Season 2 of Netflix’s hit show, The Recruit dropped this past week after a 3-year wait, and boy, was it worth it. This has been one of my favorite shows on Netflix. Yes, it’s a spy show, but without an actual spy being the main protagonist. Owen Hendricks is a Jack Ryan type of character who is just trying to do a simple job with the CIA but somehow gets involved in the craziest of situations in the world of espionage. But what makes the show spectacular is he always finds a way out. He’s a “Chaos Agent” with a heart of gold just trying to keep his head above water, and when he gets in trouble and is sent to what is commonly referred to as no man’s land within the CIA where he can’t do anything, somehow he finds himself in an international situation saving the day from a foreign agent who will spill all their secrets.
Season 2 picks right where season 1 ended where Owen saves a day but is also about to be killed by rogue agents because he got in their way from completing their own mission. As punishment, he’s relegated to being “rubber stamped” which is basically- no man’s land where he can’t do any work, but somehow intercepts a secret message from a foreign operative and has to stop that agent from spilling CIA sequence. This takes him to South Korea. While season 2 wasn’t as long as the first season, six episodes is really all we needed to tell this story regarding the latest mission that Owen Hendricks is on and that’s a good thing. The story wasn’t drawn out, the pacing was great and it was balls to the walls full of action and a wonderful spy story that keeps you on the edge of your seat through the last episode. For those that don’t know, the creator of the series is Alexi Hawley who’s also the showrunner of ABC’s hit show with Nathan Fillion, “The Rookie.” The show is filled with plenty of action, humor, and good drama, everything you need to make a great series and I love the fact that Nathan Fillion plays Director West. While we do get the same old characters, new characters are introduced through the Russian Assassin Nichka who is Max’s daughter from the first season. And she is very much like her mother in all that entails. If you’re a fan of the first season then there isn’t anything to not like about the second season. As I said before, the best part is it’s not too long and the story is very concise. I feel like, you can tell these spy adventures in six episodes or two three-hour movies that you can watch back to back in the afternoon. I really don’t have any complaints about season 2 except I hope they don’t wait 3 years to give me season 3 because this is one of the best shows on Netflix. If you’ve always been disappointed about studios trying to make Jack Ryan into an actual spy when he never was, then this is the show for you because Jack Ryan as a character has always been an analyst who at best knows how to defend himself. He’s never been a super spy or soldier even though he knows how to handle a gun. To me, the character of Owen Hendricks represents Jack Ryan more than even the Jack Ryan series on Amazon Prime. Nothing against John Krasinski who I think portrays a good Jack Ryan, but I actually like this character better who’s more of an accidental spy that saves the day.
The worst part of season 2 is simply that we don’t get enough time with each of the characters. If you want to get right down to it and if I can make an interesting reference, Season 2 feels more like Quantum of Solace to Casino Royale where it’s a long epilogue to a better story. I think season 1 is better because of the way it introduces the characters, but season 2 is still fantastic where you get to see the evolution of the main character who will be one of the most important operators at the CIA one day. And just because I make that James Bond reference doesn’t mean that I dislike the movie Quantum of Solace, I still think that’s a good movie, but I call it what it is, it’s just an epilogue to the previous story. I would have liked that through a couple more episodes, but it doesn’t take away from the non-stop action in great pacing in season 2. They tell a really good story in six episodes. So if you’re looking for a great spy story that involves actual tradecraft and not super spies then this is the show for you. There are a lot of great spy stories and Netflix also has the Night Agent which is very good, but the “accidental spy” who gets himself into trouble but keeps surviving is a little bit more of an endearing story than a super spy that you know is always going to win. Whereas I gave season 1 a 9 because of how much I like the show, I only give season 2 an 8 because in a lot of ways, it feels like seasons 1 and 2 are just one big story. That’s not a bad thing when you only need 14 episodes to tell a great spy story.
