The Night Manager Recap Season 2 Episode 5: Inexplicable Affections

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Richard Roper’s weakness was not (just) Jonathan Pine, and his seeming inability to order the death of the one man who nearly cost him everything. The Night Manager planted the seeds last episode, and since we have a short season, the seeds immediately bloomed. Despite not being to the manor born, Dickie Roper had this colonialist worldview that made him look down on everyone save his inner circle of white Brits. Not even his own blood that coursed through Teddy was enough for him to view his son as someone other than a weapon to be used. He certainly appreciated Teddy’s talent, and used it fully to his advantage, but from his point of view, Danny was his only son. Teddy was a product of a youthful misadventure, someone he was kind to when he could afford to be kind, someone he leaned on when he had no one, someone he had no intention of acknowledging as his once he got back to his beloved England and the posh life he purchased with other people’s blood. 

Martin’s cleverness gave Jonathan the weapon he needed to cut through to Roper’s Colombia operation. He got Teddy to hear the words directly from Roper’s mouth. And, in the very church where they took communion together, Jonathan brought Teddy to meet his sister Clara, whom he has not seen in years, to give him the one pure embrace of love he has nor experienced in too long. It was a poignant reminder of his roots, of his life before his father corrupted him. Whether or not Teddy was now fully Jonathan’s, we do not yet know, but Jonathan got to him, at least enough to make him rethink his loyalty to his father.

Did Roper suspect this could happen? Roper had first hand experience of Jonathan’s magnetism. Of his Majorca inner circle, the only one who did not succumb was Corky, despite the Major’s attraction. When Roper asked Teddy if he were susceptible, it was a genuine question, but it was also a slight nod to himself and how he fell for Jonathan’s game. Jonathan used Roper’s affection for Danny to get in, and with his own charms, his own ambition, his own restless darkness, Roper recognised a comrade who could be useful, yes, but who also mirrored himself. Like Roper, Jonathan was not to the manor born, but he was comfortable with the lifestyle, he enjoyed it. They were both portraits of civility, except on those moments when the charade needed to end and the hungry striver revealed. Roper trusted Jonathan back in Majorca because he wanted to trust him. Did Teddy perhaps fall for the same mirage, this smooth talking gentleman with a dark edge? 

Whatever Roper may have suspected, their operation was already at the stage where he needed to handle things either himself or with the help of old friends. Frisky was his latest visitor from England, the one he tasked to tail Jonathan following their meeting. As he told Teddy, when the weather gets rough, he tightens the ship. 

Not nearly tight enough. Roper could not help himself. He just had to meet with Jonathan, and let him go, purportedly so he could lead his men to Roxana, but as Roper himself pointed out, at this stage, he has never even met Roxana, she could not hurt him. Roper may have wanted one final chance to manage his one time surrogate son, but there was a more primal urge in the worst man alive who, after all, remained a man — he missed him. 

They shook hands like civilised men, right there in the hilltop restaurant that had been Roper’s sole destination for years. Roper even asked about Jed, his girlfriend who became Jonathan’s lover and intelligence asset. He ordered for the both of them what he knew was probably the best the restaurant could offer, though he had previously grumbled about the quality of the steak. The meeting was not exactly friendly, but it was not emotional either. Even the anger was controlled. 

Jonathan laid out what he had and what he wanted: He had the shipment list, he knew to whom the arms were being sold, he knew Aurora was a front to recruit young soldiers for war. He claimed Roxana was ready to turn state witness. He wanted Roper to hand himself in and bring down his collaborators, including Mayra Cavendish and the whole British side of this operation. If he did not, Jonathan threatened to break the operation, which meant Roper would not be able to pay his Syrian debt. 

It was, as far as threats go, not that strong, especially since Jonathan had already insisted that he was alone. This was not Majorca or Cairo, he claimed to have no support this time. Also, bringing up the 300 million was a risky move. It was Jonathan who stole the money, he knew at least where it first ended up in. Roper probably thought the money had disappeared into the British coffers after all this time, but Roper could just as easily have thought it best to torture Jonathan for the account number where he sent the money, given that he had someone inside the British government who could help him locate it. 

Roper dismissed Jonathan’s threat and made his counter offer — Roxana and the shipment list for 50 million dollars, to be wired to any account he wished. Roper framed it as an offer of freedom, but given that he taunted Jonathan about his father to the point that Jonathan grabbed his steak knife in a fit of anger, soon controlled, Jonathan was likely right — Roper was a con man trying to con him. Jonathan sniped back that his father loved him — what about yours? — and gave Roper a phone and an 8AM deadline. 

