10 Years Later, Prime Video’s 2-Part Spy Thriller Is One of Its Greatest

Published Apr 5, 2026, 1:58 PM EDT

Rachel LaBonte is an entertainment writer and Rotten Tomatoes–approved critic specializing in film and television. She previously served as a Senior Writer and Editor on Screen Rant’s Core News Team, where she covered major studio releases, franchise films, and top TV series, and later helped build and shape the site’s New Movies vertical.

A graduate of Emerson College with a degree in Media Arts Production and a specialization in screenwriting, Rachel brings both industry knowledge and a strong storytelling background to her coverage. She now writes for Collider, where she continues to analyze the latest movies and television with a critical, audience-focused lens.

From the currently hiatused James Bond franchise to Apple TV's Slow Horses, there are countless spy projects for viewers to choose from, often ranging in tone and accuracy. Earlier this year, one of the best in the genre returned for its second season, a rather miraculous return, seeing as the show was originally planned to be a miniseries. Now officially a Prime Video show in the United States, The Night Manager remains a go-to title for spy fans, and it's only getting more exciting.

What Is 'The Night Manager' About?

In its original iteration, The Night Manager premiered in 2016 as a miniseries for BBC One and AMC. It was based on John le Carré's novel of the same name and followed Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston), a former soldier-turned-hotel night manager who is recruited by intelligence agent Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) to hunt down international arms dealer Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie). Roper, who presents a charismatic, philanthropic face to the rest of the world, is evil personified, and to stop him, Pine must go undercover and infiltrate his inner circle, leading to a deadly cat-and-mouse game. The Night Manager was greeted with positive reviews and critical acclaim, leading to Golden Globe wins for Hiddleston, Colman, and Laurie.

The six-episode first season tells a tight, tense story, covering Pine's introduction to espionage and his gradual integration into Roper's world. It is a perfect showcase for Hiddleston, who, at the time, had spent the past five years as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's favorite scene-stealer, Loki. As Pine, Hiddleston got the opportunity to play a very different character, one who must go to some dark places in service of the greater good. Pine is a compelling character because of his ability to become anyone he needs to be. He's essentially only wholly himself in Episode 1; by the time he's officially brought into the Roper case in Episode 2, he's already stepping into a different persona. Hiddleston must convey both Pine's carefully constructed cover and his true self, though the lines get pretty blurred.

The Night Manager Season 1 features excellent supporting turns from Colman, Elizabeth Debicki, and Tom Hollander, but the true MVP is Laurie as the chilling Roper. As the series gradually reveals the depths of his inner darkness, Roper becomes all the more terrifying because of how real he is. Some of the best spy titles revel in the fantasy of the genre, producing sci-fi-level gadgets and action sequences that only Ethan Hunt could survive. The Night Manager, however, avoids the flashier elements and sticks to a cerebral plot rooted in the real world. That only raises the stakes, particularly when it comes to Season 2.

'The Night Manager' Season 2 Brilliantly Elevates the Original Story

After years of silence, The Night Manager was suddenly renewed for two additional seasons in 2023, the first of which debuted on BBC One and Prime Video in January. Season 2 picks up nearly ten years after Pine's showdown with Roper, switches locations to Colombia, and introduces a new arms dealer for the undercover agent to set his sights on: Teddy Dos Santos, played by Babylon star Diego Calva. Almost immediately, Teddy proves more than capable of becoming Pine's latest foil; not only do his tactics eerily resemble Roper's, but he also has crackling chemistry with Pine, leading to a very different sort of deception. All the while, Pine is haunted by what happened in Season 1, and he carries those scars — as well as the knowledge that he's more like Roper than he'd thought — as he plunges into his hardest mission yet.

The Night Manager Season 2 is just as gripping as the first, partially due to the devastating timeliness of its story. Without delving too much into spoilers, Teddy's operations in Colombia have outside influences, and other countries end up meddling in affairs they have no business touching. What starts as a slow-burn investigation gets increasingly fraught as Pine builds his latest persona and gets closer to Teddy, leading to a jaw-dropping season finale that sets the stage for the forthcoming Season 3. Hiddleston is at his best here, giving Pine fresh dimensions as he unravels in his desperation to end a dangerous plot and bury his ghosts.

The Night Manager is among the best titles Prime Video has to offer, and it only promises to get more riveting in Season 3. Spy fans will be well-rewarded by all the twists and turns Pine's story takes, though it's worth watching just to see Hiddleston and Laurie go toe-to-toe in Season 1. The undercover element adds an extra layer of tension as viewers watch to see whether Pine stays one step ahead of his opponent. With Season 3 likely not dropping until 2027 at the earliest, now is the perfect time to catch up.