A new season of The Night Agent has arrived on Netflix and fans have quickly dived into the new episodes of the show. Season 3 brings about yet another pulse-pounding season filled with shocking deaths, unexpected betrayals, and a complex conspiracy that our favorite Night Agent Peter Sutherland is working to get to the bottom of. All of the key components that have helped fans fall in love with the action-thriller and political drama are in the mix once again, with one major exception.
The Night Agent season 3 is the first season without Luciane Buchanan’s character Rose Larkin. Since the first season, Rose has been an integral part of The Night Agent beginning in season 1 when Rose and Peter were thrust into the center of a government conspiracy together. Fans were captivated immediately by the pair’s chemistry and unexpected love story amid the chaos unfolding around them.
While the story shifted to a new mystery in season 2, Rose remained a key part of the show and put her cybersecurity skills to the test, helping Peter navigate yet another high-stakes conspiracy which threatened national security. As the season came to an end, the pair managed to save the day once again, but the pair hit a rough patch that saw them choosing to break things off. The hope was that Peter and Rose would work through their obstacles together in season 3, but sadly that was not the case.
Rose does not appear in the third season of The Night Agent in any capacity, and this stems from the creative decision not to bring Buchanan back for season 3.
The Night Agent season 3 dances around Rose’s absence
Right out of the gate, the show makes it clear to fans that Peter and Rose are still separated and have not gotten back together following their breakup in season 2. Early in the season 3 premiere, Peter reveals to Deputy Director Aiden Mosley that he and Rose are no longer in communication, with Peter suggesting that “it’s safer for her” this way before he quickly moves the conversation along.
While chasing a lead later in the premiere, Peter has a conversation with journalist Isabel De Leon in which he again briefly acknowledges his breakup. When Isabel notes that it’s better to have loved and lost, she picks up on Peter’s short response and presses him for whether it was his or her fault in the ending of his relationship. Peter notes that it was his fault and notes that his job got in the way. Isabel suggests he get a new job, but Peter mentions how he wants to see things through as the conversation shifts away from his breakup with Rose.
A few episodes later, Chelsea and Peter bump into one another at the White House. She mentions that the last time she heard from Rose she mentioned he was in New York, and Peter keeps the conversation brief. When the pair team up later in the season, Chelsea is avoiding calls from her fiancé and explains that he’s a fix-it guy and she wishes he had just listened to her and not tried to fix the situation as doing so only caused her trouble. Peter reminds her that at least she has somebody that cares enough to try, not name-dropping Rose, but clearly indicating he’s struggling with getting over their breakup and longs to have Rose in his corner again.
There is also a moment in episode 7 that again hints at Peter and Rose’s relationship and his struggle with their breakup. Peter is taken by a professional hitman looking to get answers on the whereabouts of Isabel and others he’s been hired to kill and is given a drug cocktail to get him to tell the truth. During the interrogation, the man asks Peter if there is someone he wants to spend his time with, that he cares about, and Peter again references Rose and how he messed things up with her.
“There was, but I couldn’t make it work,” Peter confesses before adding that maintaining connections outside the job “was too dangerous.”
While it’s nice to get mentions of Rose through the season and the writers do an amazing job of letting us know Peter is still carrying a torch for her, it would have been nice to get a proper update on what she’s up to. There is no mention of what Rose is up to in season 3, so all we truly have to go off of are the breadcrumbs given to us in the season 2 finale when Rose mentioned settling back into things in California and being buried in work from her new promotion.
Why wasn’t Rose in The Night Agent season 3?
So why exactly wasn’t Rose in The Night Agent season 3? Well, that would be a creative decision made by executive producer and showrunner Shawn Ryan and his producing partner at MiddKid Productions, fellow Night Agent EP Marney Hochman. Ultimately, it seems that they felt there was not a natural way to work Rose into the season and do the character justice. Rather than bring her back and make her a sub-character, the decision was made not to feature Rose in season 3.
“I won’t be returning to Season 3 of The Night Agent. As much as that show has been so amazing, especially for my career — being a lead on a U.S. show from little New Zealand was such a whirlwind — the writers decided that they wanted to follow Peter and his journey based on what happened at the end of Season 2,” Luciane Buchanan told Deadline in an exclusive interview in September 2025. “They called me not so long after Season 2, and they were like, we’ve been trying to find a way to bring her in, but we want to do her character justice and not make her a sub-character. I totally respected that decision and agreed. I was like, if it makes sense to a story, I’ll do that. If it doesn’t, let’s not force that.”
After the news broke, Ryan told Deadline that the door would remain open for Buchanan to return as Rose in the future as he reiterated that the story laid out for season 3 simply didn’t have a “satisfying place for Rose.”
“Luciane has been a beloved member of our Night Agent family for our first two seasons and her portrayal of Rose Larkin and Rose’s relationship with Peter has been a huge part of the show’s success. We always envisioned the show as telling a new story each season with a revolving cast, and the story we broke for Season 3, much to our chagrin, didn’t have a satisfying place for Rose,” Ryan explained before revealing his hopes to see her back down the line. “I adore Luciane as a person and as a performer and I don’t believe that this means we’re done telling the story of Peter and Rose. I hope circumstances ultimately allow for the return of Rose to our Night Agent universe.”
Thankfully, Buchanan seems more than open to the idea of returning to the franchise in the future should the right storyline come about. While a fourth season has not been officially greenlit, production has begun hinting that a fourth season will be coming. Hopefully, the door will open for Rose to return as part of season 4’s storyline, even if it happens to only be in a cameo.
“If there is an opportunity that makes sense to the story for her to come back, I’m sure they’ll explore that, because they really loved the dynamics of Peter and Rose, and I know a lot of audiences loved that dynamic,” Buchanan noted. “So I’m sure Shawn Ryan and his team will find a little way; maybe we’ll make a little cameo along the way.”
Given that we know prouduction is set to move to Los Angeles for season 4, you have to imagine that the season could take place, at least in part, in California. If that ends up being the case, it would be a natural fit to bring Rose back into the mix given we know she had moved back to California in season 2. Season 3 proved Peter clearly isn't over Rose, and we'd love to see the pair drawn back together in season 4 working a new case and rediscovering the love they share for one another along the way!
The Night Agent season 3 is streaming now on Netflix.