Viewers were left stunned by the season 2 finale of The Night Manager, which saw Tom Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine lose in his battle against Hugh Laurie’s Richard Roper, and lose badly.
Not only did Roper kill his own son Teddy, who Pine had grown close to and who had turned coats against his father, but Pine’s ally Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) was also killed. Roper himself was then able to return to the UK and reunite with his other son, Danny, having stoked a civil war in Colombia.
Now, speaking at Deadline’s Contenders TV panel, creator and executive producer David Farr has explained why the season 2 ending was so downbeat – and revealed that the upcoming third season will offer “redemption”.
He said that the season 2 ending “was important to us all because the world is a tough place at the moment, and it didn’t feel right not to reflect that”.
Farr continued: “But of course, all of us want to see justice, redemption and we want to see something change, so I feel like season 3, there is actually a deep emotional and moral imperative to honour that.”
Meanwhile, Hiddleston added: “It’s also in the title. John le Carré was a genius, is one of the great writers of the 20th century – I believe that, spies or otherwise.
“He called it The Night Manager for a reason: [Jonathan Pine] is the protagonist, someone who is managing, containing darkness – principally the darkness inside himself, the darkness of his childhood and the loss of his parents, his disillusionment with military service.
“But also he’s managing the night. He’s managing the world’s darkness because he believes the light should win. And it’s all comes from him in a way, and it’s such a thrill that we get to do it again. A trilogy feels tidy. And I hope I’m not that much older by the time we start.”
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Farr also offered an update on his progress on season 3, and sadly for fans it seems like we could have a bit of a wait on our hands – even if it isn’t the full 10 years that it took to get season 2.
“Right now, I feel the deep weight of doom of stress about it because I’m the one who has to actually do the writing of the damn thing,” Farr said. “It’s a huge challenge. It’ll be very exciting. And it won’t take as long as the last one, I promise.”
The Night Manager seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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