[Spoiler Alert] Well, the ending of The Night Manager Season 2 was brutal, to say the least. Jonathan Pine was so focused on the magician that he forgot to watch the cups. His arch-nemesis, Richard Onslow Roper, had switched the cargo to a different plane because he knew Pine would try to sabotage his plan, so as always, Roper came prepared. But the thing is, this defeat feels more personal, because a small error on Pine’s part cost people around him their lives. Roper shot his son, Teddy, dead for betraying him, while Pine’s ally, Martin, was killed by Jose Cabrera’s men. And in the end, an uninvited visitor showed up at Angela Burr’s house in Pau, France, and killed her in cold blood. In short, except for Sally and Octavio, Pine has no allies left. He’s on his own now. Ironically, he’s in the same mess as Roper was at the end of season 1. But Roper rose from the ashes and took flight like a phoenix, “an eagle,” but the question here is: will Pine be able to rise the same way?
Well, yes, definitely. Pine may have lost the battle, but he hasn’t lost the war. And he won’t ever give up. Not as long as he’s still alive and kicking. The reason being: Jonathan Pine is not a night manager anymore. He carries the burden of each and every person who has been killed by Roper’s cruel machinations, and Pine can’t just look the other way. Those nightmares won’t let him be at peace until he has avenged those who fought with him… who fought for him. So, yes, The Night Manager is indeed going to come back for a third season, even though the show hasn’t been officially renewed by the streaming platform. But that won’t stop us from discussing theories on a possible story, right? So, without any further ado, let’s just jump straight into it.
There’s Something Beyond Roper
Yes, those were Angela’s last words before she was shot dead in front of her house. While going through the evidence Basil had collected from Adam Holywell’s phone, Angela found out there was a bigger game at play in her country… something that was way beyond Richard Roper. Angela had a name, and it’s likely she was sending Pine a voice recording on the Cairo Asset Management website, the portal they used to communicate without being traced. And in the next season, Pine, after accessing the website, will certainly come across Angela’s last message to him, learning about the things she has been trying to warn him about. But what is it exactly? Okay, so hear me out. You know that Roper is an arms dealer, meaning he is just a middleman, a smuggler who arranges weapons for interested parties, right? So what we are missing here is who’s selling him the weapons. Who’s the manufacturer? It’s likely someone at the top of the food chain who has the access or the authority to arrange state-of-the-art British weaponry for Roper. And trust me, it’s not Mayra Cavendish. She’s just a facilitator, another middleman, that’s all. This person, whom even Roper fears, is the one Pine will be dealing with in Season 3, and if I am not wrong, I think they are someone sitting on a very high chair in the hierarchy of the British government. Also, Roper mentioned “kings of America” so many times in Season 2 that I won’t be surprised if this mystery person turns out to be an American arms manufacturer who is smuggling weapons out of the United Kingdom to cover their tracks. Well, whoever it is, the question remains: how’s Pine going to stop them?
Pine Will Bring The Battle Home
The first fight between Pine and Roper was in Egypt and Syria, and the second one was in Colombia, but I don’t think the third season is going to see them facing off on foreign soil again, mostly because the audience already knows what Roper’s modus operandi is, and we don’t want to see him doing the same things over and over again. However, by now, Pine has understood that Roper’s not the real evil, the system that has created such a monster is. And who’s part of that system? Pine’s own people, the corrupt folks in his government who want to fill their pockets at the expense of innocent lives. And to put an end to the evil, Pine will certainly return to England with Sally and Octavio, and together they will strike fear into the hearts of every corrupt official who has been in bed with Richard Roper, so they are no longer in any position to protect him or themselves.
