Comedy
Kaos
This modern retelling of Greek mythology falls into a pit of questionable themes and content concerns deeper than Tartarus.
Just 24 hours ago, Rose thought her life was over. She’d been fired from her own tech startup. Her name had been dragged through the mud by the media. She was living with her aunt and uncle. And she was going to have to file for bankruptcy.
She’d give anything to go back to that.
Rose is woken in the middle of the night by her aunt and uncle arguing. She overhears them talking about White House moles, burning documents and something called “Osprey.”
It doesn’t make any sense. They work in acquisitions. They attend conferences in London and conventions in Vegas. They don’t have White House connections. And they certainly couldn’t be spies.
But before Rose can get any answers, they tell her to run because there are people coming for them. And their final instructions: Call this number and say “Night Action.”
On the other end of that number sits Peter Sutherland, an unpopular FBI agent. A year ago, Peter helped save a lot of people from a bomb on a subway train. Unfortunately, the culprit got away, so the press got it in their heads that Peter must have been part of the plot. After all, Peter’s dad (another FBI agent) was famous for betraying the country before his untimely death.
Peter insists he and his father are innocent. And since the White House and FBI believe him, he’s managed to keep his status as an agent. But in order to keep him out of the public light, he’s been reduced to a desk job located in the basement of the White House. He acts as the equivalent of a 911 dispatcher, answering calls from agents in distress.
But the phone has never rung—until now.
Peter helps Rose, telling her how to hide from her attackers and sending police to rescue her. After that, one of his bosses assigns him to protect Rose—just until they can debrief her the next morning.
Unfortunately for them, Rose isn’t planning on revealing anything that might get her killed. She knows there’s a mole in the White House and she doesn’t trust anyone who works there, which includes both of Peter’s bosses.
Rose wants answers. She trusts Peter since he was honest with her about his own past. But Peter doesn’t want to rock the boat. He still needs his bosses to sign off on his promotion so he can return to field work again.
However, the secrets behind what Rose’s aunt and uncle were working on are far bigger than any promotion. They’re a matter of national security. And Peter and Rose will have to put their lives on the line to save a lot of people.
Netflix’s The Night Agent is based on the novel by Matthew Quirk. And while the story is certainly an intriguing one, it’s not one that’s easily watched.
In the first episode alone, two people are brutally strangled–lifted off their feet by their killer. Others die from gunshot wounds and explosions. And many of these people aren’t even secret agents: they’re innocent bystanders.
Language is brutal, too. There are multiple uses of the f-word and s-word, as well as some harsh abuses of God’s name. The show isn’t rated for sexuality, but there are sensual moments where clothes are removed.
As far as spy thrillers go, The Night Agent is par for the course. But as far as family viewing goes, it might be better to blacklist this one.
After people attack their home, Rose’s aunt and uncle instruct her to call a mysterious number for help. The man who answers identifies himself as Peter. And pretty soon, the pair are involved in a huge conspiracy.
Several people are attacked and killed by assassins (two are garroted and one is shot). In other scenes, Peter and other FBI agents fight these killers in hand-to-hand combat. During a car chase, characters exchange gunfire. Peter purposely crashes his vehicle into his pursuers to stop the chase. Someone plants a bomb on a subway train. (The train is evacuated and only one person is killed when the bomb goes off, though several people are seriously injured). Two men attack Peter with batons, but he disarms them and has them arrested. A man is hit by a car while chasing an assailant. A woman is cut by shattering glass. We see a large scar on the back of a man’s neck. We hear about a fatal car accident and some people speculate if the driver purposely took his own life.
We see a man without his shirt on. There’s a joke about Viagra. We learn Peter used to live with his ex-fiancée. People joke about drinking. Some folks have wine with dinner. We hear a company was the victim of ransomware (where hackers hold digital data hostage in exchange for money). A terrified woman hides from an assassin. Rose mistakenly believes that Peter is robbing someone. People break into Peter’s house but don’t steal anything. We hear about a kidnapping and later see the child abandoned by her kidnappers. People lie.
We hear five uses each of the f-word and s-word. God’s name is abused twice, once paired with “d–n.” We also hear uses of “a–,” “a–hole,” “h—” and “p-ss.”
A man offers his seat to a woman and her child on a packed train.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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