SPOILER ALERT: The story includes one minor detail from the Season 2 finale of The Night Agent.
A popular series regular character from Season 1 of The Night Agent, Chelsea Arrington, played by Fola Evans-Akingbola, will be coming back after a season-long absence.
The Netflix action drama opted for a clean slate in Season 2 with only the lead, Gabriel Basso, who plays the titular character Peter Sutherland, and Luciane Buchanan, who plays Rose Larkin, the woman Peter was charged with protecting in Season 1, returning.
Kari Matchett, who recurred in Season 1 as President Michelle Travers, made a cameo in the Season 2 premiere and that was it for the Season 1 cast of characters around Peter and Rose until the Season 2 finale, which featured a brief cameo by Evans-Akingbola’s Chelsea.
In Season 1, Chelsea Arrington drove the B plot line parallel to Peter and Rose’s — until the two converged at the end — as an ambitious U.S. Secret Service agent leading Vice President daughter’s protective detail. In the Season 2 finale, Chelsea was seen working campaign security for Governor Richard Hagan.
With Hagan headed to the White House, Chelsea is poised for a major comeback, The Night Agent creator/executive producer Shawn Ryan confirmed to Deadline in an interview that answers Season 2 questions and sets up what is to come in Season 3.
“I don’t view this the way that a lot of TV shows operate in that I think characters come and go and then come back to the show, depending on what the storyline for that season is,” he said. “An example I would give you is that we really love the character of Chelsea in Season 1, who was played by Fola Evans-Akingbola.”
‘The Night Agent’: Fola Evans-Akingbola (Season 1, ep. 104)
Dan Power/Netflix
As a standout in Season 1 who worked well with Peter, there was an expectation that Chelsea would continue in Season 2. Ryan explains why she didn’t and how he broke the news to Evans-Akingbola.
“It really pained me to have to call her between seasons one and two, and say, hey, the writers had been working for a few weeks, and we’re gravitating towards stories that I don’t think we have a role for you in,” he said. “The story has just taken us here, and I’m so sorry, but we love you, and if there’s a chance to get you back on the show at some point, I would love to do it. She was wonderful about it.”
Ryan and the writers kept their word.
“As we got towards the end [of Season 2], we found this opportunity to have this little cameo for her that will serve as a platform,” Ryan said. “And I will tell you, she will be part of Season 3.”
It is not clear whether Evans-Akingbola will once again be a series regular or recurring but she is expected to have a significant presence next season.
For more Season 3 clues and a deep dive on Season 2, read Deadline’s interview with Ryan.