It has been a long wait for the second season of The Night Manager, almost a decade, and finally the show is here! The first season was enthralling and quite a ride when it debuted, offering us Tom Hiddleston as a military vet turned hotel manager who is recruited by British Intelligence for a secret mission. It was glamorous, edgy and never tried to be anything more than what it was. Susanne Bier kept that balance so well that she also ended up winning an Emmy. The good news here, I must say, is that the second season keeps all of that promise and more.
The premise
The second season picks up where the first season left off. The aftermath of Hugh Laurie’s send-off in the first season did not give away any such possible links that way, but the primal reasons remain. The stakes are higher than ever, as our man will soon learn. Tom Hiddleston, as suave and dashing in the role as ever, returns as former British intelligence operative Jonathan Pine.
He is now living under the name Alex Goodwin. He has some trouble sleeping, but he dares not make a fuss about it. There are things he feels sorry about, but in the opening few scenes, it is established that he knows only one way, and so he must follow where that route takes him.
Danger is an understatement, as this time, his routine undercover job will threaten his existence and will force him to take extreme decisions. The new entrant here is Teddy Dos Santos (Diego Calva, so well cast here), a Colombian businessman who hides a few secrets in his den.
Meanwhile, the femme fatale who finds Alex in the chase and carefully positions herself in the mix is Roxana Bolaños, played to perfection by Camila Morrone. The plot moves fast, then slows down, and then picks up again. There is an agility in the way this espionage thriller picks up the detail; it is careful and sharp, never rushing to cut to the chase.
What works
Season 2 runs smoothly, almost like a slow burn, but once the key twist arrives, there is no going back. Pine’s backhand team, made up of Indira Varma, Hayley Squires, and Paul Chahidi, also have their own contributions to the story, but thankfully, this never thickens the intrigue into something of a culmination of sorts.
The point is, The Night Manager is not interested in making any grand-standing comments on the geo-political affairs or of the British imperialism that secures its trade from other countries or so on. It has no imprint on any of the timely issues at hand. It remains committed to the chase, to the thrill, the Bond-like myth-making that ultimately chooses the shadow over the clear day of light.
Season 2 is just as clever and cunning, and remains thrillingly unpredictable till the very end. Director Georgi Banks-Davies reigns in the tangibility amid the globe-trotting chase, where the consequences feel real and messed up. Hiddleston controls the chaos extremely well, ushering in close to show just how haunted he feels by the ever-present ghost of Richard Roper. He might always be on high alert, but the makers never miss out on the world-building. It is intense and highly entertaining. This is a great start to 2026.