The Night Manager season 2 review: Another taut entry in the Shakespearean spy franchise

For spies, waiting for a decade is like spending a lifetime in search of clues and closure, but The Night Manager season 2 comes roaring back after all these years with its edges still as sharp as ever. The second season offers more of the same taut thrills and intrigue as the first chapter, shaking off the agonising residue in it to forge a new direction. Tom Hiddleston's intelligence agent Jonathan Pine is back with a new identity and mission. He is now undercover agent Matthew Ellis, trying to stop a dangerous arms deal, with an ulterior motive to take over the government in Colombia. However, the task is not easy for Ellis/Pine as standing in his way is Teddy Dos Santos (Diego Calva), a young arms dealer with ties with some powerful people and an eerie resemblance to his old enemy Richard Roeper (Hugh Laurie).

Director: Georgi Banks-Davies

Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Diego Calva, Olivia Colman, Camila Morrone, Hayley Squires

Streamer: Prime Video

The Night Manager season 2 coasts along in the first few episodes, making us wonder if the series revival is born out of necessity or a case of mere nostalgia bait. However, things perk up with a major plot pivot, followed by a barrage of nifty twists and turns that add to the excitement. Director Georgi Banks-Davies, with the help of writer David Farr, keep the treatment pulpy yet believable. It marries the stakes and the panache of a Mission: Impossible film and the finesse with which the characters converse in top-class espionage thrillers such as Black Bag. The suspense comes from the authentic way in which the makers set up the scenarios and the actors portray their characters. Shifting loyalties, double-crossing, a corrupt law enforcement system with moles, and a rotten government that is under the military regime's influence. It is all there for Ellis to deal with and then somehow figure out a way to save Colombia from the mayhem that could be unleashed on the country and its populace. 

Watching The Night Manager is like flipping through pages of a great spy novel. There is action here, but the most exciting moments are often those where two people sit across a table and talk while one realises the other may be lying. The long pauses amid the conversation is as effective as the Hitchcockian ‘bomb under the table’ trope. The tension comes not from the explosion but rather from the realisation that it is due any second. Even an offhand compliment during the conversation is a potential death trap, and a misplaced file is a minefield for anyone to exploit. A centrepiece dinner scene crackles with the same high-stakes friction as in the legendary face-offs in Heat or The Dark Knight. It is admirable how The Night Manager treats the audience like a participant in the puzzle, without over-explaining its goings-on. It forces you to connect the dots and navigate the grey areas. We discover major events at the same time as the characters themselves do. The spy cannot trust anyone, lending his journey a poignant and melancholic weight.

There is only one quibble to have with the latest instalment in Hiddleston’s spy thriller; that it does not necessarily offer a sense of conclusion is a bit of a dampener. In other words, it does not work as a standalone season, much like the first season does. Thankfully, the performances more than make up for this flaw. Hiddleston is as reliable as ever as the brooding intelligence agent whose biggest weapon is his empathy. The best aspect of his performance is that Pine's victories and failures feel like ours. Hiddleston performs with such control and poise that render the 'Next James Bond' debate around him virtually redundant. Olivia Colman reprises her role as Pine’s boss Angela Burr, without missing a beat. Hayley Squires ably complements Hiddleston's Pine, whereas Camila Morrone as Roxana Bolaños plays perfect foil the endlessly optimistic spy. Then again, the revelation here is Diego Calva, whose Teddy starts off as just another Richard Roeper molecule but ends up having Shakespearean agency. Calva marries Teddy's brute strength and simmering vulnerability and delivers an intense, charismatic performance that is worth savouring. Like great actors, you miss him when his character is not around and feel his looming and lingering presence throughout. His scenes with Hiddleston's Pine are among the most memorable in any spy franchise.

The series is not afraid of making bold moves and taking big gambles that take the story to new, uncharted territory. So much so, one wonders why, with a screenplay and an ensemble cast this good, The Night Manager season 2 has taken a long time coming. While the lack of a tidy resolution might leave some viewers restless, it serves as a tantalising hook to a third act we hopefully will not have to wait another decade to see.