Review: ‘The Recruit’ Season 2 Is Saved Only By Noah Centineo’s Charm

Netflix has no shortage of spy thrillers. Just last week, The Night Agent Season 2 dropped – and it looks set to be another major hit for the streaming service.

As it stands, the first season of The Recruit wasn’t the strongest introduction to the show, but it feels like Netflix might have already given up on it altogether, as Season 2 is reduced to only six episodes – which is never a good sign. While the change keeps the story moving faster, the reality is that Noah Centineo is the lone highlight here. Mild spoilers for The Recruit Season 2 to follow.

What’s the plot for ‘The Recruit’ Season 2?

The Recruit Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger of note after Max Meladze (Laura Haddock) was shot by Nichka Lashin (Maddie Hasson), who also held Owen Hendricks (Centineo) hostage. Well, if you thought Season 2 would be a continuation of this storyline and a deeper dive into the familial connection between Nichka and Max, you’d be sorely mistaken. The series largely resolves this within the opening 15 minutes of Season 2, Episode 1 (“Y.N.A.H.Y.A.L.”) and pivots to a new mission that sees Owen sent to South Korea. There, he encounters NIS operative Jang Kyu (Teo Yoo), who graymails Owen and the CIA into helping him find his kidnapped wife.

Of course, this isn’t as simple as everyone putting all hands on deck and assisting Jang, especially since Owen is still in the dogbox at work for the previous season’s mishaps. The bureaucratic CIA still searches for a fall guy for everything that went wrong, and Owen needs to tread carefully before he gets branded a traitor by his own country.

A fast-moving story that threatens to fall apart at the seam

At six episodes, The Recruit Season 2 breezes by, which isn’t a bad thing since the previous storyline meandered for far too long. Instead, this season remains tight around the edges and moves fast, hardly stopping for anything or anybody. It’s a good thing, too, since there isn’t much substance in this narrative nor is it as big of an international espionage tale as Season 1. In fact, the longer that someone thinks about the “dilemma,” the more they would find the logical loopholes of what’s taking place – especially in terms of Jang Kyu. He’s supposed to be an intelligence officer, but he doesn’t put two and two together earlier on about how his past actions affected his future, and this sends everyone on a wild goose chase for half the season.

In addition, the story finds a way to shoehorn Hannah (Fivel Stewart) back into the mix after effectively giving her an out in “Y.N.A.H.Y.A.L.” It’s a confusing decision in retrospect, because while she served a purpose in the previous season, she feels out of place here. So too does Owen’s new love interest in Seoul. No spoilers here, but it’s almost as if the writers were mandated to add romance aspects to the story when it didn’t need it.

Noah Centineo carries the show on his back

Another infuriating aspect about The Recruit Season 2 is the sever3 lack of action. For a spy thriller, one would expect more high-octane sequences and exchanges of fisticuffs, but the best scene happens in the first episode when Owen and Jang battle against a bunch of thugs in a nightclub. It’s a supercharged display of violence and impressive display of martial arts, but it feels almost deceitful as the series moves away from it. Was there a budget cut or did the choreographers go on strike?

So, with an average story and hardly any action, what saves The Recruit Season 2 from being entirely forgettable television? The answer is Noah Centineo. If you didnt know it already, he possesses a natural charisma that money can’t buy. Even in the blandest of situations, Centineo’s Owen knows how to captivate the audience and keep you watching. There’s a scene in the beginning where Owen gets sent to his office, but the bigwigs remove his computer and all his files, so his punishment is to sit there in silence and boredom. Yet, even in this nothing event, Centineo manages to make the viewer smile by creatively coming up with shenanigans to keep himself – and us – entertained.

Look, it’s uncertain if The Recruit Season 3 happens or not, but Centineo has all the makings of being a major star in the industry. Don’t be surprised to see him popping up in bigger franchises or securing lead roles in blockbusters in the near future. He simply has it.

Is ‘The Recruit’ Season 2 worth your time?

The truth is Netflix possesses at least a handful of better spy series than The Recruit right now. For instance, The Night Agent Season 2 continues to be highly addictive, while the brilliant Black Dove is nothing short of perfection. When one compares The Recruit Season 2 to these shows, it looks like the poor cousin. Sorry, but this one is strictly for the Noah Centineo stans.