Netflix ruffled plenty of feathers when it was claimed a popular series had never been canceled, leading fans of the dozens upon dozens of fantasy favorites to incredulously pull out receipts, viewing figures, and online popularity as evidence to the contrary. Looking at how rapidly The Night Agent landed a renewal, though, maybe the genre really is the problem.
There was a similar outcry when Vikings: Valhalla had its third run of episodes confirmed, with the sequel series to the History Channel’s original ticking many of the same boxes as the raft of canned originals; it was a big budget, blockbuster-sized spectacle with plenty of action and effects, but the fact it wasn’t fantasy only lent credence to the rising conspiracy theory.
Meanwhile, The Night Agent debuted at number one all over the world on its way to scoring the third-biggest debut week for a Netflix scripted show, with Gabriel Basso’s Peter Sutherland confirmed to be returning to our screens less than a week after he burst onto the scene.
Needless to say, those with a soft spot for the 20+ fantastical exclusives to have bitten the dust since the beginning of 2020 alone weren’t best pleased by The Night Agent living to fight another day in near-record time, all while the multitude of hashtags, petitions, and social media campaigns have so far amounted to the combined sum of absolutely nothing.
The Night Agent isn’t going to change the face of TV as we know it, but it’s a fast-paced and thoroughly entertaining espionage adventure, so it was always likely to be granted a season 2. As for fantasy, we’ll just have to wait and see which is next to be given the axe.