SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED SEASONS 1 AND 2
[name_f][/name_f]@sophiekihm[name_f][/name_f] did this for Succession (and nailed it) and The White [name_f]Lotus[/name_f] and I found it super interesting so of course I had to do it with… the only non-reality TV show I’m willing to properly watch instead of running to Wikipedia after a couple of episodes 
[name_f][/name_f] I just finished season 2 (finally) and it was ehhh but too bad I’m emotionally invested in the characters (also why did [name_m]Peter[/name_m] and [name_f]Rose[/name_f] only get one kiss in season 2. and why isn’t [name_f]Rose[/name_f] going to be in season 3 her relationship with [name_m]Peter[/name_m] is half the reason I watch the show whyyyyy)
[name_f]Season[/name_f] 1
[name_f][/name_f]…actually, I think season 1 was less intentional with names than season 2 (probably because half of the characters were from the [name_m]Matthew[/name_m] Quirk novel). It’s worth noting that the assassins worked for a guy named [name_m]Gordon[/name_m] Wick[name_f][/name_f], though.
[name_f][/name_f]But the name I want to discuss here is [name_m]Ashley[/name_m] Redfield, the vice president. [name_m]Shawn[/name_m] [name_m]Ryan[/name_m] (the creator of the show) said in an interview that they wanted to explore male-female power dynamics, and one of the things they did was they genderbent the president (Michael [name_m]Travers[/name_m] in the book–>Michelle [name_m]Travers[/name_m] in the show). Yet, [name_m]Ashley[/name_m] is considered a very feminine name in modern-day USA, reflecting the actual power dynamic between him and [name_m]Travers[/name_m]. No wonder he hates her so much…
[name_m]Night[/name_m] Action
[name_f][/name_f]There are a couple of nice touches to the names of the new agents. Catherine’s (Peter’s handler) name means ‘pure’, which… ended up being my main complaint about season 2. (I mean, am I still watching The [name_m]Night[/name_m] Agent if [name_m]Peter[/name_m] knows who and who not to trust? Where are the traitors? Where are the twists?!)
[name_f][/name_f]This isn’t really plot-related, but Alice’s (Peter’s partner at the beginning of the season) name immediately makes me think of [name_f]Alice[/name_f] in Wonderland, who is a symbol of curiosity and imagination–which is a pretty accurate description of [name_f]Alice[/name_f] as a character.
The Iranians
[name_f][/name_f]Now, I’m not sure if the person who named these characters is familiar with Persian names, but it seems to me that they mostly went off of meaning (or reverse meaning) to name these characters. (I don’t blame them–as a writer, I’d do the same thing)
[name_f][/name_f][name_m]Abbas[/name_m] means ‘austere’ (accurate) and Mansuri means ‘to help, to aid’. And had [name_m]Abbas[/name_m] not helped [name_f]Noor[/name_f] escape the [name_m]Mission[/name_m], let’s just say that… a lot of people would be dead. Himself included, probably.
[name_f][/name_f][name_f]Azita[/name_f] means ‘free, independent’, and she was the one who managed to escape Iran. The brother, on the other hand… (to be fair, he was annoying)
[name_f][/name_f][name_f]Noor[/name_f] means ‘light’, which is fitting, considering she not only got her mother out of Iran, but was also integral to preventing the deaths of thousands, as she was the reason they were able to track down [name_m]Solomon[/name_m] and [name_m]Peter[/name_m] was able to get into the UN (because if he didn’t, then they wouldn’t have found the KX in time).
[name_f][/name_f]On the flip side, Taheri means ‘virtuous, pure, chaste’–not exactly how you’d describe the family of defectors, eh?
[name_f][/name_f]Also, [name_m]Javad[/name_m] means ‘generous’, and Rahmani means ‘merciful’. This appears to hold true at first… until he decides to lock a waiter in the kitchen, and then has two goons throw him in the basement, just because he ‘looked suspicious’. And then you see the way he interrogates [name_f]Noor[/name_f] and Haleh after that…
Big Scary Evil People[name_f][/name_f] (no, seriously, everybody and their mum knows they’re up to no good as soon as they show up)
[name_f][/name_f]Disclaimer: I admit I went a little further down the rabbit hole in this section so some of these may have been completely unintentional.
[name_f][/name_f]I’m still confused about where these guys are actually from. The name [name_m]Markus[/name_m] is Scandinavian so I’m running with that, but I think they put the accent in Tomas’s name in the wrong place (Tomás is in Spanish, I think they’re looking for the Icelandic [name_m]Tómas[/name_m], or the Swedish/Norwegian Tomas-without-the-accent)
[name_f][/name_f]I’ve seen Markus’s surname spelled as both Dargan and Dargin in the subtitles. Google says it’s Dargan, but I personally think it’s Dargin, which means ‘angry, irritated’ in Turkish (which he seems to always be). The name [name_m]Markus[/name_m] is also derived from [name_m]Mars[/name_m], the [name_m]Roman[/name_m] god of war–fitting for someone doing the bidding of a war criminal.
[name_f][/name_f][name_m]Tomas[/name_m] is, obviously, a form of [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]. In the Bible, [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] was the Apostle who doubted that [name_m]Jesus[/name_m] had risen from the dead until he saw the wounds on Jesus’s hands. And, naturally, [name_m]Tomas[/name_m] didn’t have enough faith in his father’s plan to see it through to the end.
[name_f][/name_f]At least the guy named [name_m]Viktor[/name_m] didn’t end up being victorious. (“How many souls should I pray for?” One. Your own. Because the UN [name_m]General[/name_m] Assembly lived long enough to carve up your dominion into three pieces.)
The [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_m]President[/name_m]
[name_f][/name_f]And we come to my favourite section in this post.
[name_f][/name_f]In the finale, the broker’s name is revealed to be [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] [name_f]Monroe[/name_f]. [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] means ‘supplanter’, and [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] supported basically everyone in season 2 in one way or another. [name_m]Tomas[/name_m] and [name_m]Markus[/name_m] wouldn’t have made the KX without [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]. [name_m]Peter[/name_m] wouldn’t have stopped the KX plan without [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]. A variant of [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] is James… are you seeing what I’m seeing?
[name_f][/name_f]One of the things [name_m]James[/name_m] [name_f]Monroe[/name_f] is most known for is the [name_f]Monroe[/name_f] Doctrine. I’m not American, but according to NC State University (from a quick Google search), the [name_f]Monroe[/name_f] Doctrine initially represented an isolationist foreign policy. Sounds familiar?
[name_f][/name_f]And then we find out that the guy [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] was talking to at the beginning of the finale is none other than [name_m]Richard[/name_m] [name_m]Hagan[/name_m], the presidential candidate of Travers’s party. Oh, and have I mentioned the name [name_m]Richard[/name_m] means ‘ruler, king’?
[name_f][/name_f]What all of this means is that [name_m]Hagan[/name_m] was basically destined to be president from the very beginning, and his isolationist policy means that the broker will be pulling the strings of the president of the United States. Looks like [name_m]Peter[/name_m] has his work cut out for him…
Thoughts? Anything I missed? (I’m obviously not nearly as good at this as [name_f]Sophie[/name_f] is :') )