Sadie Roethgen

The plot of “The Night Agent” shows many parallels to real life politics.

“The Night Agent” released its first season on March 23, 2023, quickly becoming Netflix’s top show in the US. It also became one of the most watched series globally, ranking in the Top 10 in 93 countries. After season two came out in 2025 and season three on Feb. 19, 2026, both seasons also earned the top spot within the first few days of release. 

The show focuses on protagonists Peter Sutherland and his partner Rose Larkin, who mainly investigate government corruption and moles. Sutherland is a Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agent, working for an underground corporation for the president of the United States. Because of the realistic, government-based plot, there have been many parallels to real life instances. For example, season two follows a plotline about Gov. Richard Hagan who is a stand-in representing real life polarizing politicians. 

Hagan is illustrated as a character who represents “America First” views. At the end of season two, it shows him involved in criminal conspiracies with a broker, Jacob Monroe. After information is exchanged regarding Patrick Knox (the other presidential candidate) and his involvement with chemical warfare, Knox drops out of the race. This guarantees Hagan’s spot for president, highlighting his apathy towards foreign countries and alliances. 

Similar to Hagan, presidents in the real world share those same polarizing campaigns. President Donald Trump has a history of targeting immigrants, political opponents and media coverage that go against him. The isolationist agenda of Hagan led to an alienated portion of voters, mirroring real-life political divides that Trump was also involved in.

There is also a smaller plotline in the show focusing on the Iranian mission, which parallels how some people want to escape their controlled life. In season two, Noor Tahari, who works for the Iranian mission, used her power in the mission to arrange the freedom of her family from Iran to a secure, safe place in the United States, far away from the controlling regime. This can represent actual situations where Iranians try to escape the country because of harsh government control and safety.

But, the most recent season of the show has highlighted more recent political corruption in today’s world. Season three focuses on Hagan after he secures his position from Monroe, the intelligence broker. 

Towards the end of the season, it is revealed that he and First Lady Jenny Hagan were involved in a money laundering scandal with Monroe to illegally fund $6 million for Hagan’s campaign, in exchange for White House daily briefings. The President and First Lady both worked to cover it up by sending an assassin on everyone who knew about the scheme, like Sutherland. 

This reveal has many similarities to today’s political figures who try their hardest to cover up anything that might tarnish their image. In early 2026, FBI documents were released, containing an interview with a woman who accused Donald Trump and Jeffery Epstein of sexual assault. There were also reports made about those documents, claiming that they were missing from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) data base.

Many Democrats then came to the conclusion of a cover-up, similar to how Richard and Jenny Hagan worked to cover up their illegal laundering scheme. Afterwards, the DOJ explained that the documents were missing because they were “duplicative”. There have not been any charges against Trump for the files that have been released because the Justice Department “knew that he did nothing wrong.” 

Trump has still been mentioned in thousands of files and emails, along with a list of witnesses that bring up allegations towards him and Epstein. But, there is still no accountability from the president.

After the Hagans’ illegal activity comes out to the public, they use their political power to pardon themselves instead of having to face convictions. 

In May 2024, Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. He allegedly got involved in a scheme to boost his chances during the 2016 election, using hush money payments and falsifications to cover it up. Because this was a state offense, Trump can’t pardon himself, but he has still not faced any consequences.

Even if “The Night Agent” doesn’t directly say that the show completely mirrors real life political events, there are heavily implied parallels. 

After being asked about how the money laundering storyline came into place, creator Shawn Ryan talks about the Panama Papers, documents containing financial information that were leaked in 2016. 

“I got fixated on this idea going back to the release of the Panama Papers. ‘Oh, there’s this whole shadow banking world that exists to protect rich people who are trying to avoid taxes and dictators who plunder their own countries,’” Ryan said.

Many more plotlines in the series like chemical weapons and moles in the White House could bring up thoughts about politics. The point is, this show proves that government corruption can be real because there are instances involving our leaders that shouldn’t be forgiven.