The Night Manager S2 Obsessive Rewatch : Episode 2, the Seduction
Disclaimer : as always, I'm not pretending to know exactly what the creators intended, my perspective is my own and ofc limited. I wrote a note about my approach to analyzing this show here. Also pheew this one took me so long guys there was so much to say so I decided to split it, again. Maybe in ten years I will be done with this meta series, right on time for TNM S3 !
Pt. 3 Biting into the Apple
3.2 Lead Us (Not) Into Temptation
Previously, in 3.1 Into the Villain's Lair I analyzed the setting of the villa and what it says about Teddy's character - and the psychosexual dimensions of the trope. Now let's look at what happens there - besides two attractive men making competitive moon eyes at each other.
I argued that this is the seduction episode ; this is the moment where it goes from instrumental, surface flirting to more of, in Tom's words, "a soul connection neither of them fully understands."
To me the whole season, but these scenes especially, are a temptation plotline. Those come in many forms but to put it simply : a character reaaaaally wants something that is Bad for them, or against the moral rules of their society, their sense of self, their values and stated purpose, etc... moral conflict ensues.
Generally this also involves a malevolent but very sexy antagonistic force that does the tempting. The emo goth cousin of the seduction trope, often more angsty and steamy because, well, humans get off on the forbidden and the taboo, and the idea of an irrepressible passion that overpowers reason and morality and self-preservation.
In Christian cultures the fundamental temptation story is that of Eve being tempted by the serpent (the Devil in disguise) into eating the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, against God's orders, causing the fall of mankind and ushering evil into the world.
This is obviously what Sally refers to when she alludes to Matthew going to the tennis club - that he will try and tempt Teddy into letting a snake into his operation.
Temptation stories are generally used to teach a moral lesson ; characters who resist temptation are rewarded while those who succumb are punished. This is a cornerstone of the more punitive, Manichean, shame-driven aspects of Christian morality, anchored around the concept of sin and the idea that in general people should not give in to their desires.
We can also read temptation into most spy stories ; notoriously a spy is not supposed to get attached yet a lot of their job has to do with performing attachment, getting up close and intimate with people to manipulate them. The spy is an archetypal temptress that is also constantly being tempted themselves. Spy stories often straddle several genres that tend to have their own moral codes. Within the action genre, they often present a more cerebral version of the typical ultra-masculine action hero with the same underlying ethos - reinforcing a nationalistic, toxic version of masculinity that glorifies emotional detachment and justifies the use of (psychological) violence as morally necessary to defend the nation against pressing threats. On the other hand, within the political/psychological thriller genre, they can be used to talk about the frailty of human nature, the corruptible nature of institutions, the instrumentalization of human lives, and the impossibility of that same emotional detachment.
So in short - it seems very interesting to see what use TNM S2, a spy show with heavy Catholic imagery, makes of the temptation trope and what it tells us about the show's take on desire and morality.
What's so interesting here is that they're both the temptress and the one being tempted ; their mirrored attempts at seduction involve getting the other to forget their reasonable doubts, self-preservation instincts and common sense. And it's specifically this entwined dance that draws them both in way deeper than they expected ; as if Eve was tempting the serpent right back.
So what's the forbidden fruit here ? What are they using to tempt each other ? Of course, there’s the obvious stuff - a fast return on investment for Matthew, the money Teddy needs for his operation - but below that there's layer upon layer of psychological warfare and manipulation - and below that, there's all the stuff they're both repressing. A lot of the tempting happens on a semi-conscious, even maybe unconscious level. This sequence plants a lot of seeds that causes their relationship to grow intense incredibly fast, taking them both by surprise. It's a whole ass basket of forbidden fruits in here. Downright fruity even...
i. Dance of masks (or, the forbidden fruit is an onion)
The whole episode - and the season - is a dance between two masked protagonists, who each sense the other is hiding their true self. I've already looked at all the mask imagery in this episode here. And of course they dance around each other too, metaphorically, in episode 1, as Alex Goodwin tries to find out more about Teddy and Teddy evades him quite spectacularly.
As soon as they find each other in the same space, they become extremely aware of how their bodies move in relation to the other. In the tennis scene Matthew’s demeanor changes entirely once Teddy arrives ; he is playing with Juan but really he is putting himself on display for Teddy. Then Teddy guides him inside like they're promenading, ignores his personal space, gives him a lingering handshake with an elbow hold - gestures designed to draw him in and foster closeness. Their interactions have a quasi-choreographed aspect, only a few steps removed from a mating dance.
