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- Netflix has confirmed The Recruit season two release date as January 30.
- The second season is set in South Korea and will follow the burgeoning spy trade.
- The six-episode season will debut on the streaming platform in full.
Noah Centineo’s bright young CIA lawyer is returning to Netflix in 2025. The streaming service officially confirmed that the long-awaited second season of the action-packed series The Recruit will premiere on 30 January 2025, more than two years after season one finished. With Centineo’s Owen Hendricks still suffering the afflictions of the world’s worst probation period, the second instalment promises to deliver even more thrills and, in a surprise turn of events, an international perspective. Series creator Alexi Hawley has confirmed that season two will tackle the South Korean spy trade. Here is everything you need to know about The Recruit season two ahead of the blockbuster action series’ premiere.
‘The Recruit’ Season 2 Release Date
The official release date for The Recruit season two is 30 January 2024 at 7pm AEST. The six-episode season will be released on the streaming platform in full, with all episodes available to view from that date. The premiere date comes a full two years after the conclusion of season one, which proved to be a surprising hit for Netflix. It achieved an admirable 68 per cent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the website’s consensus noting that it “may not be the freshest chip off the old block, but it employs Noah Centineo’s considerable charms to highly watchable effect”.
Production Timeline
In January 2023, Netflix officially announced that The Recruit would be returning for a second season, with series creator, writer, and showrunner Alexi Hawley confirming that pre-production was underway. At the time, Hawley expressed his thanks for the show’s support, promising to dial things “up to 11 in season two”, however, it would be a full calendar year before filming officially kicked off.
As per the logline, season two of The Recruit introduces a few new elements to the series, which undoubtedly contributed to the lengthy wait between instalments. The series’ South Korean setting required the entire production to pack up and head overseas, with Netflix confirming that the production team spent around a month filming in Seoul. In a post shared to the Netflix Tudum website, series creator Alexi Hawley noted that you simply “can’t fake” South Korea, explaining that “the city is a character in the show, and it was very important to us that we got it right.”
Lead actor Noah Centineo agreed, remarking that the Seoul setting provided a necessary backdrop to build the character’s unique arc. As he revealed, South Korea offered more than just an exotic location; it served as a critical component of Owen’s ongoing development.
“Korea carries a heavy weight for him but also brings back sweet core memories from his childhood,” Centineo said. “So you have fertile ground for all the vicious and life-threatening fun Owen loves to find himself in the middle of.”
‘The Recruit’ Season 2 Cast
After the breakout success of the first instalment, it’s little wonder so many of the actors involved are set to return to The Recruit season two cast. Noah Centineo again assumes lead actor duties as Owen Hendricks, the bright young CIA lawyer who finds himself mixed up in a world of espionage, intrigue and violence. Vondie Curtis-Hall returns as Owen’s intimidating and stand-offish boss Walter Nyland, while Aarti Mann, Colton Dunn and Fivel Stewart reprise their roles as Violet Ebner, Lester Kitchens and Hannah Copeland, respectively.
The full returning cast for season two of The Recruit includes:
- Noah Centineo as Owen Hendricks
- Vondie Curtis-Hall as Walter Nyland
- Aarti Mann as Violet Ebner
- Colton Dunn as Lester Kitchens
- Fivel Stewart as Hannah Copeland
- Kristian Bruun as Janus Ferber
- Kaylah Zander as Amelia Salazar
- Maddie Hasson as Nichka Lashin
- Angel Parker as Dawn Gilbane
- Daniel Quincy Annoh as Terence
- Jesse Collin as Dodge
- Nathan Fillion as CIA Director Alton West
New Cast Members
Outside of the existing cast, season two of The Recruit also introduces a swathe of new faces. Most notably, BAFTA nominee Teo Yoo joins that mix as Jang Kyun, a clever and driven South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) agent. Highly skilled and surprisingly quick-witted, Kyun represents the perfect to Noah’s hard-nosed fish-out-water Owen. Additionally, Young-Ah Kim joins The Recruit season two cast as Grace, a savvy senior intelligence officer, while Felix Solis steps into the world as Tom Wallace, a senior diplomat in the State Department. The full list of new cast members for season two of The Recruit includes:
- Teo Yoo as Jang Kyun
- Young-Ah Kim as Grace
- Felix Solis as Tom Wallace
- James Purefoy as Oliver Bonner-Jones
- Shin Do-hyun as Yoo Jin Lee
- Sanghee Lee as Nan Hee
- Omar Maskati as Jae King
- Brooke Smith as Marcy Potter
- Devika Bhise as Juno Marsh
- Alana Hawley Purvis as Amanda Fern
What We Think ‘The Recruit’ Season 2 Will Be About
Season one of the series saw rookie CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks in his first week on the job. Eager to make a good impression, his plans are completely disrupted when he discovers a threatening letter from Max — a former asset who plans to expose the agency’s corruption unless they exonerate her for a serious crime. So begins a whirlwind ride that takes Owen on a crash course in espionage and covert operations.
While Netflix and Hawley have kept The Recruit season two plot relatively under wraps so far, the series creator did reveal some key themes for the upcoming release. Picking up directly after the shocking events of the season one finale, this time around, Noah Centineo’s Owen Hendricks will be forced to travel to South Korea to investigate the country’s burgeoning spy trade. Here, the top CIA lawyer encounters Korean intelligence agent Jang Kyun, played by BAFTA nominee Teo Yoo, who threatens to derail his best-laid plans.
“Owen rolls into this season basically screwed. So a big part of his story is protecting his name and proving he’s great at his job as a CIA lawyer following the chaos of season one,” Hawley told Netflix’s Tudum. “Owen knows that if he does not walk away with a win this season, his career is going to be over. He might go to prison. Depending on what people are into, they can show up this season for the big, flashy, splashy action stuff, but they can also be on a journey with this guy who’s just trying to fix something that he broke.”
“This show lives in propulsion,” Hawley continued. “So we immediately throw Owen in the deep end, which is where he’s the most fun. It seemed like a great way to start season two — and then we just never let our foot off the gas.”
Where to Watch ‘The Recruit’ Season 2
Both season one and season two of The Recruit are exclusive to Netflix, meaning you can only watch the high-octane series if you have a subscription. The latest instalment will premiere in full on the streaming platform on January 30, meaning all six episodes will be available to view from that date.
A current Netflix subscription in Australia costs AUD$7.99 per month for the standard plan with ads, AUD$18.99 per month for the standard plan and AUD$25.99 per month for the premium package. That said, you can browse Netflix’s full catalogue of titles without subscribing by visiting netflix.com/watch-free. With this site, you can watch the first episode of many popular series without signing up.
