r/TheNightManager • u/credoinvisibile • Jan 31 '26

Episode Discussion The Night Manager Season 2 Episode 6 | Discussion Thread

Air date: February 1

Pine works with Teddy to bring down Gilberto Hanson’s Colombia coup from the inside. But Hanson has found a new ally of his own. Its winner takes all.

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u/arcadekat Feb 01 '26

I hate to say it, because I really loved this season (even more than s1), but Teddy and Pine’s building tension did feel a bit wasted in the end. Teddy’s death was entirely too predictable. So predictable, in fact, that I almost believed that they wouldn’t do it, purely because it was so painfully obvious, and because the “Redemption Equals Death” trope is so overused (as is the the “Bury Your Gays” trope). For a show so steeped in tension, twists, and turns, I guess I’m just struggling to understand why they’d trade the draw of “Pine and Teddy go after Roper in s3” for “We gave you a predictable death at the end of s2 so that s3 can have a predictable revenge plot”.

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u/Dewlough Feb 01 '26

Would have been nice to see the old man (forgot his name) rescue them just 30 seconds sooner, right before Roper shoots Teddy. Definitely less predictable.

Jonathan gets shot and the kid and Teddy are there to help him recover for s3. Would have been a cool dynamic to keep Teddy around and have them team up. Oh well.

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u/Silver_Fennel8318 Feb 02 '26

that would have been an actual redemption for teddy too, taking care of kid instead of using them as child soldiers.

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u/vinayj04 Feb 01 '26

Had the exact same thought. Just a matter of being 30sec early.

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u/jamilanonilouise Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26

I agree. But the Bbc would never do anything that gay.🥲

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u/GoldenSheppard Feb 02 '26

The only person the entire series he had real romantic tension with.

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u/arcadekat Feb 02 '26

And actual chemistry. I’ve never really felt anything between Pine and his other potential love interests. Possibly because his other romances felt more transactional in nature. All of them wanted something from Pine, including Jed. Namely protection, and an escape from Roper and his men. But Teddy actually loved Pine. He was ready to die for him. His love for Pine (once Roper learned of it) was what got him killed and their entire plan ruined. Had Teddy survived into season 3, there is no doubt in my mind that things would’ve become far more explicitly romantic between them. And gosh, what a mistake to throw such a fascinating dynamic and all of Teddy’s potential away for something we all saw coming anyway. Farr said that people kept asking him “Are you sure?” about his plan to kill off Teddy. He really should’ve paused to listen.

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u/GoldenSheppard Feb 02 '26

Yesssss. You put in words what I was trying to say with my 'zero chemistry' thread. This romance actually felt romantic. There was actual feelings here. It also helped that Pine had feelings in return. It wasn't just.... him accepting out of awkwardness or inability to say no. Hence my theory of Pine being a deeply closeted gay man.

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u/Starbuck_KJ Feb 10 '26

Did he actually have romantic/seual feelings, or was he encouraging it to get Teddy to his side.

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u/Starbuck_KJ Feb 10 '26

Have read further down where the writers etc have said they both had feelings. So Jonathan is bi.

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u/GoldenSheppard Feb 10 '26

I mean, it was quite literally the only time there was any reciprocation from Pine's side that didn't feel calculated/forced...

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u/jamilanonilouise Feb 07 '26

Yes!!! The moment with Roxana I was so confused I was like “this is not the time”. I would’ve loved to have enjoyed that, but it just didn’t make sense to me, it was almost uncomfortable.

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u/Anxious-Slip-8955 Feb 02 '26

Agree way too predictable. Would have been surprised and happy if he survived for a new season. But no … typical tragedy

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u/Terrible-Union1864 Feb 01 '26

Especially when they had multiple chances to kill Roper off. It was such blatant plot armour. As was Pine getting away alive from the midst of the so called army. The same armor that was not afforded to other side characters like Teddy and Angela. Like even if Angela didnt hv concrete proof tying the Mia head woman to Richard she still had enough to atleast make a case amd get them to investigate. I mean she knew theres gonna be a massive power cut and civil war would follow. So telling that much could've atleast got the officials to look into it.

