This article contains major spoilers for The Night Manager Season 2, Episode 3. If you haven't watched it yet, turn back now.
Yes, Richard Roper Is Alive
The end of Episode 3 delivers the twist fans suspected but couldn't believe: Richard Roper, the arms dealer Jonathan Pine spent all of Season 1 destroying, is alive.
When the mysterious "Gilberto Hanson" finally reveals his face, it's not a new villain. It's Hugh Laurie, returning as Richard Roper—tanned, healthy, and very much not dead.
Tom Hiddleston described filming the reveal as "such an extraordinary moment" shot in the mountains of Colombia. And extraordinary it is. Everything Pine believed about his victory in Season 1 just evaporated.
How Roper Faked His Death
Season 2, Episode 1 showed us Pine identifying Roper's body in a morgue. We saw the corpse. We saw Pine's relief. It seemed definitive.
But here's what actually happened:
The Syrian Escape: Roper was captured by Syrian forces at the end of Season 1, but he wasn't executed. He spent years in a Syrian prison, using his considerable charm and bribery skills to eventually secure his release.
Threatening Angela: After escaping, Roper tracked down Angela Burr (Olivia Colman). He threatened to kill her daughter if she didn't help him fake his death. Angela—the woman who orchestrated his downfall—was forced to identify a different body as Roper's.
The Morgue Scene Recontextualized: That body Pine saw? It wasn't Roper. Angela lied to Pine's face, knowing Roper was out there, knowing he'd be back. She's been living with that betrayal for years.
What This Means for Pine
Jonathan Pine's entire identity since Season 1 has been built on one belief: he destroyed Richard Roper. He became a different person—darker, more morally compromised—but it was worth it because Roper was gone.
Now? That foundation crumbles.
The Psychological Impact: Pine didn't just fail to kill Roper. He was played. Angela played him. Roper played everyone. Four years of Pine's life were built on a lie.
Teddy's True Role: Roper's son Teddy Dos Santos isn't running the new arms network independently. He's fronting for his father, who's been pulling strings from the shadows this whole time.
Pine's New Mission: This isn't about taking down a new threat anymore. It's personal. It's unfinished. And Pine now knows that nothing he accomplished in Season 1 actually stuck.
The question Season 2 must answer: can Pine finish what he started? And at what cost?
Hugh Laurie's Return
Hugh Laurie's Richard Roper was the best part of Season 1—a villain so charming, so reasonable, so genuinely likable that you almost forgot he was selling weapons to warlords.
His return changes everything about Season 2's stakes. This isn't Pine versus a new villain. It's a rematch. And Roper has had four years to plan his revenge.
Laurie reportedly filmed scenes in Colombia for the show, and his presence looms over every episode even when he's not on screen. The show has been building to this confrontation, and now that it's here, the final episodes promise to be explosive.
The Night Manager Season 2 just became a very different show. And fans are here for it.
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