Later at the gala they circle each other as they talk ; even when Teddy pawns Jonathan off to Roxana (it's rude to dance only with one person, after all) Jonathan still keeps track of Teddy as he goes onto the balcony ; Teddy moves back in at the end to get Jonathan's (dance) card for next time.
And here, at the villa, again, they stand too close, Teddy moves to stand behind Jonathan, tips his glass back ; later when Jonathan's high you see Teddy and Roxana dancing, Jonathan metaphorically drawn in the middle. And of course Jonathan ends in Teddy's arms for a final dip. There’s not a lot of respecting personal space here for people who are meant to be business partners.
Of course this is anchored by Teddy's fluid, elegant, seductive, almost playful way of moving. Diego said with Teddy there is "salsa" and "charm" ; and that he uses his sexuality as a weapon, that everything with him is about the body even though his expression is hard to read (also that he "moves like a snake" !!) ; that he "should be trying to seduce you all the time." But Jonathan is very receptive to this too, lets himself be moved around and manhandled, circles back, gets closer in turn. Even before episode 3, they are each other's chosen dance partners.
Of course this fits Matthew's character, who is clearly presented as a pretty promiscuous guy ; but it's hard not to think about Alex Goodwin's lonely life, alone in his grey flat with his cat, all stiff and tired and spending his days sleeping and nights in front of screens - and imagine Jonathan might be a little touch-starved and drawn to Teddy's tactile behavior.
The dance between Teddy and Jonathan is also mental, psychological and emotional. This is a more fitting metaphor than, let's say, a chess match - because while their facing off is calculating and strategic, it is not cold ; it is full of emotion, physicality, and played mostly through trying to get the other to like them. And of course they end up much closer than expected, as partners.
Teddy talks about how he decided to hire Roxana - by dancing with her for four hours, a test of endurance long enough for walls to come down. Teddy explicitly uses physicality, closeness and seduction as a way to read and test people psychologically, to get under their walls. He also likes pushing people beyond their limits, too, to see them unmade and vulnerable, to see the real core beyond the facade. I think during his meeting with Roxana, he saw that she was scrappy, stubborn, willing to use her body and seductive skills for her own ends, and that she wouldn't easily back down - which is why he hired her.
By bringing up this anecdote, he implies he wants to “dance” with Matthew as well before deciding whether to work with him or not. He demands a sort of mental surrender that is enabled by pushing physical limits. That's very much what he does to Matthew by drugging him, in a much more intense way than he did with Roxana.
And indeed, both the physical and psychological "moves" of this dance so to speak, are aimed at figuring the truth about the other ; to tempt the other into unmasking themselves, while keeping their own cover intact. So the key element of temptation here is truth. Obviously they need to know as much as possible about each other for strategic reasons ; Jonathan for spy reasons, Teddy to make sure this potential investor won’t turn into a liability.
But this need to understand each other goes much further than that, into psychological (some might even say psycho-sexual) obsessive territory. Especially in Jonathan’s case. He is spurred into this mission chasing Roper's ghost, and in many ways, while looking into Teddy's past and trying to figure out who 'Roper's true disciple' is, he is trying to understand himself and what his time undercover with Roper did to him - the part of him that also turned into Roper's disciple. And meanwhile, Teddy sees Matthew Ellis as a dodgy character who isn't telling him the whole truth about himself ; he does a background check and has his men follow Matthew around at the Gran Melia, and then at the villa, drugs him so he can figure out what he's hiding.
Why is truth seeking a temptation process for both of them ? Well, Jonathan's obsession with Roper, his trauma and inability to move on, lead him to make very rash decisions as soon as a hint of a Roper-related mystery shows up, which lead to his colleagues getting killed. Teddy becomes a conduit for that obsession. Then as Jonathan learns more about Teddy's dead mother, his lonely childhood at the monastery and Roper's neglect of him, he starts being tempted into over-identifying, over-empathizing with, and getting attached to his mark.
It's also notable, I think, that what Jonathan actually wants to get at - the shipment list hidden in Jaco's satchel - is shown to be in Teddy's monacal bedroom, in view but just out of reach. Symbolically this marries three things : the plot-driven search for the truth ; the psychological truth of who Teddy is beyond the mask of lavish seductiveness, his guilt and inner wounds ; and well...It's a bedroom, which brings up connotations of intimacy and sexuality. Jonathan needs to get into Teddy's bed(room) for uhh plot reasons ! Fascinating what's being implied here.
The forbidden fruit is a distressed leather satchel !
