Netflix has spent years trying to bottle the kind of lightning that Amazon Prime Video struck with Reacher. Big heroes. Bigger conspiracies. The kind of satisfying television that you watch on after a long day when you need to see someone with perfect moral clarity punch bad guys without overthinking it. That’s Reacher for you. However, there is another similar show out there, one with higher stakes and a hero who actually bleeds.
That show is The Night Agent. Season 3 premieres on Netflix on Feb. 19, 2026, and three days is more than enough time to understand why The Night Agent has quietly become Netflix’s smartest answer to the Reacher-shaped hole in your watchlist.
If you missed it somehow, here’s the short version. The spy thriller became the seventh most popular English-language Netflix series of all time, pulling 98.2 million views in its first 91 days. Gabriel Basso plays Peter Sutherland, an FBI agent turned Night Action operative who spends most of his time getting the absolute hell kicked out of him while trying to untangle government conspiracies. Where Reacher makes everything look effortless, Sutherland makes it look painful. And that’s the whole point.
What Peter Sutherland Has on ‘The Night Agent’ That Reacher Doesn’t
The Reacher formula works because it’s pure “wish fulfillment.” Guy walks into town, fixes problems through brain and brawn, and leaves no mess behind. Peter Sutherland does not get that luxury. He’s not built like a tank, he doesn’t have all the answers, and his missions don’t grant him a clean exit. The Night Agent Season 2 saw him go rogue after his first official Night Action mission went wrong and killed his new partner, leaving him paranoid about whom he can trust within his own organization.
Thanks to that vulnerability, every action scene lands forcefully. When Reacher gets into a fight, you’re waiting to see him creatively defeat his opponents. Sure, Season 3 gave him Paulie, a 7’2″ bodybuilder who actually made him do the work, but even during that nearly 10-minute beatdown, you knew that Reacher would figure it out. However, when Sutherland fights, there’s genuine tension because he might actually lose. Basso’s Peter gets punched, thrown, shot at, and has to claw his way through situations where he’s outmanned and outgunned. Besides, watching someone make sketchy calls under pressure is way more interesting than watching someone who never really wrestles with the weight of his choices.
Why ‘The Night Agent’ Season 3 Is the Best Time to Start Watching
The Night Agent Season 3 kicks off with Peter tracking a young Treasury Agent who killed his boss and bolted to Istanbul with sensitive government intelligence. Showrunner Shawn Ryan describes it as an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride spanning Istanbul, Mexico City, New York, and the Dominican Republic. Peter juggles a dangerous White House conspiracy, a murder suspect trying to clear his name, old friends in danger, and a new partner who could either save him or screw him over.
After Season 2, Peter was working as a double agent, which means he technically has more power. Realistically, he’s more exposed than ever. Ryan teases that the character will have to face some hard truths and deal with what being a night agent has personally cost him and how it’s changed him, for better and for worse. That’s actual character development.
What makes The Night Agent the perfect replacement for Reacher? The show earns its momentum through real stakes. Sutherland doesn’t walk away clean, physically or emotionally. His decisions have consequences that stack up across episodes, and he’s barely keeping his head above water. So, if Reacher is the show that you watch when you want to see someone be impossibly good at everything (and you can’t wait for Season 4), The Night Agent is what you turn on when you want to actually feel something and relate to someone.
All 10 episodes of The Night Agent Season 3 drop Feb. 19th at 3 a.m. ET. You’ve got three days to catch up, so don’t sleep on this one.
- Release Date
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March 23, 2023
- Network
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Netflix
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