Why is Rose missing from The Night Agent season 3?

The third season of The Night Agent is here, following Gabriel Basso's Peter Sutherland on his latest globe-trotting, high stakes mission.

While the first season was based on Matthew Quirk's novel of the same name, the Netflix series has since gone off book, with seasons 2 and 3 telling entirely new stories.

In season 3, Peter is called in to track down a young treasury agent who fled to Istanbul with sensitive government intel after killing his boss, kicking off a sequence of events where Peter investigates a dark money network.

The second season continued to follow the relationship between Peter and his love interest Rose Larkin, played by Luciane Buchanan.

Rose was a cybersecurity entrepreneur and the niece of two Night Action agents, who got caught up in the action in both seasons 1 and 2. But why is Buchanan missing from the cast of season 3? And could she return in future seasons?

Read on for everything you need to know about why Rose is missing from The Night Agent season 3.

Why is Rose Larkin missing from The Night Agent season 3?

Rose is not in The Night Agent season 3 because it was deemed that her character did not fit into the story the new run was telling.

At the end of season 2, Peter ended his relationship with Rose, telling her she should stay away for her own safety. She later confirmed to Noor that this is what she planned to do, as she instead focused on her work.

In season 3, reference is made to Rose and Peter still wanting to keep her safe, but she is never seen.

Luciane Buchanan announced her departure from the series back in September 2025, telling Deadline: "I won’t be returning to Season 3 of The Night Agent.

"As much as that show has been so amazing, especially for my career — being a lead on a U.S. show from little New Zealand was such a whirlwind — the writers decided that they wanted to follow Peter and his journey based on what happened at the end of Season 2.

"And so, we don’t get to see what happens to Rose, but I think it’s a really exciting time for the show, and who knows, it's not a goodbye forever."

Continuing, she recalled the meeting in which she found out about her character's fate: "They called me not so long after Season 2, and they were like, we’ve been trying to find a way to bring her in, but we want to do her character justice and not make her a sub-character.

"I totally respected that decision and agreed. I was like, if it makes sense to a story, I'll do that. If it doesn’t, let's not force that."

Meanwhile, creator Shawn Ryan told Deadline in a statement: "Luciane has been a beloved member of our Night Agent family for our first two seasons and her portrayal of Rose Larkin and Rose’s relationship with Peter has been a huge part of the show’s success.

"We always envisioned the show as telling a new story each season with a revolving cast, and the story we broke for Season 3, much to our chagrin, didn’t have a satisfying place for Rose."

Could Luciane Buchanan return as Rose in The Night Agent season 4?

Both Ryan and Buchanan have said that they're not closing the door on Rose, and that she could certainly return in a future season, if she fit into the story.

Ryan told Deadline: "I adore Luciane as a person and as a performer and I don’t believe that this means we’re done telling the story of Peter and Rose. I hope circumstances ultimately allow for the return of Rose to our Night Agent universe."

Meanwhile, Buchanan told the publication: "If there is an opportunity that makes sense to the story for her to come back, I’m sure they’ll explore that, because they really loved the dynamics of Peter and Rose, and I know a lot of audiences loved that dynamic. So I’m sure Shawn Ryan and his team will find a little way; maybe we’ll make a little cameo along the way."

In fact, not only could Buchanan return to The Night Agent for the show's fourth season or another future instalment, the actor has also said she would be up for starring in her own Rose-centric spin-off.

"I kept hinting at that, and they’re like, come on," she said. "Well, she doesn’t have to be out there shooting guns; she could be behind the computer doing some things."

Given all of this, if the show does return for more seasons, we'd be more surprised if Luchanan didn't come back as Rose at some point than if she did. A Rose-Peter reunion seems all but nailed on.

The Night Agent season 3 is available to stream now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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