The Recruit Season 2’s Ending Confirmed The Noah Centineo Show Has A Problem That Season 3 Must Fix

Feb 9, 2025 - 10:00

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The Recruit Season 2’s Ending Confirmed The Noah Centineo Show Has A Problem That Season 3 Must Fix

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Recruit season 2 finale.

The sudden ending of The Recruit season 2 marks the biggest problem with the Netflix action thriller series, raising concerns about The Recruit season 3. Due to its reduced runtime of six episodes compared to season 1's eight, The Recruit season 2 left several unanswered questions, some new and some unresolved from season 1. With more than a two-year gap between The Recruit season 1 and season 2, hopes were high that season 2 would fill in many of season 1's gaps. Ultimately, The Recruit season 2 played out more like an anthology series than a true sequel.

At the end of The Recruit season 2, Noah Centineo's CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks goes full special agent mode, saving the graymailer Jang Kyun and his wife, Nan Hee. With Noah taking on more of a field agent role in season 2, it's likely that he could hang up with a law degree and formally undergo CIA operative field training in season 3, especially if he is successful in recruiting Jang Kyun to be a CIA asset. An 8-episode season 2 of The Recruit may have taken the action back to Washington D.C. and determined what happened to Nichka.

The Recruit Season 2’s Ending Was Too Abrupt

The Recruit's Shortened Season Crunches The Action & Plot

The Recruit season 2 hit the refresh button on its main story after essentially discarding Max without hardly explaining why Nichka, who is actually her biological daughter named Karolina, killed her without warning. Nichka becomes somewhat of a Max replacement along with the new graymailer Jang Kyun as Owen travels to South Korea to help him uncover a kidnapping conspiracy involving a trackable cryptocurrency and a Yazuka clan operating in Eastern Russia. These developments unfold rapidly in the final three episodes of The Recruit season 2, leading to an abrupt ending and a surprise appearance by the U.S. Navy.

In the final episode of The Recruit season 2, Owen is betrayed by Nichka and is nearly killed. After saving Jang Kyun and Nan Hee, Owen's childhood friend Yoo Jin Lee rescues them before an enormous U.S. submarine surfaces and scares off the Russian Coast Guard in pursuit.

The shortened 6-episode season crunches the action and plot developments in a too-limited timeframe.

While the action sequence is intense with bullets flying everywhere, the unexpected bailout from the U.S. Navy comes out of nowhere and feels rather convenient. Saving Nan Hee was Owen's main objective, which he accomplished. However, the shortened 6-episode season crunches the action and plot developments in a too-limited timeframe.

The Recruit Season 2 Had Minimal Connections To Season 1

The Recruit Is Becoming Somewhat Of An Anthology Series

Noah Centineo as Owen in an aiport in The Recruit season 2

Similar to the popular Prime Video action thriller series Reacher, The Recruit's second season felt like a completely brand-new and standalone adventure with minimal connections to season 1. Nichka ends up having a bigger role in season 2 after being introduced in season 1 but arguably doesn't fill in the gap left by Laura Haddock's Max Meladze. Many of the supporting characters from The Recruit season 1 also return, including Lester, Violet, Nyland, Hannah, Janus, and Amelia. However, their characters mostly serve the new season 2 plot centered around Owen and don't necessarily evolve the seeds planted in season 1.

The Recruit, Jack Ryan and The Diplomat characters

10 Best Shows Like The Recruit

Several CIA-oriented action thrillers and espionage dramas like The Recruit are currently available to watch across various streaming platforms.

Season 1 left several uncertainties about season 2 that were mostly abandoned in exchange for new characters and a new setting. The "will they, won't they" dynamic between Hannah and Owen was shelved, while Violet oddly continued to sabotage Owen every chance she got. Lester loosened up on Owen in season 2, which showed some development in his character, while Janus took more of a leading role at the start of season 2 and offered several comedic moments. Terrence, one of the most likable season 1 characters, hardly appears in season 2. Still, the characters and plot serve Owen entirely.

The Recruit Season 3 Shouldn’t Ignore What Happened In Season 2

Disregarding Previous Seasons Makes The Show Less Meaningful

The Recruit, and series like it such as Jack Ryan, The Night Agent, and Reacher, are designed to take on a variety of villains and objectives throughout various settings. Like the biggest action movie franchises, James Bond and Mission: Impossible, these series revolve around a larger-than-life heroic protagonist whose missions take him all around the world.

A show like Dexter, for example, featured a new villain each season but still maintained a sense of familiarity with its main characters.

That being said, disregarding characters from previous seasons makes certain elements less meaningful. A show like Dexter, for example, featured a new villain each season but still maintained a sense of familiarity with its main characters, something The Recruit season 3 could benefit from.