Gabriel Basso is back as FBI agent Peter Sutherland in The Night Agent Season 3, but the numbers show that fewer people are watching this time around. The Netflix thriller, which debuted on February 19, 2026, pulled in 8.4 million views in its opening week, landing at the number two spot on the streamer’s weekly ratings report .
That sounds decent until you compare it to previous seasons. Season 2 opened with 13.9 million views in January 2025, while Season 1 scored a massive 20.6 million views when it launched in March 2023 . The math is simple: Season 3 lost 40 percent of Season 2’s audience and dropped nearly 60 percent from Season 1’s opening week numbers .
The Numbers Tell a Clear Story
Netflix measures views by total hours watched divided by runtime. For Season 3, that came out to 8.4 million views between February 15 and 22 . Season 2 did 13.9 million in its first week, and Season 1 pulled in the equivalent of 20.6 million back when Netflix still reported hours viewed differently .
The show also slipped from the top spot. Season 3 ranked number two globally for English-language TV, while previous seasons both debuted at number one . The geographic reach shrank too. Season 1 made the weekly Top 10 list in 92 countries. Season 2 hit 75 countries. Season 3 only made it in 50 countries .
The show got bumped from the number one position by something unexpected: WWE Raw. The weekly wrestling program took over the top spot on Netflix’s chart less than a week after The Night Agent Season 3 premiered .
Critics Actually Love This Season
Here is where things get interesting. While viewership dropped, the reviews actually improved. The Night Agent Season 3 scored a perfect 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from critics . That beats Season 2’s 86 percent and Season 1’s 75 percent .
Critics are calling it the strongest season yet. Lewis Glazebrook of Screen Rant wrote, “The Night Agent season 3 is the show’s best installment yet, thanks to a tighter narrative, compelling characters, solid action, and great twists” . Jen Vestuto from Collider agreed, saying, “By tightening its storytelling, deepening its characters, and delivering deliberate, hard-hitting action sequences, The Night Agent has officially delivered its strongest season yet” .
David Opie of Digital Spy gave it 4 out of 5 stars and pointed out a standout episode. “A flashback episode in the back half introduces a new love story in Mexico that not only fleshes out key characters but might just be the standout chapter of the entire season” .
The Huffington Post UK rounded up several reviews calling the new episodes “escapist entertainment” at its best . Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com wrote, “Buoyed by the best ensemble of new supporting players for the show to date, the third season of The Night Agent is arguably the best” .
What Happened in Season 3
The new season picks up after the events of Season 2. Peter Sutherland is now living with the consequences of his deal with shadowy intelligence broker Jacob Monroe (Louis Herthum). That deal saved Peter and Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) but may have swayed a presidential election, handing victory to Governor Richard Hagan (Ward Horton) .
Peter’s guilt grows as he teams up with reporter Isabel de Leon (Genesis Rodriguez) to uncover the full extent of Hagan and the First Lady’s (Jennifer Morrison) dealings with Monroe. Their investigation reveals a dark money network reaching the highest levels of government .
The season introduces three new series regulars who have led their own shows before. David Lyons plays a former spy lured out of retirement. Jennifer Morrison, who you might know from House or Once Upon a Time, plays the First Lady. Stephen Moyer from True Blood plays a top hitman known as The Father .
Suraj Sharma, the Indian actor known for Life of Pi, joins the cast in a significant role. India Today praised his performance, saying, “Sharma plays him with a controlled intensity that keeps you guessing. There’s an emotional restraint to his performance, but also a quiet volatility” .
One major change this season: Luciane Buchanan’s Rose Larkin is not in Season 3. Creator Shawn Ryan explained that the story they wanted to tell simply didn’t include her, but she could return in future seasons . Some critics noted her absence, with one review calling it “a big loss for the show” .
JoBlo’s review gave a positive take on the cast changes. “Despite the loss of Lucianne Buchanan as Rose Larkin, The Night Agent is better than ever with new co-star Genesis Rodriguez and the return of familiar characters from the first season as they take on the biggest conspiracy yet” .
