Ahead of The Night Manager Season 2, here's the only recap you need from the British spy thriller's first chapter

Season one of the BBC series The Night Manager is a British spy thriller that premiered in late 2016 and received considerable acclaim for its plot and powerful acting. With nearly ten years having passed since then, the network finally announced a new season with the return of Tom Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine, an ex-soldier turned spy. Before the new season airs, a synopsis of season 1 would come in really handy for fans.

The first season of The Night Manager tracks the journey of Jonathan Pine, a hotel clerk who becomes caught within a corrupt ring of arms smuggling and double-crossings. The origins of Pine's vocation are revealed to be rooted in the political turmoil with the eruption of the Arab Spring movement, whose climax impacted much of the world. At first, unaware of the impact his work would ultimately have upon him, Pine's daily activities eventually result in his involvement with an extended mission filled with danger.

Pine travels to various cities during season 1 and becomes part of the inner circle of a powerful arms dealer and collaborates with intelligence agents to prevent illegal arms sales. This recap will highlight some of the events that are most relevant to the upcoming season 2 of The Night Manager.

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The start of the story of The Night Manager and how Pine got involved?

The Night Manager is a series that follows Jonathan Pine. He starts off as the night shift manager, handling guests at five-star hotels in Cairo. As he tries to transition from being a soldier to the civilian world, Jonathan meets Sophie. She is dating a man who is involved with Frederic Hamid, a gang leader in Cairo, but she turns out to be much more than that.

Sophie (whose real name is Samira) possesses secret documents with detailed lists of illegal arms transactions. The documents contain a wide variety of lethal weapons, such as sarin and napalm. Sophie asks Jonathan to keep the documents safe by making copies and to find someone who would allow her to leave Egypt with them. Jonathan complies and sends copies of the documents to a diplomat friend, hoping to protect Samira.

However, the plan backfires when Samira dies due to the involvement of people with connections to the documents. The man responsible for this is Richard Roper, a wealthy arms dealer who appears kind and charitable but is, in actuality, one of the most ruthless individuals.

Pine is overwhelmed with feelings of anger and guilt over the loss of Sophie, and he takes steps to alleviate those feelings. After four years, he moves to Zermatt, Switzerland, and works as a night manager again. Pine eventually finds Roper and his associates at the hotel where he works. Rather than avoiding Roper altogether, Pine sees this as a chance to bring Roper down through his own efforts. He secretly contacts Angela Burr (Olivia Colman), an intelligence officer, and informs her of everything that he knows about Roper, giving her the information needed to conduct an undercover operation against him.

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Danger, deception, and the big mission in The Night Manager

Once Pine becomes part of Roper's world, the story grows more tense. Pine takes on a fake criminal identity and gets himself deeper into Roper's inner circle. Intelligence agencies stage a fake kidnapping of Roper's girlfriend, Jed, and his son so that Pine can "help" them and gain trust. This allows Pine to get closer to Roper and the shady deals he is making.

Pine also begins a relationship with Jed, which complicates his mission even more. He takes risks, including photographing secret documents about Roper's company, which appears legitimate on the surface but secretly moves illegal weapons. Meanwhile, Pine's actions draw suspicion from Roper's right-hand man, Corky, who doubts Pine's story and watches him closely.

Back in London, Pine's handler, Angela Burr, discovers that some officials in intelligence may be helping Roper by falsifying documents. This makes the mission more complex, as Pine must not only fight Roper's organization but also uncover corruption inside intelligence circles.

The plot of The Night Manager reaches a high point when Pine helps stop a weapons deal by destroying the trucks carrying the illegal goods. This strikes a serious blow against Roper's business and leads to him losing support from powerful buyers. Angela Burr also manages to cut off official intelligence backing for Roper, leaving him exposed.

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The ending of The Night Manager Season 1 and what does it mean for The Night Manager Season 2?

In the final episodes of The Night Manager season 1, Pine and Burr refuse to give up on stopping Roper and bringing justice to those who were hurt. Pine also takes revenge on the gangster who first brought Sophie into the dangerous world, and he uses all of his skills to take down what he can of Roper's network.

The conclusion of the season leaves Roper void of allies and without any means of legal protection, as his empire based on weapon selling has crumbled. He now has to pay for the consequences of his actions. In contrast, Jed prepares for her departure to America to see her son and assures Pine that he may accompany her if he can. Most of the principal elements planned for the end of season 1 have been resolved, while establishing doors for future plots in The Night Manager season 2.

Pine's undercover operations, his relationship with the intelligence agencies, and the personal losses that he suffers serve to develop danger, opportunity, and necessity in the second season. Viewers who missed the series or didn’t have time to rewatch it can now quickly catch up. This guide offers an easy reference to the major events of season 1. It helps viewers understand the key moments that shaped Pine’s path. It also points to where Jonathan Pine’s journey may go now that The Night Manager season 2 is nearing release.