Whether based on a true story or a bestseller, there has been a plethora of new espionage thriller series this spring; True Lies reboot, Damian Lewis’ A Spy Among Friends, Kiefer Sutherland’s Rabbit Hole, Richard Madden & Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ Citadel, just to name a few.

The one I’m absolutely head over heels in love with is The Night Agent, based on Matthew Quirk’s bestseller. It’s definitely a high-stakes, nail-biting, action-thriller anybody would be excited about. However, Timeless (NBC 2016 – 18) creator Shawn Ryan added some relationship elements exploring how men and women work together in different workplaces.

Peter Sutherland Jr. (Gabriel Basso) is a low-level FBI agent who is eager to prove himself. When Diane Farr (Hong Chau), the President’s Chief of Staff, takes him under her wing based on the merit of his heroic conduct in the recent Metro bombing in spite of his infamous last name, he is ready to show her what he’s made of.

In the White House basement, Peter works the night shift manning an emergency hotline for night agents in distress; ‘a glorified 911 dispatcher’ is utterly fitting for an underdog. On a fateful night the phone that never rings actually does and all hell breaks loose. Peter’s mundane life of public service instantly turns into a frenetic nightmare. “My orders are to protect you with my life!” vows Peter, when he meets a terrified civilian witness and a sole survivor of a home invasion.

Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan), however, is neither a shrinking violet nor a damsel in distress; she is whip-smart, fiercely independent, tough as nails and impressively resourceful. Recently ousted from her own cyber security startup company, Rose has retreated to her aunt and uncle’s house to get some respite. She, too, has to prove herself, but first and foremost she has to survive threats to surrender to government forces and relentless assassination attempts while trying to figure out why her aunt and uncle were brutally murdered.

Coming to Rose’s rescue like a knight in shining armor is what Peter is trained for and expected to do, but the son of the late alleged traitor can’t afford to break the rules. With the help of the swearing, rule-breaking, geeky yet definitely alpha Rose who trusts no one and questions everything, Peter embarks on a desperate hunt for clues and leads for a future catastrophic event to save the country. It’s not necessarily the alpha-beta budding relationship, but Rose calls the shots, hounds Peter for answers, nudges him in the right direction — forget the rules, I’m mad as hell — and encourages him to think outside the box.

Although fighting off bad guys is Peter’s domain, Rose doesn’t hesitate to pitch in and becomes his knight in shining armor from time to time. Peter, surprisingly, is neither threatened nor intimidated by Rose’s strength — her ‘alpha-ness’ — at all. Hmm,  maybe he is too busy trying to figure out the conspiracy unfolding in front of his eyes. Or maybe the younger generation finally realized that a romantic relationship is not a competition. Or the contemporary knight in shining armor only lives in Shawn Ryan’s imagination.

Ryan’s storytelling philosophy of ‘earning a romance’ also brightly shines in The Night Agent. I particularly appreciate the fact that sharing the rush of adrenaline-fueled adventure & misadventure doesn’t instantaneously ignite a spark between Peter and Rose. Slowly but surely (although in a very short span of time) they learn to work together while on the run, lean on each other to survive the ordeal, appreciate each other, and grow together. The slow burn contemporary fairy-tale romance between the button-down Boy Scout who sees the good in people and the unconventional damsel in distress is definitely the best part of Ryan’s latest creation.

The Night Agent is streaming on Netflix.