Netflix ‘The Recruit’ Season 2 Review - Utterly Disposable

The gap between the first season of a series and its second season, or even between the second and third seasons, often ends up being so big that we forget most of what we have watched while checking out the new episodes. Thankfully, you don't face this issue with The Recruit Season 2. One can click on that play button without worrying about doing their homework. And the first episode is so enjoyable that you feel glad the show got renewed for a second season. One of the strengths of Season 1 was that it mostly concentrated on the bureaucratic side of working with secret agents. Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo), the CIA lawyer, was buried so deep into official files that he received panic attacks. This office routine once again remains the best part of this series (The scene where Owen goes from one office to another to find help for a rescue mission elicits chuckles). In the second season, Owen is put into a rubber-room, where he kills time by erecting a pyramid out of empty cups and drawing cartoons on the wall (a rubber-room is an empty room - no sofa, no computer, only a chair, and a table). His boring routine - the repetitive visuals of him drawing, creating figures out of clips, and doing jumping jacks - is converted into a joke. Another visual joke produced through repetition involves South Korean soldiers "welcoming" the American agents at the airport. These scenes are imbued with a laid-back humor. They put a smile on your face and make it easy for you to binge-watch all the episodes.

Centineo's Owen has a boyish charm that hides his superb "spy talents." At first glance, he looks like an ordinary cute boy next door, though the more time you spend with him, the more you realize that he is capable of performing daring stunts. But to come across that knowledge, you will have to get close to this character. A stranger will try to undermine him during the first encounter. This is precisely what Jang Kyun (Teo Yoo), an NIS agent, does here. He poses as a clerk to mine information from Owen, but Owen shows him that he is not a novice. It's a wonderful scene because we enjoy the CIA lawyer's display of brilliance. Owen is still a rookie - to an extent - when it comes to doing his professional job, but he has a big heart, which immediately separates him from other (American) agents. When his colleagues use their brains to abort an operation due to the risks involved, Owen dives headfirst into the danger by listening to his heart. He really wants to rescue Kyun's wife because he has a soft corner for romance. Owen recognizes Kyun's pain and commits himself to the mission. This is his way of fixing his own romantic entanglements. Hannah (Fivel Stewart) moves on - she starts dating her client. And Amelia (Kaylah Zander), too, isn't interested in having an affair with Owen.

The romantic hole, however, is filled by Yoo Jin (Do Hyun Shin) in the second season. She is Owen's first love, first kiss. Frankly, she comes across as an afterthought or, more accurately, a "plot convenience" who helps Owen by offering him her father's boat (this is the only reason behind her existence in this show). Yoo Jin still lives with her parents, works as a waiter, and is part of an amateurish band that plays songs at restaurants. She has a sad life, and one wishes Season 2 had tapped into her pathos for drama. The reason for this wish is simple: The second season of The Recruit feels utterly disposable. The casual atmosphere works nicely at first, mainly due to the combination of stress and excitement generated through scenes like the one where Owen and Lester (Colton Dunn) hide from the CEG people. There is also a sense of playfulness in the thread concerning Dawn's (Angel Parker) confusion (she thinks Owen has snitched on her). She notices Owen and Lester at the airport and concludes they must be hatching a plan together. Season 2, unfortunately, wastes this thread's potential. It merely gives rise to flickers of humor instead of making a meal out of the situation. Given the direction in which the show heads, none of the "serious moments" seem appropriate here. They just cancel out the charge produced through lighthearted events.

What's more, many dialogues simply end up recapping whatever we have watched. This is The Recruit's way of reminding us about the stakes here. Nevertheless, despite all these reminders (clearly meant for the ADHD audience members), the missions are devoid of urgency or tension. The wife's kidnapping is the MacGuffin here - it just gives this second season a reason to exist on the streaming platform. Owen goes to the most dangerous part of Russia to rescue her, only to discover that people there put car keys on their vehicle's tires. Season 2, with a detail like this, might be playfully winking at us, but its tone is deadly serious. Hence, we are unsure how to react during this sequence. Even a double-cross comes across as a lazy attempt at creating more complications. Season 2 begins with a lot of promise, but it slowly morphs into one of those Netflix shows that keep you busy instead of entertaining. Many things happen on the screen, and they all resemble empty noise. This is ultimately a bland series.

Final Score- [4/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times