The Night Agent: Cisco's Death Upset Gabriel Basso On And Off-Screen
Unfortunately, you can't have a good deep-cover spy story without one of the good guys being caught in the crossfire. Whether they're a seasoned source of info that "knows the rules of the game" or a civilian that got too deep, the chances are they're not going to make it to the end credits, and heroes will be all the more ticked off because of it. In the case of Netflix's surprise smash hit, "The Night Agent," that duty fell with Curtis Lum, who stepped in as Cisco, an old academy pal to Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso). Keeper of Kevin the Troll doll and the best friend who ditched a date last minute to keep some assassins occupied, Cisco was one of the good ones until the end.
His passing in the show stung more than most, thanks to Lum's impressive turn as the tension-breaking buddy to our hero, who was there when he was most needed. For Basso, it left a mark not simply because Lum's character was a personal favorite but for the relationship that went beyond the camera. "Cisco dying was depressing for me because Curtis and I get along in real life, and I just liked his character," Basso told Entertainment Weekly. Thematically, however, Basso saw Cisco's loss as a pivotal moment in Sutherland's story, not just for the first season of "The Night Agent" but any future chapters for when Sutherland is back on our screens.
Basso sees Cisco's death as a turning point for future alliances in The Night Agent
As is the downside of being a country-saving, terrorist-snuffing secret agent, getting loved ones involved can cause issues. Kidnapping, blackmail, besmirching of family names, you know the deal. With the killing of Cisco, however, Gabriel Basso believes that things will never be the same for The Night Agent in the future now that the show has got a swift renewal for Season 2. "That is the point at which he realized that involving people in his life puts them in danger," explained the show's top spy-in-the-making in his Entertainment Weekly interview. "That might come up in Season 2, where he feels like he can't involve people in his life without risking their lives. He wants Cisco and Rose around, but he saw what happened to Cisco, so it would inform a lot of the walls he builds to protect his own soul."
Unfortunately, by closing himself off, it could be that Sutherland's chance at romance could also be in jeopardy. The ending of "The Night Agent" saw Rose (Luciane Buchanan) sitting on her car watching Sutherland fly on his first big mission to a location even he didn't know about. Could his new life be shrouded in mystery, and his recent experiences see him become a stone-cold hero with no time for love or laughs? We sure hope not. After saving the President's life, Sutherland should learn to cut himself some slack. It's what Cisco and Kevin would've wanted.