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It seems like only yesterday that Noah Centineo's Owen Hendricks was singing "I Knew You Were Trouble" while peeing in the snow, totally unaware of the dozen different ways his life was about to go sideways. "The Recruit" premiered on Netflix in late December, with Centineo playing the titular CIA recruit who, despite technically being a lawyer, ended up caught in th middle of some very dangerous international shenanagins.
"The Recruit" apparently had a good audience turn out on Netflix, briefly dethroning super-hit "Wednesday" to sit at the top of the Top 10 before being pushed out by "Emily in Paris" (per Forbes). Since the streamer didn't put out any self-reported news trying to explain how many people watched "The Recruit" in the most vague and convoluted terms possible, one might assume the show didn't do massive numbers on the streamer. But "The Recruit" did do well enough to earn a second season, which was just announced via Netflix's own site, Tudum.
Fans of "The Recruit" will be happy to hear about the show's renewal, given that it certainly ended on a major cliffhanger after an eight-episode first season that saw CIA lawyer Owen attempting to neutralize a graymail threat by helping a cunning former asset named Max (Laura Haddock) get out of prison. As the show unfolded, it became a surprisingly comical and breezily-paced thriller full of double-crosses, action sequences, and of course, that signature Centineo charm. But Owen's luck ran out in the season finale when he, Max, and a second woman ended up in a life-or-death situation. The mystery women ended up shooting Max at point-blank range before revealing herself to be Max's long-lost daughter.
The CIA's not done with Owen yet
With an "Alias" flavor and a mid-aughts USA Channel Original attitude, "The Recruit" is definitely the type of show that would be easy to keep watching for several more seasons. Showrunner Alexi Hawley confirms that season 2 will be even bigger and bolder in his statement to Tudum, saying, "I'm thrilled to dive back into the fun, funny, action-packed world of 'The Recruit.'" He adds that "seeing how invested our audience became in the show's adventurous take on the spy world has been incredibly rewarding, and I can't wait to turn it all up to 11 in Season 2."
The world of "The Recruit" was easy to get invested in, because it did something that's rare for a CIA-set show: allowed itself to function as a sort of very dark workplace comedy. When Owen joins, he gets "hazed" by his coworkers, only the hazing involves being sent to a torture chamber in an active war zone where he loses a fingernail or two. As his work unfolds, Owen finds out his coworkers treat massive coverups, missteps, and loss of life as normally as they'd treat a Monday morning meeting. It's a slightly surreal setup that makese the entire show more interesting than your typical spy drama.
Centineo also shared a statement on the renewal, saying, "I know I speak for our entire cast and executive team at eOne and Netflix when I say that we're thrilled to be returning to 'The Recruit' for a second season." He adds that he's looking forward to finding out "what [showrunner] Alexi Hawley has in store for us all." So are we! "The Recruit" season one is now on Netflix. Season 2 does not have a set return date.