Meanwhile, as Teddy gets Matthew into a vulnerable state, gets him to reveal he stole the money and sought Teddy out to launder it, he is primed to accept and trust the knowledge he gained this way - even if this is actually Jonathan setting him up. Trying to gain Matthew's openness and truth, I think what he finds becomes so appealing to him to a point it makes him vulnerable, in turn. Because they both had to scheme to obtain this scrap of truth about the other, they see it as a victory without, I think, being fully aware of the effect it will have on them. They ignore their own common sense, the rules of their profession that requires them both to stay cold and unemotional.
Knowledge itself is a snake, deconstructing their beliefs about themselves, breaking them open little by little as they are forced to face the parts of themselves they've repressed, the parts of them that yearn for love and connection and understanding and a less war-torn life.
And throughout the sequence, we do layers slowly being peeled back a little. Teddy Dos Santos, affable businessman, reveals both his sinister edge and a capacity to offer care, even if warped ; Matthew Ellis loses his remaining brain cells and reveals to Teddy he stole all that money.
But that textual "honesty" is actually still a performance ; Teddy offers very little information about what he is really doing, while Jonathan maintains his cover. The real exposure is emotional, I think in ways neither of them fully grasp. As much as they try to protect their own secrets, these are characters that, are their core, desperately want to be seen, who have spent so much time hiding from everyone, even themselves.
This is in many ways a game of "who's the best liar ?" ; a morally questionable attempt to figure out the lay of the land - the land being their opponent’s identity and psyche. Once they know their enemy’s true desire, they could use it to manipulate him into giving them what they want, without being themselves exposed. However, as they try to peel back each other’s layers, what they find is a mirror.
Obsessed with the way their latest photoshoot for the Ankler plays with double/mirror themes. I know I said Death of the Author but...when it fits my analysis so well...
Under all the personas, there’s a hidden layer - the lies they each tell themselves, repressed emotions and unfulfilled emotional needs - which slowly emerge throughout the scene and provide the real emotional gut punch. Because by trying to manipulate each other, to get at each other's hidden and unfulfilled desires and use them against the other, they accidentally expose themselves, and entangle themselves irrevocably. The desire to know the other becomes the desire to know themselves and the desire to be known.
Now let's look at some of the layers in a bit more detail.
ii. Hollywood Hills, Medellín (or, the forbidden fruit is a party that can kill you)
The first explicit level of temptation is Teddy throwing all these things at Matthew to sweeten the deal - drugs, booze, a hot girl, tons of money. But there's a whole psychological and symbolic weight to that excess as well.
The villa is a dreamy but illusory world ; with the idyllic view and sunny weather, the expensive decor, all the disorienting reflecting surfaces that blur the distinction between outside and inside, the out of time mix of stark, futuristic minimalism with much older antique pieces, the way Teddy's bedroom looks completely different - I've looked at that in more detail here, as well as the theme of artificial glittery glamour linked to Teddy's criminal world throughout the episode here.
Matthew proclaiming that “it's like the Hollywood Hills up here” adds to that. Hollywood, the land of make-believe, of luxury and stars and tragic excess. And also - a production center for one of the core exports of American cultural imperialism. Of course Ellis is not American, but let's say here the reference to the American dream that Hollywood embodies both serves to reinforce a feeling of lavish, surreal artificiality but also plasters a broadly Western model onto the Colombian landscape. And in fact, there are global/cultural/racial politics saturating the whole scene.
We can see why this setting would be appealing to Matthew Ellis, a hedonist on the run from his own roots and attachments - all surface and no substance, flashy risk-taking, nothing lasting build, only signs of success and status that can be picked up and moved in a heartbeat. In many ways this character is designed as a cog of Western neo-imperialism, who made his wealth through vulture capitalism, and is clearly amoral and self-interested when it comes to making money. Since TNM as a show clearly intends to be critical of those neo-imperialist dynamics (although it's often done in a …clumsy way) I do think this is meant to add a slightly despicable edge to the character. He came to Colombia to make profit, to extract value.
This is reflected in the way he behaves when at the villa. He swans in confidently, jacket nonchalantly swung over his shoulder ; starts walking around the place without asking for permission like he's interested in buying the place ; calls the place a “nice pad!” which is a bit of a condescending, trivializing way of referring to a huge house.
Guy who's inviting himself on a tour of your house as soon as he's through the door
He spreads his arms, his legs, sprawls around, manspreads, takes up space. His saying “you Colombians know how to party/ this is the true Colombia !” feeds into problematic clichés and essentializes a whole country into a homogeneous mass whose purpose it is to entertain rich Westerners like him. He's very much the picture of the arrogant, entitled, privileged Western tourist - still keeping it ight, so as not to put Teddy off completely ; but it's very much there.
