The Zookeeper (The Night Agent)

The Zookeper is the third episode of the first season of the Netflix series The Night Agent.

Synopsis
Peter teams up with Rose for a risky mission at the White House. Elsewhere, a notable agent joins the security detail for the vice president's daughter.

Plot
1 year ago, Diane Farr and Peter Sutherland meet at a zoo. He remembers visiting when he was younger and wanting to a bear because he was being bullied at the time.

Diane offers Peter a job - to answer the phone for night agents in distress. She tells him that the phone never rings unless a night agent is in trouble.

Peter feels that she is asking him to be a glorified 9-1-1 operator, but Diane adds that this job will help him advance his career and open up new opportunities for him. Given his dad's reputation, it will be hard for him to get a better offer. Before Peter can answer, Diane tells him that in a zoo, you should always want to be the decision-maker, the one with all the keys, therefore the zookeeper.

In the present, Peter tells Diane that he and Rose Larkin will arrive at the White House in an hour. After hanging up, Peter wonders why Hawkins would throw away his 30 years of service and become a traitor. However, Rose seems unconcerned with Jamie's death and is more worried about Peter's intention to follow orders and go to the White House within an hour.

Peter explains that the White House has the tools to decrypt the hard drive, but Rose is worried about providing evidence to the culprit at the White House.

Peter says he is too low-level to go against an order from above. He trusts Diane to protect them. She was the only person who gave him a chance, despite his father's reputation.

Peter informs Diane that Rose is reluctant to enter the White House and would need some time. She gives them until the next morning at 10 a.m. She tells Peter they are looking into Jamie Hawkins' death and that the President would be briefed in an hour.

President Michelle Travers is told during the brief that there is little evidence and no suspects or witnesses. They can only be certain that he was murdered elsewhere, and his corpse was dumped on the farm. The President asks to be informed when she can share her condolences. Ashley Redfield, who previously spoke to the assassins, is seen among those in the brief.

Diane asks Michelle for information about Campbell's assignment, and Michelle agrees.

Peter and Rose are in the woods, observing the house from a distance. They are trying to test if Diane can be trusted because she is the only one who can trace their location. Soon, Ellen and Dale arrive and search the cabin.

Rose and Peter manage to get away. Peter records Ellen and Dale's license plate information. He asks his police friend Cisco Jenkins to run a BOLO on the vehicle. Rose takes this as a sign that Diane can't be trusted, but Peter is reluctant to believe this.

At the White House, Ben questions Diane about the whereabouts of Peter and Rose. Diane replies that she doesn't trust him and questions how he didn’t know that the Secret Service agents were pulled from the hotel.

Ben leaves to take a call from one of the Secret Service agents, Chelsea Arrington, who is the security detail of Vice President Ashley Redfield's daughter, Maddie.

Maddie attends Georgetown University and is taking a course on Art and Activism. Ben tells Chelsea that he is withdrawing her and sending Erik Monks as her replacement.

At Georgetown University, Chelsea introduces Maddie to her new security detail, Erik Monks. Maddie is in a hurry and trusts Chelsea knows what she is doing. Chelsea reminds Maddie to take her panic button. Maddie rushes to her next class and Chelsea updates Erik on Maddie. Chelsea tells him that Maddie doesn't trust many people, but trusts Chelsea. While on campus, she wants the Secret Service officers to blend in.

Peter and Rose decide to work on the drive by giving it to Diane. They plan to use her to get the drive decrypted. Peter leaves Rose in a diner and set a meeting place. Rose persuades Peter to steal Diane's access card while the FBI is busy working on the hard drive to let her back into the system. Rose makes a call in order to divert Diane's attention.

Peter follows through with the plan and lies that Rose ditched him. Diane puts out a BOLO on Rose. Everything goes according to plan until several police officers unintentionally stop by the diner Rose is in. Diane realizes Peter used her access card and asks why he did it. He explains that he doesn't trust her since she was the only one who knew their location, yet the assassins found them there. Diane sends her phone to the lab to test if it has been compromised. She gives Peter her word that she is trustworthy. She explains to Peter that the Campbells were commissioned by the President to look into the metro bombing.

The President doubts the report and a leaked statement from a terror group, People's independence Front (PIF). PIF later denied making a statement claiming responsibility for the incident.

Ellen decides she had had enough of motels and persuades Dale to check the open house she previously visited. While Dale does not share her desire to lead a fancy life, like Ellen, he agrees to stay with her for a while at the open house.

Maddie's professor, Paulo Bonetto, starts subtly flirting with her. Maddie starts feeling better and happier after her professor shows interest. Later, she gets into a fight in a bar with a man who despises her father, Vice President Ashley Redfield. Her security detail, Erik, steps in, but slips up due to his shoulder injury. Chelsea says that she must report the incident. She doesn't think Erik should be working again and sees him as a liability.

Chelsea tells Ben Almora what happened over the phone. Since Erik has been through a lot, Ben encourages her to be patient with him. Before taking a bullet to protect the former President, he was the best. Chelsea asks a CIA buddy to look into how someone with Erik's level of expertise ended up on her team.

The next morning, Rose checks into a motel and starts going through the drive. The hard drive was successfully decrypted and she finds files about the metro bombing. Peter shows up to the motel with Diane. Rose is angry that he brought Diane. Diane asks her to calm down as she is not the traitor and is there to tell her the truth.

Maddie's professor Paulo texts someone that he is getting closer to Maddie and will explain more when he gets home. The text is received by the man with the snake tattoo.

Cast

 * Gabriel Basso as Peter Sutherland
 * Luciane Buchanan as Rose Larkin
 * Hong Chau as Diane Farr
 * Fola Evans-Akingbola as Chelsea Arrington
 * D.B. Woodside as Erik Monks
 * Sarah Desjardins as Maddie Redfield
 * Eve Harlow as Ellen
 * Phoenix Raei as Dale
 * Enrique Murciano as Ben Almora