The creator of The Recruit has reacted to its cancellation. The Netflix spy series starred Noah Centineo as Owen Hendricks, a CIA lawyer who gets swept up on a globetrotting adventure. It featured an ensemble cast that also included Laura Haddock, Colton Dunn, Fivel Stewart, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Teo Yoo, and Nathan Fillion. Just over a month after the January 2025 debut of season 2, it was revealed that the streaming service would not be moving forward with The Recruit season 3. However, this cancellation leaves the show on a major cliffhanger.
On his official Instagram account, Alexi Hawley shared a love letter to The Recruit. He shared details of the many hurdles that had to be overcome in order to bring it to life, including a scrapped pilot, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a frigid Montreal winter. He also celebrated the cast and crew, who “left it all on the field,” adding that he would reunite with them “in a heartbeat.” In closing, he tentatively suggested that the show could be wrapped up with a movie. See the post below:
What This Means For The Recruit
A Finale Movie Could Happen
Ultimately, it makes sense why Netflix would have cancelled the series after The Recruit season 2. Although it was viewed for more than 1 billion minutes during the first week of its run, this was a dip from the viewership of season 1, which was only a modest success. The fact that Netflix had already taken a chance on renewing season 2 in the first place likely means that they were much less inclined to be soft on its declining viewership. The show’s budget also may have impacted these considerations.
In spite of its diminished viewership, The Recruit season 2 has a higher Rotten Tomatoes score, earning 92% from critics as opposed to season 1’s 68%.
However, this does not necessarily mean that a finale movie is out of the question. If they could wrangle it to be the budget of just one or two episodes, the viewership it would garner might still be worth the financial risk for the streaming platform. The buzz generated from following up on the inconclusive Recruit season 2 ending could also be helpful in drawing more eyes to the movie.
They Could Spur Netflix
The possibility of a movie concluding The Recruit is also not unprecedented for Netflix. They previously produced a two-and-a-half hour finale to the Wachowskis’ sci-fi show Sense8, which was similarly cancelled on a cliffhanger ending after running for two seasons. However, it remains to be seen if the cancellation and Hawley’s reaction to it garner enough attention from the media and from fans of the series for the streamer to seriously consider the prospect.
Source: Alexi Hawley/Instagram
The Recruit
9/10
- Release Date
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December 16, 2022
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Doug Liman
- Writers
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Alexi Hawley, George Ghanem, Amelia Roper, Hadi Deeb, Niceole R. Levy, Maya Goldsmith
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Noah Centineo
Owen Hendricks
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Colton Dunn
Lester Kitchens
