Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week, I am looking at Season 2 of The Night Agent and The Hunting Party plus giving thoughts on Severance, The Sex Lives of College Girls and Abbott Elementary.
The first season of The Night Agent was a real pleasant surprise for me. It filled the 24-sized hole in my TV schedule and was very addicting with its propulsive plot and cliffhangers with insanely high stakes even as I readily acknowledged it was all a bit silly. But I really did like it a lot, so much so that I nominated it for Outstanding Drama Series in my 2023 Benjamonster Awards.
The series returned for a second season this week with a bit of a "here we go again" vibe. I'm sure some people have already watched the entire second season but I am only three episodes in. It's still a good, old-fashioned action show but at least through three episodes, it is not working nearly as well as the first season for me. The first season case felt like it all really mattered and involved the highest levels of government while also being a personal crusade for Gabriel Basso's Peter. The second season has seemingly broadened its scope with a couple stories on track to collide with each other. But the stakes don't feel quite as high and it feels a little forced to keep Luciane Buchanan's Rose in the story.