With Martin’s help, Jonathan lost his tail, and he was able to meet with Teddy alone. Jonathan added to Teddy’s devastation upon hearing those recordings Martin made of Roper and Sandy by telling him that Roper’s aim was only to settle his debts and go home. Roper did not even tell Teddy about Danny, whom he regarded as his only son and heir. Diego Calva did very well in portraying a man who was shaken to his core, and when Teddy lunged at Jonathan, there was more emotion than intent on it. Jonathan held him rather than fight back, and they ended up in an embrace as Jonathan whispered assurances to a tearful Teddy. Later, when Teddy met with Clara inside the church, he kept apologising to her. Roper created a front man who was supposed to be the new him, at least temporarily; when Teddy broke down, he looked so young again. 

Teddy told Jonathan the plan for the EMP, for Jose Cabrera’s men to drive it to the middle of Medellin during the celebrations of the peace anniversary. Looting would happen, people would die, and they would blame the government. Then, they would send their troops to restore order. Teddy was supposed to drive the EMP to a nearby military camp, where it would be airlifted and dropped via parachute to Cabrera’s camp. Jonathan told him they needed the details of the plane.

Back at his home, Roper had discovered the listening device hidden in one of the dogs’ collar. Martin got out of his listening post just in time, but not only had he gathered more than enough intelligence, he also made Roper so paranoid that he had the whole house searched. It was to this chaos that Teddy arrived. When Roper left, purportedly to go for a walk (it was actually to meet Juan and Roxana), Teddy slipped into Roper’s bedroom, took the key to his office, and searched, and found, confirmation of what Jonathan told him – the brochure for the house in England, a new British passport, and a photo of young Danny. Teddy sent Jonathan photos of the plane that carried the EMP, including the tail number.

‘You really did win his heart, didn’t you?’ Sally commented when she saw the photos Jonathan sent. Maybe. We'll explore this more after the finale.

On the London front of this operation, Roper had tasked Mayra to identify Jonathan’s support teams, both at home and in Colombia. Basil, who saw that he was being followed at the train station, sent a red flag to Sally and instructed her to go to the airport and use her exit parcel. Basil then called Angela Burr and told her he needed to cancel their appointment as he had guests, but that he would leave his findings postmarked on A4 paper. It was very much an old school spy trick; Basil went to a nearby Postmark store and left his folder there, which Angela later picked up. Basil was taken to the house he had been surveilling, where Mayra had him tortured.  

Basil was too good a spy to be broken by Mayra’s goon. Basil admitted to following her because she was hiding things from him, but he denied knowing anything about Jonathan Pine being alive. Whether she believed him or not, it was not clear; Mayra had him shot anyway. So, I’m going to need Jonathan to take care of this once he’s back in London because Basil was too good a character to be lost to Mayra’s schemes. Could I spend the few days before the finale pretending Basil was still alive?

Sally, for her part, refused to leave Colombia, despite the danger. Instead, she contacted Consuelo Arbenz, and told her that she knew who killed Alejandro Gualteros and why. She also said there was a coup being planned in her country. Consuelo had to pretend to be speaking to someone else because she was now surrounded by General Sanchez’s men. 

When he was asked, both by Roxana and Roper, Jonathan had claimed he was alone with no support. He did think Sally had left, but he had Martin the whole time. Quietly, Martin continued to watch Jonathan’s back. It was Martin who recorded and took photos of Jonathan’s meeting with Roper. It was Martin’s contacts who helped Jonathan evade Frisky when he tried to tail him after the meeting. Martin also took Jonathan and Sally, once they had reunited, to his sister’s house. 

Three times in this episode, various characters (Roper, Martin, and Sally) alluded to Jonathan’s ability to get help. Even as the duel between Jonathan and Roper heightened, the stories of the people who were there to support Jonathan remained strong as well. Spy work was not a solitary work, and The Night Manager was a stronger show for its excellent supporting characters. 

Rating: A-

Strays

🌳The kid Jonathan saved was named Octavio Perez, and he was named the assassin of Alejandro Gualteros. Roxana guided them to her parents’ house, where Octavio begged Jonathan not to leave him with her. He said that Roxana was one of them.

🌳No one had been in that house for a couple of decades, yet the clothes Roxana and Jonathan pulled looked very clean and in Jonathan’s case, pressed. I get that being well dressed and neat was part of Jonathan’s identity, but seeing him put on that crisp shirt took me out of the scene a bit. 

🌳Roxana was furious at Jonathan when he told her he had no support and that he could not really fulfill the guarantees he gave her. She accused him of lying to her, and he let her have it about Waleed, who along with the other Night Owls team members died because of her lies. Roxana later called Juan, and she came to meet Roper. Roper threatened her rather graphically if she betrayed him. 

🌳As though to solidify his position as the worst man in the world, Roper shot his dogs after he found out that one of them was used to spy on him. Roper loved his dogs and had planned on taking them with him back to England. We could view him shooting them as simply a villainous act of a villain. Alternatively, it was also the act of a powerful man who lived a dangerous life, who saw his affection exploited against him, and so he took out the objects of his attachment.

Episode Writer: David Farr

Episode Director: Georgi Banks-Davies

Original Release Date: January 25, 2026

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