By Cole Gee | Staff Writer
It feels like every decade an actor is given an action role that launches them into superstardom. In the ’60s, you had the sway and sophisticated Sean Connery as James Bond. The ’90s brought us the ever-cool Keanu Reeves in “Speed” and “The Matrix.” The 2000s were carried by Boston’s favorite son, Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. In 2020, Noah Centineo is looking to be Gen Z’s premier action star in his red-hot new show, “The Recruit.”
Beware, readers! There are spoilers ahead.
Season two of The Recruit joins a long list of recent Netflix spy shows. Loveable failure Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) — a CIA lawyer turned impromptu special agent — has bitten off more than he can chew.
The last time we saw Owen, he was trapped in a Russian prison after a mission gone wrong. After blowing this mission, he is put in the agency’s doghouse until they can figure out a way to pin it all on him. However, before he’s thrown into a CIA black site, he stumbles upon a new, dangerous mission. A blackmailer located in South Korea is threatening to release CIA secrets unless the agency saves their wife, who was kidnapped by Russian gangsters.
This season takes place in Korea, and to no surprise, there never seems to be an end to the K-pop and K-drama references that litter the show. Thanks to this new location, we get an abundance of new characters. One of them is a South Korean agent named Jang Kyu, played by Tee Yoo, who some might remember from the film “Past Lives.”
He and Noah Centineo are the lifeblood of the season. They play off each other well, with Tee being the seasoned and disciplined agent while Centineo is the childish counterpart trying to help in any way he can. The mutual respect the two slowly begin to gain over the season feels earned and fitting to their characters.
Centineo deserves a lot of credit for how he was able to display the tightrope that is Owen’s mental state. In this season, Owen is no longer a baby-faced rookie. After what he experienced in Russia, he has more of an edge and tiredness to him. While he still tries to do the right thing, season two does a good job of establishing how impossible it is for Owen to remain clean while working for the agency.
To viewers, Owen might be a frustrating character to watch, as you wish for once he’d think with his head and not his heart — especially considering his actions put his friends, co-workers, ex-girlfriend and the entire country in danger. Despite his constant screwups, he manages to barely survey the messes he creates, albeit not without some new physical and mental scars.
Beyond just showcasing his character’s strain, Centineo does a great job carrying the show’s humor. The same boyish charm he showed in To All the Boys I Loved Before makes him shine like a diamond in this new season.
The action, like season one, is just as good as advertised, with multiple fight scenes taking place throughout the season — from a bar fight in a Korean club to a shootout in Afghanistan to even a motorcycle chase scene through a Korean night market. The only criticism I can give is that the fights were not as long as in the past season and could’ve used more choreography.
The series is not without its faults. Season two had only six episodes, compared to season one’s eight. I started the show over the weekend in the morning, and before I even realized it, I was staring at a “Continue Watching” screen and end credits.
Whether it be the pacing or the episode length, season two seemed to be firing on all cylinders 24/7. It was as if Netflix was rushing to get to the next episode because they were afraid their budget would run out. This, unfortunately, leaves the finale feeling somewhat undercooked, with multiple plotlines left in the air. The main plot, however, was conveniently wrapped up with a bow but still left room for continuation in season three. This could leave a bad taste in viewers’ mouths if it’s canceled on a cliffhanger like many Netflix shows have in the past.
To the show’s credit, critics seem to have taken notice of the improved story overall. Season two currently has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to the 68% score of season one. If I had to give it a rating myself, I’d give it no less than an 84% and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, dumb binge.