Mayra Can Betray Roper
In season 2’s ending, Angela confronted Mayra with all the evidence Basil had collected against her, but to force her to resign from her position, Angela needed pictures of the cargo she had sent to Roper in Colombia. Nevertheless, you know what happened. Roper tricked Angela and Pine so they couldn’t link Roper or any of his associates to the raging civil war in Colombia. Mayra walked free, and it can be theorized that she was the one who sent an assassin to get rid of Angela at her house. However, I believe Angela might have uploaded these documents to the secured server where Pine could find them, and in Season 3, Pine will likely threaten Mayra using this evidence. We already know that there’s been a bit of a falling out between Mayra and Roper because the latter tried to blackmail her, and Pine will come to some sort of an arrangement with Mayra to get to Roper. However, what I am really curious about is: will Pine let Mayra go away so easily? I mean, she’s the one who had Rex Mayhew murdered, so Pine should make her pay for her crimes, right? Well, maybe it’s Pine who’s going to kill her, or maybe it’s Roper who will get her killed for betraying him. We’ll find out.
Danny Will Bring Roper’s Downfall
I think, more than killing Roper, Pine wants to see him defeated. He wants to break his arrogance, to finally prove him wrong. During their last meeting, Pine had told Roper, “You demand love by tyranny. It will only get you so far.” So what Pine had tried to tell him was that even though he’d won this fight with his tricks and treachery, he wouldn’t ever succeed in earning someone’s loyalty. People might respect him out of fear, but he would never be loved or cherished. Not even by his own son, be it Teddy or Danny. You all saw that Roper’s repeating the same approach with Danny as he once did with Teddy. Showing up at his hostel in a black car. Asking him if he wants to adopt some dogs. Danny is not a son to Roper. He’s just another lapdog that he has bought for himself, and he’s going to brainwash that lad to give him the illusion that he has a family… that he has a father. And just like Pine showed Teddy Roper’s true face, he is going to make Danny have the same realization. If you remember, shortly after Angela confirmed Roper’s death, Pine wanted to visit Danny so the young lad could get the closure he deserves. Later, while investigating Teddy, Pine did visit Danny, because he genuinely cared for him, unlike Roper, who just wanted to possess Danny because he was his blood. And I think a grown-up Danny would be able to see things more clearly. He would finally understand the fact that his father never loved anything more than his own ambitions. Roper wasn’t gunning to get back a mansion at Oxfordshire because he wanted to be close to Danny, he just wanted to prove to the world that he was better than his own father. But is he?
You know, the funny thing here is Roper always wished to be rich and successful so he wouldn’t end up becoming like his father. But I think he missed the whole point. His old man was obsessed with his dying auction house, the same way Roper had been busy with his successful arms dealing business. In both cases, they never set a great example for their kids. Both Roper and his dad failed as fathers because they were never emotionally present for their sons. Pine’s father, on the other hand, had always been there for him, even though he wasn’t physically present for him. He sent him books to read, just a small gesture that shows you care for someone, and they cross your mind every day. Pine kept those souvenirs close to his heart, especially that signed copy of “Seven Pillars of Wisdom.” I think this book was enough to tell anyone that money or success isn’t something that makes you a great dad, but Roper’s too arrogant to learn these simple life lessons. Hence, I think in Season 3, Pine is going to seek Danny’s help to infiltrate Roper’s stronghold and gather evidence to take him down once and for all. And this time, he won’t miss his mark, because as they say, the third time’s always a charm.
The New Allies
Okay, I am going to keep this one short. By the end of Season 2, Pine is left with maybe two or three allies. There’s Sally, who has been with him through thick and thin. Then there’s Octavio, the orphan kid whose life Pine saved in Colombia, and I believe, with a civil war raging in his country, Pine won’t risk leaving him there. He’ll bring him to the UK through some back channel. And last but not least, there’s Roxana Bolanos, who joined hands with Roper for her own survival, but I think Pine’s gonna forgive her, because he’s the one who pushed her too far. I think Roxy will likely return in Season 3, because she feels responsible for Teddy’s death. Her last conversation with Roper gave her the idea that he was going to sacrifice Teddy, and this very thought is going to weigh heavily on her conscience. She is going to contact Pine and ask him if she can help him in any way. However, we all know that these three people won’t be enough to take down someone as mighty as Richard Roper, which makes me speculate that Pine will get a few more allies in the next season who will join his crusade against the goliath.
So these are a few things that I expect to see in The Night Manager Season 3 if the show gets renewed for another season. Also, I’d love to know your expectations from the next season, so feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
