Since the 2000s, there has been almost no shortage of espionage action thrillers making their way into the mainstream. Netflix, seemingly taking notes from competitors, now has one to call their own, and it’s doing impressive numbers on the streamer.
The beautifully vague-sounding series The Night Agent has awoken the masses on the streaming service, with this Jason Bourne-esque adventure sleuthing through the charts and finding itself as number one on Netflix in its third week on the platform. Boasting a frankly ridiculous 130 million hours viewed, it’ll take a grand plot to usurp it from its throne.
The Night Agent stars a veritable cast of “hey, I think I’ve seen them before” actors, with lead Gabriel Basso (Super 8), Hong Chau (The Menu), and Fola Evans-Akingbola (Black Mirror) all combining for yet another seismic Netflix original hit. The series is based on the novels of the same name by Matthew Quirk, following government leaks which go all the way to the heart of the White House.
While Netflix tends to get big releases, it’s rare for one to come out of the blue quite like this to dominate the charts without a connection to a major franchise. Only a handful of shows have delivered metrics quite this fast, with 2022’s late hit Wednesday the last of note.
Just as a bonus, the series has also been a hit with decent critical reception. Currently sitting at a healthy 75 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with Stephen King also singing its praises.