Entertainment
Netflix’s 2-Part Action Thriller Is So Good, You Can Rewatch It Multiple Times
Noah Centineo has come a long way from playing the cute jock in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before — and his Netflix thriller, The Recruit, is proof of his versatility. It’s been eight years since he pulled our heartstrings as a boyish teenage heartthrob. Although the TATBILB franchise ended in 2021, he’s continued to make moves as an actor.
From starring as Atom Smasher in Black Adam to gearing up for his debut as Ken Masters in Street Fighter, Centineo has proven he can handle a couple of punches in the action scene. At the same time, Centineo returned to the beloved streaming platform that made him a star in The Recruit. Playing Owen Hendricks, a CIA lawyer-turned-deadly field agent, Centineo is just as adorkable as his former rom-com persona, but with a lot more bite as he steps into a new phase of his career.
What Is ‘The Recruit’ About?
Toxic bureau culture, deadly double-crossers, and international espionage collide in The Recruit. The series introduces Owen Hendricks (Centineo), a rookie CIA lawyer on his first week at the agency. Eager to make a good impression, he quickly realizes that, like any office — even the CIA — there’s a sense of superiority among his seniors, making him the complete workplace fool. He’s assigned to sort through a pile of graymail, including overlooked threats the bureau rarely takes seriously, until one message stands out: a letter from imprisoned former asset Max Meladze (Laura Haddock).
Meladze’s graymail threatens to expose the CIA’s secrets. If her demands aren’t met, she will reveal the identities of U.S. operatives in Russia and Belarus. It’s a lot for someone’s first week, yet his boss, CIA general counsel Walter Nyland (Vondie Curtis-Hall), trusts him enough to send him to a maximum-security prison to negotiate. When Meladze offers a deal in exchange for her silence, Hendricks knows it’s bad news — yet he goes through with it, setting off his crash course to spy work. From interrogating a contact in Vienna to being attacked in Prague, he’s forced to leave the comforts of his office and discover the truth at his own risk.
Owen Hendricks Plays the Perfect Reluctant Spy in ‘The Recruit’
Much of The Recruit toys with Hendricks’ duality. In the CIA office, he’s this meek lawyer who looks like he doesn’t quite fit in with the intensity of the agency. He lacks the cutthroat grit expected of an employee at the bureau. Yet, on the other hand, he seems to have a hidden taste for being thrown into life-or-death situations. As much as he resists being pulled into these missions, there’s an adrenaline rush that quickly takes over. In the CIA’s eyes, assigning him such high-stakes tasks is a major risk — especially since he’s just a rookie lawyer who has never held a gun, let alone killed anyone.
Despite his inexperience, Hendricks’ impulsiveness often lands him in deadly situations. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. He may lack strategy and proper risk assessment, but his recklessness fuels a “figure it out as he goes” mentality. He’s a natural improviser — a rare skill in this line of work — and it comes in handy, since there’s only so much agents can predict about their enemies’ intentions. Still, as a newcomer, he gets tangled up in some seriously unprofessional situations. CIA work demands emotional detachment, and that’s where Hendricks fails. As the series progresses, he grows too attached to his future assets — a flaw that is later used to manipulate Hendricks’ judgment.
Owen Hendricks Gets Caught Up with South Korea’s Spy Intelligence
While Season 1 is pretty much a CIA-only operation, Season 2 raises the stakes when the agency finds itself entangled with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service. At this point, Hendricks has come a long way from just sorting graymail. The CIA knows what he’s capable of, and his unique skill set gets utilized even more. But at the same time, his rookie status makes his position even more vulnerable. In espionage, there’s no hesitation in disposing of agents when they pose a threat to exposing agency secrets. This typically happens when missions go south — and that’s exactly where Hendricks ends up.
While Season 1 sees Hendricks display more sheepish behavior on the field, Season 2 presents him as the complete opposite. He doubles down on his brashness, which doesn’t bode well when he’s in rival foreign territory. He becomes a kind of beast who won’t think twice about putting himself in danger. Although he evolves into a capable operative, far removed from the sharp-suited lawyer, one thing hasn’t changed: his moral conscience. Hendricks knows where to draw the line with his bosses’ orders, and he doesn’t hesitate to go rogue to save people the CIA deems expendable. He isn’t the perfect spy in The Recruit, but he’s the one the agency needs.
- Release Date
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2022 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Doug Liman
- Writers
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Alexi Hawley, George Ghanem, Amelia Roper, Hadi Deeb, Niceole R. Levy, Maya Goldsmith
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