The Night Manager has been a television series that has kept everybody intently interested throughout its six week run. Whether it's on the back of the wonderful storytelling in the television adaptation of the John le Carré novel, or because of the hype surrounding Tom Hiddleston's bottom and 'six week audition for James Bond', it's never let up and has held the audience's neck by the scruff, refusing to let go until this week's final credits rolled, allowing us all to breathe in a sigh of relief.
Credit: BBC One
Last week we saw just what sort of carnage, chaos and destruction could be brought about by the deals the villainous Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) had made throughout his criminal career and so this week, in a return to Cairo, the stakes were at an all time high as our story reached its dramatically dazzling conclusion.
With a lot of sneaking around and eyes firmly on the prize, Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston), now known as Andrew Birch, was taking another shot at bringing down the man with whom he had now spent so much time with. A failed attempt to bring him to justice last week was a minor stepback but one that had some huge repercussions. Roper's partner Jed (Elizabeth Debicki) for example would face the back-end of his hand and this week, would be spied upon by her former friend before being tortured for information by Roper's hitman, Tabby (Hovik Keuchkerian).
Before that though and almost instantly in the episode, we saw Roper's cogs finally start turning when it came to Jonathan Pine. He was beginning to work out exactly what was going on but before he could tie up all the loose ends, Pine ensured he would get revenge on the man who took the life of Sophie/Samira Alekan (Aure Atika) - the returning Freddie Hamid (David Avery).
Enjoying a night in the casino, Pine slowly and meticulously continued to spike Hamid's drink so that he would have an excuse to 'put him to bed', where he executed the killing blow which we'd all been hoping for four or five weeks prior. A win for Team Pine, but only the start of a hugely strenuous uphill battle.
The scenes with Jed this week certainly packed a punch and whilst we willed her to somehow escape the clutches of her violent partner and his bodyguard, it wasn't looking good. That is of course until Olivia Colman's brilliant and pregnant Angela Burr gained wind of her entire secret operation being flunked, hid in her room with a gun and shot Jed's keeper in the leg before escaping with the beauty. After that, it was all down to Pine to seal the deal despite his identity being uncovered.
Justice was then finally dealt to Roper, but perhaps not in the way that viewers would have thought. Upon discovering Pine wasn't the man he thought he could trust, he gave him a sharp hook to the stomach before demanding he go through with a deal which would secure him hundreds of billions of dollars. After all, it was Andrew Birch's name on the company dealing in arms, so he couldn't dispose of him just yet. Fortunately, Pine had already laid a plan in action with his old friend and now Head Chef Youssef (Amir El-Masry) from the Nefertiti Hotel, resulting in the hundreds of millions of pounds worth of weapons to go up in smoke, and some extremely angry Egyptian buyers.
Taken in by the police upon his return to the hotel, Roper was to be charged for all of his crimes, but it would be the Egyptian criminal underworld who decided just how he should be dealt with. He screamed in terror as he was carted away whilst Angela simply smiled and said what was on all of our minds: 'He deserves it'.
The Night Manager has been a tense, suspenseful and glorious drama. It's also been one that's forced the viewer to look at the real world through not-so-rose-tinted glasses. Though this is a work of fiction you cannot help but wonder, in today's world, just how much corruption such as the one displayed in this adaptation is going on. And thinking even a slither of what Roper and corrupt British agents got up to on the show is happening in real life is a very scary thought indeed.
Hiddleston has been a true delight, and not just because of his buns. His acting has been on par with some of the greatest of all time. If this is indeed going to lead him into the slot of the next James Bond, I'll be all for it.
The level of acting has in fact been at an incredibly high level from the entire cast throughout the entire series. Every single casting choice was the right one, from the leading ladies and gentleman to the young Noah Jupe as Daniel Roper and the various supporting actors.
Available on DVD & Blu-ray from March 28, The Night Manager has a run time of approximately 5 hours, 44 minutes and is rated 15.
Tagged in Hugh Laurie Tom Hiddleston Elizabeth Debicki