By the second episode of “The Night Manager,” Shan had managed to get in contact with Shelly, but unfortunately, by the time Shelly could thank him for saving his son Taha, Shan had been severely injured in the brawl between the hired kidnappers and himself. Shan’s distress signal goes off the radar, and Lipika is unable to come across any information from her ground spies, or Shan himself about his current whereabouts. Shan is taken to the island home of Shelly and his family, where reside Shelly’s business associates and their families. Shelly’s right hand Brij Pal and Jayu constantly remain his closest confidantes; people Shelly trusts with his life. Kaveri, on the other hand, is not Taha’s biological mother, but she seems to have formed a deep connection with the kid. Shan finds himself in a palatial home surrounded by gunmen, bodyguards, and an endless sea. This is like a gorgeous fortress that seems impossible to penetrate.
Shan is slowly recovering from his injuries, and he realizes he has been put up at Shelly’s mansion on the island, far from civilization. Only the people that Shelly trusts are allowed to pass through the gates of this home. Shan one day finally wakes up, only to find himself surrounded by a gunman and Taha, who is happy to see Shan alive, though still in pain. Brij Pal, Shelly’s closest associate and a big partner in his company, cannot seem to trust Shan at all. He has every reason not to trust Shan because his showing up to rescue Taha seemed to come out of the blue, something that is out of character and not something anybody would do for anyone. They also came across his other passport with the name Joaquim Sequeira. This increases the suspicions of Shelly and Brij, who are aware of his real name, which is Shan Sengupta, but Brij has been unable to find a loophole so far. Shan refuses to speak to anyone on the island, including Brij, while he recovers from the injuries, and he is put through rigorous cycles of physiotherapy paid for by Shelly.
Lipika, on the hunt to find out Shan’s whereabouts, lands in Sri Lanka as part of a woman’s group from India. She is joined by an associate from Sri Lanka who works for her. They track the calls going in and out of Shelly’s mansion, and finally, they can confirm that Shan is indeed alive. They locate Shelly’s Island and stay on the visible perimeter of the island to make sure they can locate Shan at some point. Lipika is visibly pregnant, but that does not stop her from following her assets to make sure Shan is safe and extracting enough information from him one way or another. Lipika is a go-getter, and she is hell-bent on unearthing information about Shelly.
Shan’s slow and steady recovery prompts Shelly to come back from an important meeting with their potential business partners and companies that would fund them. On learning of Shan’s recovery, he asks Shan to meet him, who would like to hear from the horse’s mouth about his story of why she showed up in front of Shelly and his family in this island state. Shelly trusts Brij’s fears and concerns about the man who, out of nowhere, shows up to save Taha when he didn’t need to do that. He describes him as a perfectly wrapped gift but is unsure what lies inside the wrapped-up box. Brij has every right not to trust a stranger whom they met a long time back in Shimla. Shan could be an informant; for all he knows, he plans to sabotage Shelly and his empire. Only if they knew Brij’s fears were right. Shan, as per plan, puts on the right facade of wanting to get back to his life as a chef, for he does not intend to overstay his welcome at this palatial mansion. Shan plans to make sure Shelly trusts him enough to let him stay on the island to allow him to explore Shelly’s people and paperwork and learn more about Shelly’s plan for the future of his empire. Shan’s modesty does the trick, and Shelly uses the Taha card to make sure Shan stays on the island. Maybe Shelly was keen on unearthing more information about Shan before he could let him out of his sight.
Keeping in mind his protective nature, Shelly assigns Shan to take care of Taha and try to build a friendship with the boy. Shan reluctantly takes up the offer, knowing there is probably no way out but to follow Shelly’s orders. Shan and Taha get along well because Taha idolizes Shan for saving him from the kidnappers. Taha opens up to Shan and conveys his feelings about his life here with his father. Taha does not hate his father but just wants the life he had a few years ago. His mother is divorced from his father, and ever since, Taha has been living with Shelly. Taha is craving a friendship, someone he can talk to about how he feels. Even though Taha is a young boy, he comes across as a perceptive kid who understands events happening around him and does not let them affect him or pretends not to let them affect him. Taha finds a confidante in Shan, and they form a friendship and a camaraderie. Shan easily forms a brotherly relationship with Taha, and finds himself emulating the protective nature he’d had around Safina back when she was alive. Taha is innocent and is unaware of the adversities his father is causing because he is kept away from all things bad.
Shan’s game plan to find out more information about everyone living in the mansion is to get Taha to talk without raising any suspicion. Taha voluntarily starts speaking about the home he lives in and the people he is close to. Taha also reveals he is not allowed in the bar, the CCTV room, and his father’s study. This is the breakthrough Shan was waiting for. This proves Shelly has all his confidential information stored and protected in his study. Shan also starts sensing Brij still does not trust him, and he does not go out of his way to prove his loyalty. He is new to this dynamic, and he is aware that he needs to take it slow when it comes to gathering critical information about Shelly. Shan and Kaveri have a weird chemistry brewing between them; Shan seems to be unnaturally drawn to her, and he senses there is something she is hiding, and he can feel the pain behind that perfect woman Kaveri projects herself to be. Kaveri is someone who has her secrets but is not ready to share them with anyone close to her, and it is not made clear if she is emotionally attached to Shelly at all. Shelly and Kaveri seem to have chemistry, but nothing more than that. Shan wonders if he can get her to speak up, but for that to happen, he will have to dig deep.
To get himself off the island, Shan makes sure he lets Lipika and the team know about his well-being and passes on some information in that regard; Shan and Taha plan to cook an elaborate meal for the family, and he requests Shelly to let Taha come out with him to purchase the ingredients. Shelly does not agree to this expedition. Shan tugs at the trauma string that he senses Taha has been through, saying an outing will probably help the kid feel better and more normal. Shelly finally succumbs to Shan’s request. Shelly has been a good father so far. He is trying to understand what his kid wants and tends to agree to many things that would make his son happy. Taha lives away from his mother, which makes him a vulnerable child even though he is surrounded by luxurious amenities. There is the love he gets from his father and stepmother, Kaveri, but there is a sense of sadness the kid carries. Brij, on the other hand, is still not convinced that Shan is the clean person that he pretends to be. He has a gut instinct that says Shan cannot be trusted, and his expedition to the market is his way of approaching people to whom he would give information. Taking Taha along is just a decoy because Taha will not suspect anything. Brij hires men to follow Taha and Shan; meanwhile, in the same market, Lipika and her colleague come by to get in touch with Shan. Shan notices Brij’s men following him, and to make sure his message is received, he loudly speaks to Taha about Brij’s uncle suspecting Shan to be a spy working on the downfall of Shelly.
Lipika gets the point and approaches her desk back home to get to the bottom of handling Brij Pal. Brij Pal can turn out to be a big obstacle because his instincts cannot be mistrusted, and from here, the mistrust will keep increasing, which will put Shan in jeopardy. Shan might end up making a mistake in his hurry by not letting Brij follow him, which will put the entire mission at stake. Lipika and her team would want to be ten steps ahead in the plan, and for that to happen, Brij needs to get out of the picture to make way for Shan to take over; hopefully, Shelly will realize that Shan might be the right man than Brij ever was. Brij is trying to prevent Shelly from making a mistake that is keeping Shan around, and Lipika is hoping to keep her assets around long enough to gather information about the arms trader. The plan is not exactly successful, but Shan is in the circle, and that is the breakthrough Lipika was looking for.
