Diplomat hails from Debora Cahn, who was the writer and executive producer of the last two seasons of Homeland and started her career as a writer for The West Wing. Thus, she’s no stranger to the political thriller genre. With the ties with politics, planned attacks, and someone looking out for the U.S. president, the show is in the same wheelhouse as The Night Agent, making it a perfect next watch.
Stream The Diplomat on April 20 on Netflix.
Bodyguard (2018-Present)
Sophie Mutevelian / World Productions / NetflixRenewed for a second season though no details have been announced about when that might debut, Bodyguard shares a lot of similarities with The Night Agent. Notably, both center around a man who is trained and skilled in combat, and assigned to protect someone being hunted. In this political thriller, David Budd (Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden) is a British Army war veteran who has been assigned to protect the Home Secretary Julia (Keeley Hawes).
The pair initially don’t see eye-to-eye, particularly because David’s political beliefs are completely opposite than hers. But the two, like Peter and Rose (Luciane Buchanan) on The Night Agent, get closer and closer, especially as they uncover a conspiracy that coincidentally also involves a plot to bomb a train. Right from the get-go, fans will immediately see why this show makes sense if you love The Night Agent.
Stream Bodyguard on Netflix
Slow Horses (2022-Present)
Gary Oldman stars in this Apple TV+ original series as Jackson, a man with a job slightly similar to, and initially as mundane as, Peter’s in The Night Agent. He’s head of the Slough House, a department of MI5 that houses all the rejects who messed up on the job but haven’t been fired. Instead, they are sent to this administrative purgatory to do nothing but push papers in hopes that they’ll get so bored, frustrated, or dejected that they’ll just quit.
But one day, Jackson and his team become involved in schemes going on in Britain, and their typically boring, monotonous jobs become thrilling, dangerous ones, filled with adventure. It’s time to prove themselves worthy. With such a similar trajectory to Peter’s, Slow Horses is an easy choice as a great show to watch while you bide your time until season 2 of The Night Agent.
Stream Slow Horses on Apple TV+
Designated Survivor (2016-2019)
Similarly looking at the intertwining, often dysfunctional relationships among politicians, FBI agents, Secret Service, and other officials, Designated Survivor also shares the theme of a heroic protagonist who loves his country deeply but doesn’t know who he can trust. There are political conspiracies, bombings and attacks, and legal issues, with the lead character Thomas (Kiefer Sutherland) never knowing who to believe or what’s real or contrived.
Designated Survivor is built on a unique angle: in the political thriller, Thomas is the lowly U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During the State of the Union, he is chosen to be the designated survivor, the one official who watches from a different location as a precaution to protect the administration in the event of a worst-case scenario. As it happens, an explosion kills everyone there, leaving Kirkman as the only one left in line of succession. So, he instantly becomes President of the United States. Just like Peter, Kirkman is thrust into a position that, as it turns out, he has the ability and confidence to take on, but has always been underestimated.
Stream Designated Survivor on Netflix
House of Cards (2013-2018)
When it comes to political thrillers with despicable characters who are willing to hurt, maim, and even kill to fulfill their own political desires, there’s arguably none better than House of Cards, Netflix’s first-ever produced original series. The series, based on the novel of the same name (and adapted from the BBC series), is heavily focused on the goings-on in the White House, various politicians, and their aspirations of power. In particular, that includes Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and his wife Claire (Robin Wright).
Like Peter, Frank finds himself in a job he doesn’t quite like, believing he deserves more. Frank isn’t the hero of his story, however. He can be likened to Vice President Redfield in The Night Agent. But when it comes to ruthless characters, twists, turns, betrayal, and murder, House of Cards fits the bill. With six seasons to watch, it’ll keep you busy while you anxiously await another season of The Night Agent.
Stream House of Cards on Netflix
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