The spy series, which premiered in December 2022, follows Owen Hedricks (Centineo), a CIA lawyer who finds herself embroiled in international conflicts with dangerous parties after a source tries to expose her relationship with the agency. It is created by Alexi Hawley and produced by Lionsgate (following its acquisition of eOne) and Hypnotic.
The Recruit was one of many shows hampered by the writers’ strike, with a two-year gap between seasons. It’s somewhat surprising considering that the series made it to number two on the Nielsen streaming charts and number two on Netflix’s own charts in its week of release with 5.9 million views and 31.8 million hours watched. It also grew in its second week with 6.1 million views and 33 million hours watched, though it failed to compete with the second season of The Night Agent.
Season two also only consisted of six episodes, instead of eight like the first season.
Hawley said in January that he felt good about a third season. “We’re waiting for Netflix to officially do their thing with it,” he said. “There’s a lot of goodwill inside Netflix towards the show and towards Noah; I think they very much feel like Noah is a homegrown star, which he is. So I’m feeling super positive about it, as positive as you can feel in this town at this time.”
The first season centered on Owen Hendricks (Centineo), a young CIA lawyer whose first week on the job is turned upside down when he discovers a threatening letter from former agent Max Meladze (Laura Haddock), who plans to expose the agency unless they exonerate her of a serious crime. Owen quickly finds himself entangled in a dangerous and often absurd world of power politics and mischievous players, as he travels the world in hopes of completing his assignment and making his mark on the CIA.
Fivel Stewart, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Kristian Bruun, Aarti Mann, Daniel Quincy Annoh also had recurring roles, while Kaylah Zander, Maddie Hasson, Angel Parker, and Yoo Teo had starring roles in season two. James Purefoy was a guest star in season two, while Nathan Fillion played CIA Director Alton West.
