Apropos of nothing, you should watch The Night Agent
Want to relive "competent, honest forces defeat reckless and nefarious American government officials?"
The “apropos of nothing” in this title is a joke, because (I’m writing this descriptively for posterity), America just experienced several historic wins in the 2026 midterm election, and therefore, made great headway in the fight against fascism. A blue wave, indeed.
I was thinking about something fun to recommend you watch as you come down from the incredible high of knowing our country is back in capable hands and we all might survive, and it hit me: The Night Agent. That’s an enjoyable show about political corruption and how good people can make it go away.
The Night Agent It’s a spy thriller, not too gritty but still suspenseful. It’s the kind of thing you’d like if you wanted Air Force One to be a little less silly. The premise? There’s a guy (an FBI agent) whose job is to sit in the White House basement, manning a phone that never rings. Except one night, it rings. (It’s based on the 2019 novel by Matthew Quirk.)
Our agent at the desk, Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) immediately follows protocol… but winds up in over his head as he encounters a situation that poses a threat to honest American leaders, puppeteered by some not-so-honest ones. There are three seasons available on Netflix. Season four is coming out next year, so you should get ready.
Olivia Rutigliano
Olivia Rutigliano is an Editor at Lit Hub and CrimeReads. Her other work appears in Vanity Fair, Vulture, Lapham's Quarterly, AirMail, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Public Books, The Baffler, Bright Wall/Dark Room, Politics/Letters, The Toast, Truly Adventurous, and elsewhere. She has a PhD from the departments of English/comparative literature and theatre at Columbia University, where she was the Marion E. Ponsford fellow. She hosts the podcasst "Culture Schlock" at Lit Hub Radio. She is on instagram at @oldebean, twitter at @oldrutigliano, and bluesky at @oliviarutigliano.bsky.social.
