Who Do You Trust?

You really believe it, don’t you?

I keep wondering how someone could do any of this. Lie and kill and still sleep at night.

But you’ve convinced yourself that this “Sun-Tzu fucks Machiavelli” philosophy was the way to go. - Rose to Diane Farr, White House Chief of Staff

For Peter, hero of The Night Agent (Netflix), the answer to the question, “who do you trust?”, is not complex. He will have a long road to the truth but in the end he will trust those who are faithful to their oaths, as he is. 

The oath of office has roots in and replaces the oath of fealty. It does so as the lord, as the monarch, is overthrown and the republic is established. It is an affirmation of political legitimacy arising from political violence. The dynasty fails because the power it claims is a universal and it's wielded by an individual. As civil society develops it loses its faith in the anointed one who it now views as just another player.

Once power has passed from the lord to the state only official violence is permitted. Unofficial violence, of course, persists but it loses claim to being political, it is only criminal. In The Night Agent bit by bit we, and our hero, become aware of a criminal conspiracy that has penetrated the highest levels of the state. Of course we have guessed this long before Peter since we find ourselves, right off the bat, in the White House. Along the way we all enjoy multiple dramatic surprises. What is not surprising is that the conspiracy against the republic, as it inevitably will, involves a reversion to archaic feudal loyalties, now expressed as allegiance to a boss figure, a campaign donor, the CEO of a weapons corporation.

Neither should we be surprised that the conspiracy is a reaction to seeds that have been sown in the provinces. An unnamed client state, heretofore under the thumb of a strongman who has been a reliable weapons customer, has developed an insurgency. Here in the capitol there are two options: crush the opposition or accommodate it. Had the decision been to crush there may have been those opposed and their arguments would have invoked the long term health of the system. But there would have been no rift within the administration.

In this case, however, the president has signaled a change of course. And her Vice President, appalled by the soft policy of his female president, has allied himself with the weapons CEO. The Vice President is motivated by the reactive logic of an empire threatened on the periphery, the CEO by simple mercenary reasoning. The provincial strongman is a good customer, especially when in crisis.

At this level, as a political thriller, the story is well crafted. It maintains our interest by disguising the loyalties of multiple players, not overly relying on the high-stakes setting of the White House for its drama. Behind the political trappings the tale also has merit but here, where our hero does battle with forces of evil, we can detect some strain in creating a narrative around current events in the world we live in.

Peter’s first quest is to vindicate his father who died suspected of treason. He is utterly faithful to his duty as FBI special agent. He is also determined to uncover the truth in all things, in particular concerning his father. Quickly he is paired with a private sector heroine who has been betrayed by a partner, orphaned by forces of evil, and dispossessed by the market. In the peril of the situation this bond develops practically and romantically. Opposite them is a pair of assassins. Besides being male and female they are veteran and neophyte, stable and unstable. All of the early action sequences of the story occur between these two pairs with the difference that Peter begins as Rose’s protector while the villains share equally in the attack.

Other pairs are key to the movement of the story as well. A veteran male Secret Service agent plays against a young ambitious female agent. Their assignment is the protection of the VP’s daughter. This is the only parent-child relationship in the story although the death of the mother echoes the lack of parents for both Peter and Rose. Finally, and maybe there are others I’ve forgotten, the bond, both personal and official, between the President and her Chief of Staff is critical to the final twist of the story.

Peter and Rose, their allies and antagonists, are engaged in a struggle between good and evil, in defense of the republic against a reactionary conspiracy. It is what makes them hero and heroine. But this moral dichotomy is undermined from the beginning, even in the title. The night agents are a sub rosa instrument of the president. It expresses the inability of the republic to defend itself on its own terms. We would not stray far to think this contradiction within the republic arises from its imperial ambitions.

Which brings us to the end of the season, Peter on a flight out of the country, his destination and mission secret. As a hero he has completed his quest. He should have wealth, elevated status, and be married. I, as a reader of fairy tales, am disappointed. Instead he remains in the shadowy role of night agent. He has learned that his father was indeed a traitor and he is leaving his romantic partner behind. Of course, this is a set-up for a second season but I wouldn’t leave it at that. 

As much as I enjoy a good car chase and showdown I am never quite satisfied by political realism. Factually identified persons and events will appear in serious documentaries or in comedies, but their identities are fictional in drama until their historic period is understood by the audience to have passed. Stories like The Night Agent purport to be about the world we live in but the characters, other than the heroes, give up much of their personalities so they can represent a type in an ideological allegory.

In the service of political realism Peter’s story is, in the end, not a hero’s quest but an audition for the role which he has been playing throughout, secret agent. He is right back where he started. Which is why, to continue a story with him as protagonist, he must go abroad, leaving behind a republic also still trapped in the contradictions that began this adventure.