Season 1 released on Dec 16, 2022 & season 2 on January 30th, 2025, on Prime.
The Recruit is an American spy adventure series that was created by Alexi Hawley for Netflix. The show is about a new CIA lawyer named Owen Hendricks, played by Noah Centineo. Owen received a letter from a woman named Max Meladze, played by Laura Haddock, who is currently serving life in prison for murdering a shady trucker. In the letter, Max is threatening to expose CIA secrets if she is not released from jail.
The Recruit is meticulously written in the context of the fact that each of the episodes have CIA-like initials in it. For example, the first episode title is “I.N.A.S.I.A.L.”, which means “I’m Not a Spy, I’m a Lawyer” every title from seasons 1 & 2 represents a captivating line of dialogue from each episode.
Unfortunately, this series, by far is one of my least favorite American spy thrillers. Matter of fact, I wouldn’t even call this show a thriller because it was very “un-thrilling.” The show made it very difficult for me to watch and connect with any of the characters. The only reason I watched this series was because we are critics and providing our honest opinions are essential to others like me, who love a good tried and true spy series.
Each of the characters, from his roommates, colleagues & CIA agents were monotonous, dull, repetitious, useless, and simply unexciting. Furthermore, there were no real connections with any of the characters, including the main, everyone is looking out for their own self-interest, not one character was there to help Owen, only to add to his perpetual demise. Additionally, the humor/comedic punchlines never land, the plot disappoints with every turn and twist, frankly, I am surprised that it was renewed for season 2.
Ultimately, this series had potential because of the somewhat intrigue and unique storyline but, the lack of good characters, silly, unbelievable ridiculous plot and the writers attempt to turn the lead into a charming, intelligent comedian rather than a CIA Lawyer was beyond unbearable to watch or take this series seriously.
