The Night Manager viewers left stunned by ‘brilliant’ episode 3 twist ending

Acclaimed BBC drama The Night Manager has aired a shocking twist that will drastically alter the show, and has left viewers collectively asking: “How?”

Tom Hiddleston heads up the cast of the spy drama’s long-awaited second season, which originally aired in 2016, and the third episode has convinced fans that it’s just as good as it ever was. This was helped by an unexpected cliffhanger conclusion that will make the wait for the next episode feel rather long.

*Spoilers follow – you have been warned*

The closing moments of the episode featured the shock return of presumed-dead arms dealer Richard Roper, the villain played by Hugh Laurie in the first series.

In episode one, it’s claimed that Roper was killed, with intelligence officer Angela Burr (Olivia Colman), confirming the identity of his corpse in a flashback scene set six years before the new series.

However, in episode three, when Hiddleston’s protagonist Jonathan Pine stealthily follows Roper’s criminal son Teddy (Diego Calva) to a hidden location, he discovers that, rather than Teddy carrying out Roper’s legacy alone, he is doing it alongside his father, who is alive and living with the name Gilberto Hanson.

“The end of episode 3 of The Night Manager?!???!? WHAT THE F***?!??? HOW?!!????” one fan asked, with another writing on X/Twitter: “Oh my gosh, who has just watched episode three of series two? It was epic and utterly brilliant.”

Others called the ending “mad” and “shocking”, with an additional viewer stating: “What a brilliant twisty ending to episode three. Big cheer from me. Roll on next week.”

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Ahead of season two, the show’s creator David Farr claimed it was “really tricky” working with Laurie on the first series, as the actor “really wanted to play” Hiddleston’s lead character.

Farr explained that House actor Laurie had previously tried to option John le Carré’s 1993 novel and envisioned himself as soldier-turned-spy Jonathan Pine. But, when Farr finally got the project off the ground, Hiddleston signed up for the leading role while Laurie was cast as Roper.

“I was suddenly doing the television show and had written the first episode, and everyone liked it and Tom Hiddleston had signed up [as Pine],” Farr explained, as reported by MailOnline.

“But then Hugh became really tricky, because he had such fixed ideas and none of his notes were about his character [Roper] – they were all about Tom’s character – and I was like, ‘Give me a break.’”

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Farr continued: “We’re fine now. I think if I’d been more mature, I could have dealt with it better. Hugh is a lovely man, very passionate. He’s not in the sequel that much, except in flashback.” Laurie’s representative declined to comment.