He’s already been dubbed the ‘next James Bond’, but Tom Hiddleston now appears to be raising BBC viewer’s heart rates in his explosive return for The Night Manager season 2.
The 44-year-old British actor, who was recently hailed for his ‘masterful’ performance in Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of a novel by Stephen King, is finally back on our screens as the enigmatic Jonathan Pine after a decade-long break.
The hit BBC spy thriller, based on the bestselling novel by the late John Le Carre, debuted in 2016 to rave reviews and millions of viewers.
Following the release of its second season, BBC viewers have declared that the thriller – which also stars Diego Calva as Teddy and Camila Morrone as Roxana – is ‘worth the wait’.
But, perhaps unexpected to fans of the original series, has been the raunchy introduction of a fluid love triangle.
Taking to social media, @hollowcrowned declared that episode three contains ‘the sexiest scene of the decade possibly the century’.
@DelanoKane also wrote that the ‘sexual tension between Pine and Teddy is maaadddd’ before begging that the series gives audiences ‘just one passionate kiss’.
Meanwhile, @MissAmeliaNancy claimed that ‘those five minutes in The Night Manager’ were sexier than anything in the widely acclaimed hockey series Heated Rivlary.
Episode three also featured a jaw-dropping twist in the final few moments, so for those who have not caught up yet, stop here.
*Warning spoilers below.
What does Metro think of The Night Manager season 2?
Our TV Editor Sabrina Barr shared her thoughts on the series…
The series was perfectly brilliant as a standalone, having been based on the 1993 novel by the acclaimed espionage author John le Carré. If those six episodes were all we were ever going to get from a TV show about Jonathan Pine, then that would have been ok (even if it would have been a bitter pill to swallow).
But, thank goodness the creators of the series did decide to come back, because there is so much more of Pine’s story and his massive potential as a sleuthing secret agent to delve into in season two. The phrase ‘better late than never’ has never felt more apt.
To see how many stars she gave, you can read the full review here:
To the amazement of fans arms dealer Richard Roper, played by Hugh Laurie in the first series, appears live and well, despite Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) confirming that he was dead in a flashback scene.
In the third episode Pine follows Roper’s criminal son Teddy to a hidden location where he discovers, to his horror, that Roper is still alive under the name of Gilberto Hanson.
Taking to X, @hazyheadbigcity said: ‘The end of episode 3 of the Night Manager?!???!? WHAT THE…. HOW?!!????’
@raccoonideas also wrote: ‘The ending of episode 3 had me gasping out loud,’ as @GemiGemi1983 added: ‘flabbergasted’.
@AO_sportpsych also described the latest episode as ‘epic and utterly brilliant, compelling brilliant, gripping, incredibly well acted and scripted TV’.
In the second season of the BBC drama, Pine violently clashes with Colombian businessman Teddy Dos Santos, but, with the help of Roxana he is soon able to infiltrate a new arms operation.
The cast also features Indira Varma, Paul Chaidi and Hayley Squires alongside returning faces Alistair Petrie, Douglas Hodge, Michael Nardone and Noah Jupe.
Ahead of the release of the spy drama on New Year’s Day, Tom explained how the new series ‘had to be braver’.
‘I told everyone involved, David Farr, our screenwriter, our producers, our director… I said, it’s 10 years later. I’m 10 years older. A few more scars on the inside. A few more scars on the outside. Let’s lean into it. Let’s embrace it,’ he told Metro exclusively at a red carpet event.
‘It felt really fascinating, because the last 10 years in the world have been incredibly complex for all of us. I can only imagine if you’re a field agent in security and intelligence services, that the last 10 years have been quite the rollercoaster.’
The 44-year-old continued: ‘I know we’ve been braver. I sort of had it tattooed onto the inside of my brain that we had to be harder, better, faster, stronger, to steal from Daft Punk.
‘We had to be braver and deeper, and had to try to be both more courageous and more compelling and also more intense and more vulnerable, to try and excavate the centre of who Jonathan Pine is at a deeper level.’
The Night Manager will air every Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.
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