The second series of the long-awaited thriller “Irresistible”

When Night Owls’ cameras spot a mercenary working for Roper setting up a new arms deal, Jonathan jumps into action, retracing a trail that leads him to Spain and then Colombia, through suspicious deaths and exploding bombs, and to the show’s inspiring new villain. Diego Calva is magnetic as Teddy Dos Santos, an arms dealer with such strong ties to Roper that he calls himself “Richard Roper’s true disciple” and who follows his mentor’s playbook. An ostensibly sophisticated philanthropist, he enjoys a lavish lifestyle (the better if the show transports us to lavish locations and homes), and is surrounded by armed bodyguards. Cunning and devious, he has ties to the Colombian army and the British government. It’s dynamic to watch him and Jonathan engage in cat and mouse mind games and tricks.

Jonathan enters Teddy’s world through another character, reckless millionaire Matthew Ellis, a hardened risk-taker. Finding out the true nature of these men – if there is such a thing as their “true” identities even beneath all these shenanigans – is as much a part of the story as any arms deal. “Who are you, Matthew? Why are you really here?” “You have no idea who I really am,” Teddy asks at one point, as he says of himself in the trailer. These competitors are really well matched.

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Hayley Squires brings a spark of energy to each of her scenes as the real-life Sally, part of Jonathan’s Knight Owl unit, who joins him on the ground in Columbia. Olivia Colman appears again as Angela Burr, the MI6 officer who recruited Jonathan in the first place. Only two of the six episodes were made available before the series’ release, so it’s impossible to know how much Coleman will appear during the sequel, but she barely appeared in those early instalments.

It’s also impossible to say whether another significant new character will become more than the cliche she initially was. Camila Morrone plays Roxana Bolaños, a freight broker who appears to be Teddy’s girlfriend. She’s the glamorous, sexy woman who sleeps with the villain, who may be willing to help the hero, but who may also play him. While Teddy is a deliberately ambiguous character, Roxanna’s stereotype is so far merely worthless. Sometimes the dialogue includes some very strange portents. Some lines — you’ll know them when you hear them — are signs that someone in that conversation won’t survive another day.

The trailer also includes a scene with Jonathan, Teddy, and Roxana cuddling in what looks like a steamy threesome. Whatever the case, there is a homoerotic charge in some scenes between Jonathan and Teddy. Whether this is just another trick on the part of one or both of them, that’s exactly what we want to ask. It’s one of the many questions that make the series, with all its shadows and mysteries, so irresistible.

The Night Manager premieres on BBC1 in the UK on January 1 and on Prime Video internationally on January 11.