Teddy feeds into this and uses it, which builds onto his character as a cynical guy who will have no problem selling out his own country to Western interests. The way he throws Roxana at Matthew implies an understanding of Matthew as a sex tourist and a narco-tourist, here for the cheap booze, the easy access to drugs and hot women, leveraged by his privilege and money - a never ending party with clear exploitative undertones. And you can tell that Teddy is used to handling these types of men.
Of course, Matthew isn't real, he's a construction. And the sleazy, obnoxious edge, I think, is a deliberate characterization move on Jonathan's part to add to the “please take advantage of me” aspect ; it makes Matthew seem slightly dumb, rude, made naive by his privilege. So like I said before, you're kind of rooting for Teddy to wreck this guy, and Jonathan is counting on that, I think. After all, he's spent a lot of time, as a night manager, catering to the whims of the powerful, rich and obnoxious. He must have seen the way they dehumanize, belittle the people they see as “below” them, and the resentment this creates among the staff and/or locals, which Jonathan is shown befriending several times.
The artificial luxury vibe is also very much on brand for the “conspicuous consumption” associated with organized crime, narcos and cartels, and part of the clichés associated with how Colombia is represented on the global stage and popularized by shows like Narcos, which has been accused of, unsurprisingly, centering the point of view of the US.
That said, Teddy's version of this remains relatively subdued and minimalistic - it isn't exactly strippers dancing on tables, an army of loyal violent guys or a fucking zoo. Partly this must be coming from the show's desire not to replicate clichés but it works as characterization too. Teddy very much wants to gain the respect of Roper and perform status according to Western standards, European specifically, which tends to balk at conspicuous displays of wealth ; while also performing enough to be respected by the people he works with on a local level. But at the same time, like we've seen that there's a martial, ascetic, almost monk-like core to him. He's not in in it for the usual perks of the “being a gangster is cool” stereotype that are usually glamorized about this lifestyle.
In fact the whole display of wealth and debauchery has a sketch-like quality to it - just the smallest amounts you need to sell the illusion.
This is best illustrated by Roxana’s role in the whole sequence, in her beautiful red dress - since Teddy has been setting her up as this seductress whose role is to appeal to Matthew and draw him further, you would expect her to take on a more active role in that here. In a more average macho spy flick she would be jumping into the swimming pool in a skimpy bikini, sitting in Jonathan’s lap to get him to drink more, etc etc. But in fact, she’s not here as a temptress ; in fact her role in the scene is more akin to that a sober companion (lol).
She’s very clearly reluctant to be here. She also straight out says "I didn't say I liked him," and her mounting disdain for Jonathan is more and more obvious as the scene goes on. When Teddy talks about how they met, talking about them as this unit and dynamic business partnership, the screen framing very clearly splits them in two, keeps them apart.
This is not exactly the face of a girlboss who is stoked to be there, working with her bestie on exciting new business opportunities !
Roxana also very firmly refuses to drink ; she wants to keep her wits about her ; she’s not in a party mood and very clearly worried about Pine’s gambit of accepting all the alcohol and drugs. She keeps throwing him worried looks as if to say, you fucker if you slip we’re both dead.
While she does dance with Pine later when he’s high, it’s mostly a front so that she can push him into the water to sober him up. Symbolically, even though she serves her function as a honeypot/plausible heterosexual deniability, she clearly doesn't want any part in whatever is going on between the two other men. Narratively she serves as an anchor, for both Jonathan and the viewer, to remind us all about the stakes at play ; she works directly against the intoxicating vibe Teddy is trying to create.
In fact it’s really Teddy that gets physically close to Matthew in any way that truly feels significant at all, who ends up holding him and sharing all these too-intimate touches and whispered words. Teddy is the seductress here, with the coy smiles and kissing Matthew’s forehead and ignoring physical space. And the fact that the most hetero aspect of this whole thing, Roxana’s presence to charm Matthew, is so clearly fake and goes against the temptation aspect, really intensifies the queer undertones of the whole sequence.
Also, three guys isn’t that much in terms of muscle ; a guy like Teddy wanting to show he’s “good to the people loyal to him” might want to show off more of an entourage.
What appeals the most to Matthew however - as Jonathan plays him - is not the debauchery or the luxury. It's the risk, the danger. And I think Teddy knows this. He absolutely needs an infusion of new cash immediately and clearly he doesn't have that many options or he wouldn't jump in bed with this random stranger. Him giving Matthew a hallucinogenic drug without his consent - an experience he might very well remember the next day and decide to bail out - is absolutely a risk.