Why Fewer People Are Watching
The viewership drop raises questions about what happened. Looking back, Season 2 already showed warning signs. While critics gave it 86 percent, audiences only gave Season 2 a 39 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes . That is a huge gap between what critics liked and what regular viewers thought.
Screen Rant analyzed the audience complaints about Season 2 back in 2025. Viewers felt the characters made unbelievable choices just to create drama. They also thought Rose became more annoying as her decisions contradicted how she was established in Season 1. Some reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes reported they could not even finish Season 2 .
That audience dissatisfaction may have carried over to Season 3. Even though critics love the new episodes, some viewers might have decided to skip the show after being let down by Season 2. The 40 percent drop suggests word of mouth about Season 2 hurt Season 3’s opening numbers.
The show also faces more competition now than when it started. Netflix releases more original content every year, and viewers have limited time. Season 1 was a fresh discovery for many people in 2023. By Season 3, the novelty has worn off.
Streaming Details for Global Audiences
The Night Agent Season 3 is available on Netflix in all regions where the streamer operates. Subscribers in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and India can watch all ten episodes right now .
In the US and UK, the show premiered on February 19 at 12:00 AM Pacific Time / 3:00 AM Eastern Time . Canadian viewers got it at the same time. Australian audiences woke up to the new season on February 20. Indian viewers could start streaming from February 19 evening local time .
The show streams in 4K Ultra HD with HDR and Dolby Atmos sound for subscribers on premium plans. All episodes include subtitles and dubbing in multiple languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and more .
What About Season 4
Netflix has not officially renewed The Night Agent for Season 4 yet. But the show’s future looks promising. Showrunner Shawn Ryan told Deadline that a writers room quietly started working on Season 4 in 2025 .
“We’ve been working for a while on the storyline. We have some scripts, we are breaking stories,” Ryan said .
The show also received a $31.6 million tax credit to move production from New York to Los Angeles . That tax credit comes with a six-month window to start production on a fourth season.
Ryan explained the timeline to Men’s Journal. “To Netflix’s credit, they want to make sure that the creative side of things is always buttoned up before committing that amount of money. We’re in the story-breaking, script-writing phase, and my guess is, sometime in the next [few weeks, up to a month], they’ll make a decision about officially greenlighting Season 4” .
He also teased the setting for a potential Season 4. “There’s a world that we’re in, it’s a world that exists in Los Angeles, which is the creative reason why we moved the show to Los Angeles, because it’s a world that is present in Los Angeles, it’s not present in New York for the most part” .
When asked about returning characters, Ryan was careful. “The answer is yes, but I don’t want to share any of that yet because it could always change. I have an idea of which characters would return, but certainly, until there’s actually an official pickup, there’s no reason to go into it” .
Lead Actor’s Future Plans
Gabriel Basso, who plays Peter Sutherland, has expressed some doubts about playing the character long-term. In an interview with Screen Rant, he said he had no desire to play Peter longer than necessary.
“What I don’t want to do is be the fighter that you’re watching, and you’re like, ‘Dude, you should have retired six fights ago.’ I don’t want that” .
That comment raises questions about how many more seasons Basso would commit to if Netflix keeps the show going. But for now, he is fully present in Season 3, and critics praise his performance. India Today noted, “Basso smartly underplays the transformation. He doesn’t turn Peter into a swaggering action hero. Instead, he leans into the paranoia and moral weight” .
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Where to Watch Previous Seasons
If you want to catch up or rewatch, all three seasons of The Night Agent are streaming now on Netflix . Season 1 remains the tenth most popular English-language TV series in Netflix history, sitting behind heavy hitters like Bridgerton, The Queen’s Gambit, Dahmer, Stranger Things, Wednesday, and Adolescence .
The show is produced by Sony Pictures Television and comes from creator Shawn Ryan, who also serves as showrunner. He executive produces alongside Marney Hochman, Paul Bernard, Munis Rashid, Seth Fisher, Guy Ferland, Exhibit A Films’ Seth Gordon and Julia Gunn, Sunset Lane Media’s David Beaubaire, and Project X Entertainment’s Paul Neinstein, William Sherak, Nicole Tossou, and James Vanderbilt .
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