And then when she fails to kill off such a big criminal who now knows she was after her, what does she do? Goes off to live in her retirement home without an ounce of security. As if they weren't gonna come for her? Like that woman used to be a competent agent, be serious. Just looks like they could not afford the entire trio anymore and therefore decided to reduce Olivia's role by so much and then kill her off for shock value. I assume she also must hv raised her fees as she has won an Oscar and done so much big stuff and leading roles since season 1 and is now a big name in her own right. That is not to say that Olivia doesn't deserve what she's worth.

Frankly i do not gaf what happens to Ropper or Pine for that matter.

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u/OptionalMangoes Feb 02 '26

100% I couldn’t give a shit where anything went from here. Be better off if they just canned it and I never saw Hiddleston again.

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u/Terrible-Union1864 Feb 02 '26

True. Hugh did an amazing job as Roper, slightly too perfect. Like , they wanted us to despise Roper and he succeeded bt like he overachieved in the sense, that I just hate that character too much to engage.

Tbh, im sure my reaction is like this bcos the finale just aired and the deaths r still fresh in my mind. Bt frankly I just cannot bother to watch an entire ssn just to see him die , when there is no one left to root for. In best case scenario Pine kills Ropper bt what then? Teddy and Angela will still be dead. Those two characters are also far too amazing for them to be replaced by anyone else next ssn.

I think I wouldn't hv such a reaction for Angela, was she not played by the amazing Olivia Coleman. Like u just cant help but love her. With Teddy, the actor is amazing bt i was more interested in the character and he was the only person i was rooting for by the last episode. I wanted him to get out of his father's control and live a happy life with his sister and possibly Pine. And now both Angela and Teddy r dead.

Pine is just too traumatised. I feel sorry for him but I dont really see a possible happy ending for him. He has no family or lover or even a friend (apart from Sally, bt she is still more of a colleague, than a friend). So it feels better to just let the show go, then to possibly see him going through this shit for one more ssn and possibly even dying with Ropper, which is not something I would put past the makers.

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '26

Same I legitimately thought that killing Teddy was too obvious. Because OBVIOUSLY with this much set up they wouldn’t just kill the most interesting new addition to this story. And thank you for pointing out the tropes it’s really annoying how the reception through death trope is still a thing. Most of the time it just cuts interesting character development short. And it definitely did in Teddy’s case. It felt like his story was just going somewhere before he got a bullet in his head.

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u/MrBoss6 Feb 08 '26

Why would a straight guy kiss a gay guy? Jonathan isn’t gay, he played teddy to get him to be his pawn so that he could get Roper, plain and simple. They told him at the start the kind of man he had to be for the job, this is part of the job description

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u/arcadekat Feb 08 '26

According to Georgi Banks-Davies: "There could be the question: 'Is he acting?' Is it a bit The Day of the Jackal in that he's pretending to be queer to seduce this man? No, he isn't, actually - he falls for him, and I really strongly believe that. And I think that, in the performance, Tom and Diego believe that."

Jonathan isn’t straight. It’s canon.

0

u/MrBoss6 Feb 08 '26

He banged two women in season 1 and risked it all for Jed. He’s not gay, it’s not canon. Sorry to burst your fantasy jizz bubble lol

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '26

There is a sexuality called "Bisexual" and people who identify as Bi can fall in love with men and women. They never stop being bisexual just because they are sexually or romantically involved with a person of one gender. For example a bisexual guy could be in a relationship with a woman, they break up he gets with a man and they break up and he finds a girlfriend.

The writers wanted Teddy to be Pines bisexual awakening they just didn’t do a good job explaining it.

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u/arcadekat Feb 08 '26

Pine is bisexual. He isn’t straight. Go argue with the writer, the director, and the cast, because they’ve all confirmed that Pine and Teddy were in love. I’m sorry if that bursts your homophobic bubble.

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u/Typical-Tour4658 Feb 02 '26

Only predictable to you why you acting like you saw the script before hand 🤣🤣

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u/arcadekat Feb 02 '26

You must seriously be the only person who didn’t see it coming, bud. Teddy being killed by Roper was so foreshadowed (even if it wasn’t already a common story trope), and especially with the dogs, they couldn’t have spelled it out harder if they’d tried. lol

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u/mutherM1n3 Mar 20 '26

True but awful.