[7.7/10] At this point, The Night Manager seems to be settling into a more standard spy story. That’s not a complaint, by the way. While I appreciate the unique structure of episode 2, or the globe and perspective hopping of the first episode, it’s nice to have the show roll merrily along now that all the pieces are in place.
SOme of that is just better understanding the mechanics of Roper’s operation. With Pine/Birch’s ascendance as Roper’s right hand man, we come to understand how Roper’s business works. He takes out loans from shady banks or other investors too venal or willfully blind to ask a lot of questions. He then uses the funds to buys weapons of war from Russian intermediaries in locales like Istanbul. He pays off folks in the CIA and MI6 to falsify documents which essentially bless that “agricultural equipment” and give it the imprimatur of government approval. He sells it to other operators for double what he paid for it, pays a comparative pittance to the original investors, and pockets the rest.
I’m sure there’s more complications to be unveiled as the show rounds out its last third. We still don’t know who exactly is buying these weapons and beyond the money (which isn’t nothing!), we don’t know precisely why the American and British intelligence agencies are helping Roper along. But we can make reasonable guesses on both fronts, none of which are good. And in the process, we understand how Roper does what he does, using “Andrew Birch” as a stalking horse so that his name stays out of it.
For his part, Jonathan Pine plays the part to perfection. We see how his years in the hospitality industry give him the slickness and ease of manner to smooth things over with a neighboring table of potentates at a high powered lunch, or lean on an Istanbul money man to sign the necessary papers. He is, to put it in Tropic Thunder terms, a dude, playing a dude, who’s pretending to be another dude. But he’s good at it! And Hiddleston’s charm makes you buy that someone as sharp as Roper (albeit a touch romantic, on Corkoran’s account) would “choose to trust” this guy to be the strawman for his operation.
The one part that baffles me is the involvement with Pine and Jed. It seems monumentally stupid on Pine’s part. At first, I thought his not-so-subtle advances were part of the scheme somehow, a foolhardy attempt to get more info on Roper or something. But I think it’s genuinely supposed to be love, or at least infatuation, which doesn’t really click with me. That said, I appreciate that Burr is basically like “You’re a moron, get the hell out of there!” when she catches wind of it, and I suppose the show established from the jump that Pine has a weakness for femme fatales caught in rough situations with bad men, so he could just be projecting his feelings about Sophie onto Jed.
Still, it’s not my favorite use of Sophie. Again, I like the idea of the show exploring her plight and role in all of this with conviction. Here, though, she’s mainly used as a femme fatale, who only exists here to create potential tension and trouble between Pine and Roper. Look, if you watch a spy show, you’re going to get some Bond girl intrigue, so I suppose I should just shut up and accept it. But it’s a tired cliché that hits all the usual beats, in a show that at least seems to be aspiring to more than that. At least Corkoran seems to recognize the stupidity of it, even if he goes about voicing it in about the most self-destructive way possible. His veritable mental breakdown at lunch over the lobster salad, with his punching and groping and awkward toasts, was one of the most cringe-worthy scenes I’ve seen in a while. Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of him, but it’s a believable temporary exit for the character, driven mad by being replaced and issuing warnings that no one will hear.
I also like what we get to see on the government/intelligence side of things. Burr tightening the net around Roper and his crew, and sniffing out the connection to MI6/the CIA through an old friend who she turns into a double agent is strong spy block and tackle. Things go well for Burr’s crew for most of this episode, as Pine’s intel gives them big time material to use against Roper and find other leads. Obviously that can’t last, especially with Pine now freelancing, her boss accidentally tipping off Dromgoole, and their erstwhile Spanish patsy turning up murdered in his own home. But as the cat and mouse game continues, it’s nice to see Burr and her team get a few wins before things inevitably get more difficult.
To the same end, I loved Oliva Collman’s “Why I hunt Roper” speech. It’s such a succinct vignette -- about watching children ravaged by chemical weapons and seeing it as a business opportunity rather than a tragedy -- to explain what fuels her. Collman knocks the performance out of the park as always, and it sets the stage in visceral terms for why this seemingly affable, if dirty, billionaire is, in fact, the worst person.
There’s some question about whether Pine is getting seduced by the act, though. My mind has naturally been leaping to The Departed for this undercover story, but a better Scorsese touchstone might be Gangs of New York, when revenge turns into possible admiration for the mentor you’re meant to be manipulating. I think that’s a red herring, and that Pine hasn’t been seduced by Roper just yet (even if he has been by Jed). But it’s not hard to see Pine getting fancy suits and flashy credit cards and chances to come into his own as part of a billionaire’s entourage and want to see where his own “drive” might take him.
