Before It Returns for Season 2 10 Years Later, You Have To Binge Tom Hiddleston’s 91% RT Spy Thriller

Few novelists have contributed as much to the espionage genre as John le Carré, who wrote many classics that were adapted into hit films and shows. Thanks to such classics as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Little Drummer Girl, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, and The Constant Gardener, Le Carré’s writing found the perfect blend between contemporary political discourse and inventive conspiracy fiction. The Night Manager is one of the best and most unique Le Carré adaptations ever because the six-part series expanded and modernized aspects of the original text to make it feel more relevant than ever. While at first the premise may have seemed familiar, The Night Manager was able to look at the human costs of spycraft in a way that felt radical.

Unlike other Le Carré adaptations, The Night Manager is focused on a protagonist who is a stranger to the world of spycraft, as war hero Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) has emerged from the service to become the manager of a luxury hotel in Cairo. After his place of employment becomes a venue for the ruthless arms dealer Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), Pine is recruited by the Foreign Office International Enforcement Agency head Angela Burr (Olivia Colman), who has been assigned to take down Roper before he orchestrates another dangerous deal. There’s nothing about The Night Manager that feels compromised, as the series feels truly cinematic in its exotic locations, complex characters, and kinetic pacing. Even if he’s best known for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hiddleston is never better than he is here — and with the show finally returning for Season 2 after 10 years, now is the perfect time to binge one of his best roles.

‘The Night Manager’ Is a Modern Take on a Classic Spy Novel

Le Carré’s work stands out when compared to other contemporary thrillers because his novels are quite realistic in their assessment of legitimate global issues. This isn’t a James Bond story where the villains are trying to take over the world, but the notion of an illegal arms dealer who deals with even more dangerous sects is just as thrilling. The urgency of the threat gives The Night Manager a sense of momentum that explains why a more typical investigation process would not work; given the looming danger that Roper’s plan has, the Foreign Office does not have the time to go through the chain of command and assign one of their regular agents. Even though Pine is theoretically equipped for the task because of his wartime experience, accepting this burden is a more emotional decision than his handlers would have anticipated. Pine has managed to elude feelings of post-traumatic stress and guilt about his involvement with the British Army by taking a mundane job off the grid, and it’s only reluctantly that he takes on these new responsibilities. Pine’s complex relationship with his undercover role, as he fears becoming a man like Roper, is one of the reasons why The Night Manager is such a refreshing take on the genre.

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Pine’s willingness to return to a dangerous world that he had seemingly left behind is only justified because Roper is one of the most dangerous, terrifying villains of contemporary television. Those used to seeing Laurie’s sarcastic, yet altruistic performance on House will be shocked to see how he characterizes Roper as a shameless shepherd of war who sees devastation and violence as a means to earn a profit. Although he’s quite sinister, Roper doesn’t feel like a typically mustache-twirling villain because he genuinely believes in the natural order of capitalism and isn’t affected by the consequences of his actions. While having such a subdued, subtle villain could have affected the pacing of The Night Manager, the show also has a great secondary villain in Tom Hollander as Roper’s right-hand man, Major Lance Corkoran, also known as “Corky,” who begins suspecting Pine’s loyalties before anyone else.

‘The Night Manager’s Finale Sets up an Unprecedented Season 2

Although the set pieces in the series are just as good as any of the major blockbusters of recent years, The Night Manager is also a fascinating romantic drama because of the connection that Pine forms with Roper’s girlfriend, Jed Marshall (Elizabeth Debicki). Unlike a typical femme fatale, Jed is a character who has become trapped within her relationship with Roper and realizes she could end up dead if she were ever to leave him. Pine’s fascination with Jed isn’t just romantic, but also because they are two lost individuals who have begun to question the choices that have led them to compromise their ethics. Hiddleston and Debicki’s chemistry is genuinely affecting and only makes the latter half of the season more intense.

The notion of the series being renewed is a fascinating one because The Night Manager was originally intended to be a miniseries that told a complete and satisfying story that captured all the major beats of the novel. While shows like Big Little Lies have run the risk of moving forward without the source material to base it on, The Night Manager took such great lengths to humanize its characters that it would be a shame if their further adventures were not explored. A major theme of the show is that the world is constantly in motion, with new dangers emerging at any moment, so it makes sense for another season to explore the ramifications that Roper’s absence has on the criminal underworld. Not only is it exciting to see Hiddleston return to another series after the great work he did on Loki, but it should be interesting to see Colman come back, given the terse note that Pine and Burr last ended on. The Night Manager is both the perfect series for spy buffs and a great starting point for those who have never quite understood what is special about the genre, and with Season 2’s premiere imminent, there’s no better time to dive in.