The dangerous mission assigned by the Night Agent Program forces Peter Sutherland to get through an entire season 1 full of challenges in The Night Agent, leading to questions about whether such an intense program is based on reality.
The Netflix series focuses on Peter Sutherland, who is recruited by the notorious White House Chief of Staff Diane Farr to monitor an emergency line for Night Agents in need of immediate assistance.
The line hardly ever rings, but on the night that former cybersecurity CEO Rose Larkin calls after witnessing the murder of her aunt and uncle, Sutherland suddenly finds himself drawn to a dangerous conspiracy that spans the entire government.
The Night Agent presents a compelling and imaginative national crisis that leaves all of us wondering about the inner secret functioning of government agencies and the existence of secret programs.
In The Night Agent, the Night Action Program is a highly classified initiative carried out in the basement of the White House, overseeing covert agents across the country. But how closely does this fictional government program reflect reality?
The Night Action Program is not a verified FBI agency, although it is based on various real-life incidents. The FBI may or may not have identical agencies.
No, The Night Action Program Isn’t 100% Real
Given the FBI’s reputation for being tight-lipped about information that is not publicly disclosed, it is impossible to confirm whether a secret initiative similar to the Night Action Program actually exists.
However, it is reasonable to assume that the FBI has programs in place for undercover agents to contact in case of emergencies. The Night Agent’s program and storyline draw on various real-life inspirations, but without confirmation from the FBI itself, it would be difficult to verify the existence of an identical program within the agency.
What is The Night Agent based on?
The Night Agent is based on a novel of the same name by Matthew Quirk, who has a close friend with connections to the FBI.
In an interview about the inspiration for the plot and content of The Night Agent, Quirk revealed that the idea for his conspiracy thriller came from his friend who worked the night shift for the FBI, with much of the rest coming from other sources and his own imagination.
Quirk shared his creative process with the public in an interview with therealbookspy.com. Here’s what he said –
“For research, I talked to my friend and his job actually turned out to be quite a bit more interesting and hush-hush than I had suspected, one of the several factors which led me to place the novel’s action in the White House Situation Room. I also talked to FBI and CIA people about what happens on these night watches and in the Situation Room during a crisis, and how a counterintelligence scenario like the one in the book would play out.”
Quirk’s research and creativity resulted in a captivating and unpredictable series in the form of Netflix’s The Night Agent. In response to the show’s huge viewership and growing fan base, Netflix has already confirmed a second season of The Night Agent.
Season 2 is expected to resolve some of the loose ends left by the first season and continue to follow Peter Sutherland’s journey as a high-ranking Night Agent.
About The Night Agent
The Night Agent is an American action thriller television series created by Shawn Ryan based on the novel of the same name by Matthew Quirk. Starring Gabriel Basso in the title role, it premiered on Netflix on March 23, 2023.
The series emerged as the third-most-viewed debuting series on Netflix in its first four days, and within a week it was renewed for a second season. Within three weeks, it became the streamer’s ninth-most-viewed series.
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