Fun times at the business meet up !
I think Teddy’s calculated on the whole that Matthew would be the type of guy not to care overly much and even put it down as a good time. In fact, Matthew’s penchant for risk and gambling - the way he bets a huge amount of money to Juan over their tennis match ; is made very obvious for Teddy. Along with the alcoholism, the fact that Matthew is running away from his family, the unfettered hedonism - it all points to a strong, self-destructive death drive. So when Teddy reveals the dubious nature of the deal - strong returns, no information - and shows a threatening edge, I think he counts on it to appeal to Matthew instead of putting him off. The ‘everything is truth’ exchange is part of this too - framing this whole thing like one big trust fall - with a stranger that clearly has some sort of shadowy business going on. It’s insane and completely unreasonable and that’s absolutely the point.
When they’re at the villa, holes get poked in the charmed, just-a-business facade almost right away : Matthew asks "what's with the muscle" - revealing Teddy's henchmen make him nervous. Then when Matthew says he "left the army," Teddy replies "no, thrown out for bad behavior," - indicating he's done a background check and knows Matthew is hiding things from him.
There's this obvious tension, hovering somewhere between hostility and attraction, in the way they play the scene - Teddy's charming smiles disappear too quickly and don't reach his eyes ; Matthew keeps fidgeting with his foot.
Matthew, obviously, can't be seen to be too gullible, (and it would be no good for Jonathan's spying purposes), so he says "let me think about it" but it's already pretty clear he's going to accept. Matthew should be struggling with his common sense and survival instinct, but there's not a lot of that going around in his (fictional) pretty head, clearly. If this was actually real he would have a significant chance of not making it out of this alive. The way he accepts all these drugs and alcohol from strangers, also a terrible terrible idea. Either he’s a man arrogant enough to think his privilege shields him from any negative consequences OR he doesn’t overly care whether he makes it out alive OR he’s a bit too dumb and focused on his pleasure to realize the extent of the risks. I think Jonathan plays it as a mix of the three.
Bottoms up babyyyyyyyyyy ! Yeah he's cooked.
Matthew walked into the Villain’s Lair unarmed, unaccompanied, with no clear sense that anybody knows or cares where he is or what he is doing. It would be very easy to make him disappear. There is a very strong undercurrent of I’m treating you like a prey animal and I think you’ll like it on Teddy's part to the scene.
It’s not just about the danger and -self-destructiveness, though. I think Teddy sees this guy - Western, rich, handsome, well-educated, could have a charmed life if he wanted to ; but instead he fucked things up with his family, he’s “looking for opportunities” in this random foreign country, he’s got addiction issues, he’s clearly running away from himself etc - and identifies him as someone who is lost in life, who’s in need of some guidance. Which he handles by giving Matthew a bit of a let me be your daddy pitch. Which I will be looking at in the next part.
But to finish with this - this whole layer of the temptation is aimed at Matthew, a fictional construction. What about Jonathan ? Well, I've said before that playing Matthew brings a repressed part of him back to life. Jonathan is desperate in ways that Teddy absolutely triggers. The more sleazy aspects set aside, I think Jonathan is definitely, like Matthew, lost in life, adrift, lonely, and it's hard not to see a quasi-suicidal edge to some of his actions ; at the very least he doesn't seem to value his own life and wellbeing very much. It's for very different reasons than Matthew, (we'll look at the guilt and atonement aspect later) but he is still very susceptible to the excitement and danger Teddy represents - without necessarily wanting to admit it to himself.
As for Teddy, well, I think he really likes the idea of having found someone who's very much into what he has to offer. Which brings us to...
iii. Power plays (or, the forbidden fruit is a version of your daddy you can take advantage of)
(but that’s for next time, because this part is already suuuuper long lol) - thank you for reading !
So what's the forbidden fruit here ? What are they using to tempt each other ? Of course, there’s the obvious stuff - a fast return on investment for Matthew, the money Teddy needs for his operation - but below that there's layer upon layer of psychological warfare and manipulation - and below that, there's all the stuff they're both repressing. A lot of the tempting happens on a semi-conscious, even maybe unconscious level. This sequence plants a lot of seeds that causes their relationship to grow intense incredibly fast, taking them both by surprise. It's a whole ass basket of forbidden fruits in here. Downright fruity even…
Back with a bang, back with a vengeance. :DD
The way you summarized the significance of Jaco's satchel in Teddy's bedroom tho. Notable.
