With The Night Agent Season 2 out for two weeks now, it’s still a great time to geek out over the small ways the series explores Rose and Peter’s relationship. There’s a reason viewers refuse to give up on the romantic relationship’s endgame despite Peter and Rose’s heartbreaking, seemingly final conversation in the Season 2 finale. And most of it boils down to how the show explores their dynamic in a way that feels like it’s purposely playing on classic romance tropes, such as when Peter comforts Rose through a nightmare in Season 2, Episode 3, “Government Property.”
Hurt/comfort is a tried and true romance trope for a reason. It’s discernible proof that both parties in the relationship hate seeing the other one in any sort of pain and that they’ll do anything to comfort them through the waves. It’s ultimately why the stakes are so high with Peter and Rose by the finale because he knows how their situations get to her and at the same time, every bad guy in the story knows that there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for her.
Still, Peter comforting Rose through her nightmare and staying up with her all night creates the type of scene that makes rooting for them effortless. On the one hand, I’m an absolute glutton for the trope, but on the other hand, everything is intensified by how tender and vulnerable the scene is. The Night Agent is great at giving us small moments throughout the season, and this is especially true when it comes to hugs of any kind. We see it in Season 1, and as dangerous situations arise in Season 2, they often lead to the two of them searching for brief comfort in each other’s arms. It’s a way to ensure that they’re safe through the one way that makes it a little easier for the two of them to instantly breathe again.
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What I also can’t help but fixate on when Peter comforts Rose through her nightmare is the repetition. He says the words “you’re safe” a few times, and if nothing else, isn’t that the most accurate part of the show? She’s safer with him than she is with anybody else, even if she’s also a liability. She’s safer with him than anywhere else because no matter where she goes, she’s going to take what he means to her with him. Trauma binds them, yes, but they choose to love each other, and even though those three words are never said aloud, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s exactly what “you’re everything” translates to.
Further, it’s anything but comfortable to sit still all night while also holding someone, afraid of moving, so you don’t disrupt their sleep, yet that’s exactly what Peter does. He covers her body first, like visible armor, and as the night passes and we see her wake up, he hasn’t moved while she’s finally managed to sleep through the terrors. If that’s not love in its most selfless form, then I don’t know what love is.
The visible concern in his eyes, the horror of knowing he’s causing all of it—Gabriel Basso holds nothing back when it comes to Peter’s unwavering concern for Rose. Nothing matters more to him than her comfort and safety, which is why this scene stings a little harder because it’s evident how it’s torturing him—how he has no idea what to do, yet we can visibly tell that when he burrows his head into her shoulder, that he’s trying to ensure she feels okay. Like the physical reminder of him can momentarily be enough.
There’s so much warmth and vulnerability in how the two of them open up after Peter comforts Rose through her nightmare, but more than anything, it’s the visual reminder of how they’re the most significant source of comfort for one another. There’s such a gentleness in how they approach each other even while their emotions are heated, how he’s careful to hold on tight but not too tight where it makes her more afraid. How their hugs always come with a lot of force but are sprinkled with an unbeatable tenderness.
These are the types of scenes we often see with couples who should last, and the intimacy that it unveils in that sketchy motel room is a direct result of their feelings for one another. There’s also the fact that Peter tells her he thinks she should take Catherine’s offer about California, even though he’d very much prefer to have her around. And it’s that very selflessness in their love that should be a reason they make it through to the very end and come back to each other no matter how far they go.
The Night Agent Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix. What are your thoughts on the scene where Peter comforts Rose through her nightmare? Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Netflix
This is the best take on the portrayal of the Peter/Rose relationship I’ve read (and I’ve read A LOT of the them)- agree on all points. To build the relationship and characters this well and then abandon it in Season 3 would be a travesty and honestly could mean the loss of a huge percentage of the fanbase.