Overall, the Pine/Jed stuff is an unwelcome elemment here, falling into clichés that The Night Manager would do better without. But otherwise, this one brings the glamorous-yet-thoughtful, well-acted quality that the show’s provided for four full episodes now.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-08-15T19:07:42Z
[7.7/10] At this point, The Night Manager seems to be settling into a more standard spy story. That’s not a complaint, by the way. While I appreciate the unique structure of episode 2, or the globe and perspective hopping of the first episode, it’s nice to have the show roll merrily along now that all the pieces are in place.
SOme of that is just better understanding the mechanics of Roper’s operation. With Pine/Birch’s ascendance as Roper’s right hand man, we come to understand how Roper’s business works. He takes out loans from shady banks or other investors too venal or willfully blind to ask a lot of questions. He then uses the funds to buys weapons of war from Russian intermediaries in locales like Istanbul. He pays off folks in the CIA and MI6 to falsify documents which essentially bless that “agricultural equipment” and give it the imprimatur of government approval. He sells it to other operators for double what he paid for it, pays a comparative pittance to the original investors, and pockets the rest.
I’m sure there’s more complications to be unveiled as the show rounds out its last third. We still don’t know who exactly is buying these weapons and beyond the money (which isn’t nothing!), we don’t know precisely why the American and British intelligence agencies are helping Roper along. But we can make reasonable guesses on both fronts, none of which are good. And in the process, we understand how Roper does what he does, using “Andrew Birch” as a stalking horse so that his name stays out of it.
For his part, Jonathan Pine plays the part to perfection. We see how his years in the hospitality industry give him the slickness and ease of manner to smooth things over with a neighboring table of potentates at a high powered lunch, or lean on an Istanbul money man to sign the necessary papers. He is, to put it in Tropic Thunder terms, a dude, playing a dude, who’s pretending to be another dude. But he’s good at it! And Hiddleston’s charm makes you buy that someone as sharp as Roper (albeit a touch romantic, on Corkoran’s account) would “choose to trust” this guy to be the strawman for his operation.
The one part that baffles me is the involvement with Pine and Jed. It seems monumentally stupid on Pine’s part. At first, I thought his not-so-subtle advances were part of the scheme somehow, a foolhardy attempt to get more info on Roper or something. But I think it’s genuinely supposed to be love, or at least infatuation, which doesn’t really click with me. That said, I appreciate that Burr is basically like “You’re a moron, get the hell out of there!” when she catches wind of it, and I suppose the show established from the jump that Pine has a weakness for femme fatales caught in rough situations with bad men, so he could just be projecting his feelings about Sophie onto Jed.
Still, it’s not my favorite use of Sophie. Again, I like the idea of the show exploring her plight and role in all of this with conviction. Here, though, she’s mainly used as a femme fatale, who only exists here to create potential tension and trouble between Pine and Roper. Look, if you watch a spy show, you’re going to get some Bond girl intrigue, so I suppose I should just shut up and accept it. But it’s a tired cliché that hits all the usual beats, in a show that at least seems to be aspiring to more than that.
At least Corkoran seems to recognize the stupidity of it, even if he goes about voicing it in about the most self-destructive way possible. His veritable mental breakdown at lunch over the lobster salad, with his punching and groping and awkward toasts, was one of the most cringe-worthy scenes I’ve seen in a while. Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of him, but it’s a believable temporary exit for the character, driven mad by being replaced and issuing warnings that no one will hear.
I also like what we get to see on the government/intelligence side of things. Burr tightening the net around Roper and his crew, and sniffing out the connection to MI6/the CIA through an old friend who she turns into a double agent is strong spy block and tackle. Things go well for Burr’s crew for most of this episode, as Pine’s intel gives them big time material to use against Roper and find other leads. Obviously that can’t last, especially with Pine now freelancing, her boss accidentally tipping off Dromgoole, and their erstwhile Spanish patsy turning up murdered in his own home. But as the cat and mouse game continues, it’s nice to see Burr and her team get a few wins before things inevitably get more difficult.
To the same end, I loved Oliva Collman’s “Why I hunt Roper” speech. It’s such a succinct vignette -- about watching children ravaged by chemical weapons and seeing it as a business opportunity rather than a tragedy -- to explain what fuels her. Collman knocks the performance out of the park as always, and it sets the stage in visceral terms for why this seemingly affable, if dirty, billionaire is, in fact, the worst person.
There’s some question about whether Pine is getting seduced by the act, though. My mind has naturally been leaping to The Departed for this undercover story, but a better Scorsese touchstone might be Gangs of New York, when revenge turns into possible admiration for the mentor you’re meant to be manipulating. I think that’s a red herring, and that Pine hasn’t been seduced by Roper just yet (even if he has been by Jed). But it’s not hard to see Pine getting fancy suits and flashy credit cards and chances to come into his own as part of a billionaire’s entourage and want to see where his own “drive” might take him.
Overall, the Pine/Jed stuff is an unwelcome elemment here, falling into clichés that The Night Manager would do better without. But otherwise, this one brings the glamorous-yet-thoughtful, well-acted quality that the show’s provided for four full episodes now.