Netflix’s The Recruit Fails To Capture Thrills

Noah Centineo replaces high school teenage angst and romance for young adult CIA action thrills. Unfortunately, The Recruit features little thrill, and it takes until the back half of the show’s eight-episode first season to see an uptick in interest.

The show itself is relatively simple, with 24-year-old Owen Hendricks beginning his law career with the CIA, wanting to achieve success in a high-stakes environment. But, when his first case is with Max, a woman threatening to expose vital CIA secrets and announcing herself as a massive threat to national security, Owen knows his first mission.

Most of the season follows Owen struggling to keep up with Max, as the duo grows an unlikely companionship as they end up relying on each other to get the job done.

Simultaneously, The Recruit dives into Owen’s home life with his ex-girlfriend, Hannah, and their other roommate and best friend, Terence.

But, for twenty-four years old, Owen, Hannah, and Terence are all missing the charisma and characteristics that come with their age; they are all highly successful in their careers and taking on traits more accustomed to adults with a more extensive professional background.

Owen’s relationships with his co-workers never get the attention or development they should. His brief romance with Amelia is not even quite a romance, and it begins and ends pretty abruptly. Although Amelia remains his ally and friend, there is not a lot of depth to their relationship outside of her helping Owen with his case.

Meanwhile, his two other main co-workers, Violet and Lester, are not given half the character development or motivation they need to justify their cold behavior toward Owen.

The Recruit wants an inner-work conflict by having Owen go up against his co-workers, but Lester and Violet’s lack of development or defined characteristics make that problematic.

Violet and Lester dislike Owen from the jump for no reason and are quickly against him even though Owen has barely spoken to them. They are seemingly jealous of Owen, maybe, but it is never outright stated, and their existence in The Recruit seems boiled down to shenanigans that make Owen’s life harder to add a bit extra frustration to his day.

By far, Owen’s most intriguing relationship is with Max. Never quite able to fully trust or not trust his adversary, Owen struggles between keeping his guard up and lowering it around her, and it seems mutual as she grows a connection with him.

Although The Recruit tries to develop the situation slightly more by hinting at Owen’s growing anxiety toward the case, there is never really any pay-off toward it, as Owen’s thoughts of quitting his job never come to fruition.

The season’s conclusion lands on a cliffhanger, but the episode barely ties up or answers anything about the main character’s relationships.

Suppose Netflix renews The Recruit for a second season. In that case, the show must make massive changes and developments to justify many of its decisions and characters while desperately having to deliver follow-through on their cliffhanger.