On January 30, 2025, Netflix's espionage thriller The Recruit finally returned for its highly-anticipated second season following a two-year wait. After season 1's shocking finale, season 2 follows CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) as he tries to get out of trouble at the Agency by jumping into another graymail case. (Graymail is the CIA version of blackmail, where someone with government secrets threatens to spill them unless the Agency helps them.) This time, the graymailer is Jang Kyun (Teo Yoo), a Korean intelligence officer whose wife has been taken hostage.
For its second installment, The Recruit is riding the Korean wave, with new cast members from the K-drama world, and a thrilling new plot that takes Owen from D.C. to Seoul to Qatar to Russia and back again. (Someone get the guy a travel neck pillow.) Since the six-episode season premieres, fans have wondered whether Owen and co. will be back for another globe-trotting case. Read on for everything we know about a possible The Recruit season 3.
Is 'The Recruit' renewed for season 3?
Unfortunately, Netflix has canceled The Recruit after two seasons, so there will not be a season 3. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the show wouldn't return in early March 2025, just over a month after season 2 hit streaming.
The streamer did not give a reason why, though THR points out that, despite The Recruit season 2 landing in Netflix's Top 10 when it premiered, shows can be canceled due to "creative vision," audience satisfaction, and "economics."
Showrunner Alexi Hawley first announced the news in a heartfelt statement posted to X (formerly Twitter). He wrote about the espionage series' journey, from originally being greenlit at USA Network before plans fell through and it was revived at Netflix. Though he said the first season was "rocky," due to the pandemic and filming in a frigid Montreal, he said there was always "a belief that the show was worth the pain."
Hawley added that by season 2, the cast and crew felt like "a family," leading to a "shared, finite, creative experience."
"Is two seasons and a movie a thing?" he wrote. "Cause we'd all be there in a heartbeat. If not, man, we left it all on the field. For those who haven't yet watched, dive in. I swear to God you'll enjoy the ride. In an age of shows that feel like homework, The Recruit was a blast that has stakes and humor and hardcore action that will keep you leaning forward."
The TV writer also called Noah Centineo "a straight-up movie star who elevates everything he touches," and concluded by writing, "Finally, to the cast and crew, thank you for giving the best of yourselves to this special show. I"m a better person for having spent time with you."
A love letter to The Recruit... pic.twitter.com/0w54nrifvcMarch 6, 2025
Based on his note and past comments, the cancelation seems to come as a surprise to Hawley. Shortly after season 2 was released, he spoke to Deadline about how the cast and crew was waiting for news regarding a renewal, but feeling positive. He said, "We’re waiting for Netflix to officially do their thing with it. There’s a lot of goodwill inside Netflix towards the show and towards Noah; I think they very much feel like Noah is a homegrown star, which he is. So, I’m feeling super positive about it, as positive as you can feel in this town at this time."
Could there be a 'The Recruit' movie?
Based on Hawley's statement following the show's cancelation, he's open to continuing Owen Hendricks' story in some form. He seemingly had an idea for where season 3 might go and would like to wrap it up in a standalone movie. Without Netflix's support, it's hard to say if The Recruit has a future, but shows have been picked up by other networks in the past and launched movies—including fan-backed ones. We'll have to see if the team behind the show has any spy-like moves that could help the story live on. At this time, though, it seems unlikely.
Who in the 'The Recruit' cast would have returned for season 3?
Based on season 2's ending, it's likely that the entire main cast of The Recruit would have returned for season 3: Noah Centineo (Owen Hendricks), Fivel Stewart (Hannah Copeland), Daniel Quincy Annoh (Terrence Hoffman), Vondie Curtis-Hall (Walter Nyland), Kristian Bruun (Janus Ferber), Colton Dunn (Lester Kitchens) Aarti Mann (Violet Ebner), Kaylah Zander (Amelia Salazar), Dodge (Jesse Collin), and Nathan Fillion (CIA Director Alton West).
However, it was unclear if the series planned to bring back its Korean cast beyond season 2. Since they were all tied to the CIA by friendship or romance by the finale, it seemed possible that Teo Yoo (Jang Kyun Kim), Sanghee Lee (Nan Hee Kim), Shin Do-hyun (Yoo Jin Lee), and Kim Young-Ah (Kim Grace) could have reprised their roles.
In an interview with TVLine, Hawley teased that he wanted Yoo to stick around as one of Owen's allies. "I have a few thoughts," he told the outlet, saying that the actor might not come back “necessarily as a regular, but he’s definitely someone I want in our arsenal.”
Spoilers for The Recruit season 2 finale ahead. One character who definitely wouldn't have returned for season 3 is Dawn Gilbane (Angel Parker), who died in a knife fight with Nickha (Maddie Hasson) as the Russian mercenary protected Owen and Jang Kyun. Hawley told TVLine that "Dawn’s story is ultimately a tragic one," and that her death is a moment that's "important for the audience to be like, 'Oh, shit, nobody’s safe.'"
What would 'The Recruit' season 3 have been about?
In the season 2 finale, after multiple double-crosses that we can barely keep track of, Owen rescues Jang Hyun and his wife Nan Hee from the Yakuza, with the help of his childhood love Yoo Jin. Once the trio (plus Lester) are safe aboard an American sub heading out of Russia, Owen suggests that Jang Kyun comes to America and becomes a CIA asset, teasing that the pair's fledgling brotherhood would have continued.
In his interview with Deadline, Hawley spilled several hints about where he envisioned the show to go, including how he isn't done with Nichka (Maddie Hasson). "Nichka is very Owen in her chaos agent-ness, so I would love to see her again in some way, shape or form," he said, adding that season 3 would include the fallout of Dawn's (Angel Parker) death and Lester's betrayal of Owen.
As for Owen's fate at the CIA, Hawley implied that Owen's win with Jang Kyun's case would help smooth everything over with his investigation at work. The last moment of the season, where Owen's smile slowly falls away, is him realizing he maybe isn't quitting the CIA, after all after spending the whole season grappling with the moral grey area.
Besides the character implications, Hawley told the outlet that he had only been thinking about season 3 "in broad strokes," especially where it could be filmed abroad. "I’m not sure exactly where I want to go yet. I feel like we’ve done Russia, we’ve done Korea. So maybe Latin America, Africa would be exciting. The American audiences don’t get exposed to Africa a lot in our storytelling for lots of reasons, but I think that would be really interesting."
