Truth Serum (The Night Agent)

 I am blogging again about the spy series The Night Agent. Because I really enjoy it, first and foremost. Also, because it renews with a number of old tropes that we seldom see nowadays in the genre, as far as I know. So yes, not to give too much away, but instead of using "proper" torture, ome of the antagonists (not sure if I can say villain) uses a truth serum to gather intel from an uncooperative person of interest. And it is also used, from what I read, fairly reastically. As I am typing this, the use of a truth serum in the episode has not been listed yet in the TV Tropes entry, to my surprise. Anyway, to me it shows that sometimes, to be original and creative, you need to revisit old tropes that have been discarted as clichés.

Hunting Lodge (The Night Agent)

As you know, I have been (binge) watching the third season of the spy thriller The Night Agent on Netflix. It's great fun and very gripping, even though it's often derivative. But I think that sometimes, for certain genres, such as spy fiction, revisiting commonplaces and common tropes is part of the fun. So in one episode, the hero ends up in a hunting lodge. I love a good hunting lodge in adventure and spy stories. It's a perfect setting to put the hero in danger and for him to become a prey. Also, Hunter's Lodge was the name of a historical secret organisation (which I read researching to blog this post), so it works on a thematical/symbolic level too. In any case, I always get excited when I see that a spy or a crime story as a sort of hunting lodge as one of its settings.

The Night Agent in Istanbul

 Okay, so I have started watching the third season of the spy TV series The Night Agent on Netflix. So far so good, I am really enjoying it. It's not entirely original or particularly groundbreaking, but it is competently made and there's plenty of suspense to keep you invested. Anyway, like every self-respecting spy thriller, it sometimes goes to exotic locations. In this instance, the Night Agent ends up in Istanbul in the very first episode. And it reminded me that there are certain places, certain cities in the world, closely associated with espionage and covert operations, both in fiction and in real life. So it inspired me to do a series of posts about them in the near future, if that can interest you. It won't be like deep dive, just a few fun facts about them, what I know and what I learned.

About The Night Agent

I blogged a week ago about The Night Agent, a spy TV series on Netflix which I thoroughly enjoyed its first two seasons. The first season is based on a novel of the same name (which I intend to read one day), I understand the second and upcoming third ones are completely original stories. So yeah, as you know, there is an upcoming season three and I am quite excited about it. I watched the new season trailer yesterday and yes, it seems promising. There is just one thing that disappoints me: the absence of Rose Larkin, the character played by Luciane Buchanan. In the first seasons, Rose was not merely the love interest for the hero Peter Sutherland and occasional damsel in distress. She was also a civilian caught in a dangerous game of violence and espionage, an outsider who had to learn on the spot how to play. She was also a de facto audience surrogate. So I fear we will lose a bit of the show's humanity with her absence. I understand putting continuously a civilian in a world she does not belong to would stretch credibility. However I hope she shows up in later seasons, because she does bring a lot to the series, contributing to its relatability.

The Return of the Night Agent

As you may know, I have enjoyed in the past watching the Netflix spy TV series The Night Agent. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's a solid thriller that kept me entertained. It has a few ineresting enough characters, a lot of suspense and it is not too ridiculously far-fetched. I am even curious about the novel it is based on, although I might not buy it any time soon: too many books on my TBR list already. But anyway, there's been two seasons of the series and a third one is coming. It's going to be aired next month. I am really looking forward to it. Have you seen the series? What do you think of it? Tell me in the comments.

The Night Agent Returns

 I blogged before about The Night Agent, a Netflix spy thriller series which I quite enjoyed. It was not a masterpiece, but it was fun to watch, if a bit derivative. Well, there is a season 2 of the series coming in a week. I wonder what it will look like. Since the first season was based on a novel, which I haven't read, I think this time the story will be new and only the characters will be the same, which would make the title a placeholder one. Unless the book has a sequel, which is also possible. Somebody in the known tell me about. I think it was freely adapted from the source material in any case. Anyway, I am looking forward to season 2.

Questions about pu'er tea

A few months ago, I watched The Night Agent. It was all right and entertaining enough, if a bit light and derivative. But it got me curious about something. You see, one of the characters drinks pu'er tea. Its virtues are discussed briefly, apparently it keeps one's awake and alert or something. I have seen pu'er, or pu-her, or p'u-erh tea in various businesses, but I don't remember ever trying it. Its mention in the Netflix series got me curious, so I have a few questions, which I have decided to ask on this blog:

-Are there anyone among you, my dear readers, who drink pu'er tea?

-How does it taste?

-What are its virtues? Not the alleged ones, the ones you have experienced, if any.

-Is there a proper way to prepare it and drink it?

-Finally, what's the correct spelling? Pu'er, pu-her, p'u-her tea, or something else entirely?

 Well, that's it for me tonight.

The Day Agent?

 My wife has been having this job for the last few months and it is not very deanding overall. It is kind of a boring admin job where not much happens. She mostly stares at a screen and waits for emails to come in. At first she was almost worried about it: she thought they might terminate her contract for lack of work. But I told her not to worry: if the job requires that she waits for something to happen, then that is her duty to do exactly that. "You are a bit like the Night Agent," I told her, which I think deserves to be a great unknown line. She has not seen the Netflix tv series, but I have and I thought it was fitting. For the record, I enjoyed the series, found it entertaining enough, albeit derivative. And yes, I know it's based on a novel. But in any case, there are works that don't require much work, yet they still need to be done.