The Night Agent is one of Netflix’s big successes, but the show made some big changes to Matthew Quirk’s original novel. The Night Agent follows FBI Agent Peter Sutherland, who guards the Night Action phone, the sole contact for agents on the secret branch of the FBI who are in distress. Peter receives a call one night that throws him into a journey with former tech CEO whose aunt and uncle, both Night Action agents, were murdered due to their discovering a secret plot to take down the President. The Night Agent sees Peter uncover this plot and help stop the attack on the President and the Vice President’s daughter, Maddie.
Based on Matthew Quirk’s novel of the same name, Shawn Ryan created The Night Agent by merging the book with an idea he had for a movie. Quirk’s book did not have enough content to create a TV show, so Ryan joined the two stories seamlessly and created one of Netflix’s most successful TV shows. Gabriel Basso and Luciane Buchanan lead the cast of The Night Agent as Peter Sutherland and Rose Larkin, and they are joined by many book characters and characters created purely for the show. The character changes are only one big change made to The Night Agent TV show.
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10 The Night Agent's Metro Attack
Quirk’s The Night Agent begins with an attack on the metro, in which Peter Sutherland is present. The attack is a cyber-attack orchestrated by the Russian government and Diane Farr, killing 21 people. The series also starts with Peter witnessing an attack on the metro. However, this is done with a bomb, and Peter is able to foil this by getting everyone off the train. Netflix’s The Night Agent starts with only one casualty happening due to the metro bombing, and Peter spots the attacker later. The metro bombing of the series is not conducted by the Russians but by Vice President Redfield and a Navy SEAL-turned-business man Gordon Wick.
9 The Target Of The Night Agent's Metro Attack
The target of the metro attack in The Night Agent also differs from book to series, which is unsurprising due to the attacker’s differences. In the book, the attack is politically motivated, and Farr and the Russians want to make President Travers’ opponent, the former head of Homeland Security, look weak to swing the vote in Travers’ favor. Doing this would mean the Russian government had access to the U.S. government through Farr. In the series, Redfield and Wick are attempting to assassinate suspected terrorist Omar Zadar by making the metro bombing look like an unrelated terrorist attack. Zadar’s death would secure his political opponent’s position, who pays Wick billions of dollars for military equipment.
8 Diane Farr's Metro Attack Involvement
The metro bombing changing for The Night Agent also changed Diane Farr’s original book role. Quirk’s novel had Farr as the central person for the metro attack and the conspiracy Peter is uncovering. The Night Agent changes this, and Farr is brought in after the metro bombing to help Redfield cover up what happens. Farr is not innocent, but her involvement is solely to protect the President and ensure it does not backfire on Travers’ position in government. The Night Agent also made the President a target alongside Zadar, which Farr did not know about, another new aspect of Wick and Redfield’s plan. The book plot was all Diane Farr’s doing but with different motivations.
7 The Night Agent's 2 Assassins
Dimitri Sokolov is the assassin in Quirk’s novel who kills Rose’s Aunt and Uncle, kicking off Peter Sutherland’s story. The Night Agent splits Sokolov’s character into two people, Dale and Ellen, who are partners and in a relationship. Dale and Ellen have their own storyline as they hunt down Peter and Rose in The Night Agent, and audiences learn more about their history and plans. The Night Agent changing the assassin character means the show has more substance to fill out a full series, and the audience can know what the assassins are thinking and why they make certain decisions.
6 The Existence Of Maddie & Chelsea
The Night Agent created new characters through the Vice President’s daughter, Maddie Redfield, and her Secret Service detail, Chelsea. Quirk’s novel has no sub-plot and does not even mention the Vice President. The Night Agent added Maddie’s character and the story of her kidnapping to link to the new motivation for the metro bombing. Chelsea plays a large role in The Night Agent, originally protecting Zadar on the day of the bombing and then helping save Maddie and the President from Redfield and Wick. This plot was added by Ryan to The Night Agent to help flesh out the story and ensure there was enough content for a TV show.
5 The Metro Bomber's Story In The Night Agent
Since the Russians made the attack on the metro and Maddie didn’t exist in the book, the metro bombers and Mattheo's storyline in The Night Agent are another big change. After planting the bomb for Redfield and Wick, they tried to have Mattheo killed but killed his twin brother by accident. Mattheo then uses his boyfriend to help kidnap Maddie so he can be paid a ransom. None of this plot existed in the book and was created to support Maddie’s plot line and add more repercussions to the failed metro bombing.
4 Peter Sutherland’s Father’s History
Peter Sutherland’s motivation in the FBI is to clear his father’s name after he was accused of treason for leaking U.S. secrets to the Russian government. Sutherland Sr. is accused of the same thing in the novel, but he is more of a mystery. Peter never mentions trying to clear his father’s name in the novel, and he is not part of the FBI to do so. The Night Agent makes Peter set on clearing his father’s name and also gives him a redemption arc at the end when he agrees to become a triple agent for the U.S. government.
3 Peter Sutherland’s Godfather
Peter Sutherland’s Godfather in The Night Agent novel is Gideon, a Russian asset who influences Sutherland Sr. into becoming a spy for the Russians. In The Night Agent, Jim Wilson is Peter’s Godfather but has a strained relationship with Peter. Jim is a journalist who reported on Sutherland Sr.’s treason, and because Peter believes he is innocent, this causes them to drift. Although Peter does not like him anymore, Jim Wilson is a good person in The Night Agent. The book has less reasoning behind Peter not having a relationship with his godfather, whereas The Night Agent builds up his character more.
2 The Night Agent's Ending
The ending of The Night Agent sees Peter saving President Travers’ life and Redfield and Wick being discovered. Travers tells Peter the truth about his father and shows him Sutherland Sr.’s confessional video. In the book, the confessional video ends at the confession, and Peter and Rose leave the White House and drive away. In The Night Agent, the video shows Sutherland Sr. became a triple agent before an untimely car crash. Finally, Peter gets a place as a Night Action agent, and Rose watches him fly off for his first mission.
1 The Night Agent Season 2 Setup
Although Quirk has written numerous novels, The Night Agent is a standalone story, and Peter and Rose’s journey is unknown once they leave the White House. However, The Night Agent has been confirmed for a second season with Netflix, focusing on a new story with familiar faces appearing throughout. Peter has become a Night Action agent, which sets up new missions for him in the second season. There were some big changes to the book, and this will continue with season 2 of The Night Agent as there is no story to adapt, so it will be completely new ideas.
