Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) is on his next assignment. The Recruit Season 2 is now streaming, revealing even more high-octane obstacles thrown in the path of the CIA’s brightest new lawyer. But Owen can handle anything, right? Like, say, Nichka (Maddie Hasson) — the volatile daughter of Season 1’s Max Meladze (Laura Haddock) — brandishing a weapon? Or a nightclub brawl involving series newcomer Jang Kyun, played by BAFTA nominee Teo Yoo? What about a mystery assailant armed with a blade hidden inside a crutch? Because those are exactly the kinds of hurdles Owen will face in Season 2 — along with many more dangerous surprises. 

Owen “always jumps into the deep end to see if he can get out,” showrunner, creator, and executive producer Alexi Hawley tells Tudum. “It’s not even about looking before he leaps. He’s all about challenging himself.” 

Watch a sneak peek of the Recruit Season 2 premiere here.

In Season 2, one of those challenges will be South Korea’s spy trade. Owen will be accompanied on his international journey by a few new faces — including Yoo’s aforementioned Korean intelligence agent Jang Kyun, whose No. 1 priority is saving his kidnapped wife Nan Hee (Sanghee Lee). Centineo is delighted to welcome Yoo to The Recruit. “Rhythm and chemistry are tough phenomenons to have control over,” he tells Tudum. “But thankfully, I was very fortunate to have a partner in Teo for Season 2.”

Yoo’s character has a mission of his own and will sacrifice everything for the people he loves. “It’s a tricky role, because it’s not a buddy comedy between Owen and Jang Kyun,” Hawley says. “Somebody who will do anything for love is dangerous. … But Owen and Jang Kyun have great energy together. There’s a push and a pull, which is just sort of organic to them.”

Wondering what tensions lie ahead between Owen, Jang Kyun, and the rest of The Recruit’s crafty cast? Curious about the meaning of those acronym episode titles? Here’s your complete intelligence brief for The Recruit Season 2 — as explained by Centineo and Hawley.

What’s The Recruit Season 2 about?

In Season 2 of The Recruit, CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks is pulled into life-threatening espionage in South Korea only to realize the bigger threat just might be coming from inside the agency. 

The new season will pick up directly after Season 1’s shocking ending. “Owen’s headspace is complete chaos,” says Centineo. “He has just witnessed Max — the former CIA asset whom he almost died multiple times trying to protect — get shot by her daughter Nichka. Owen is wondering how in the hell he is going to survive the next few seconds of his life.”

The hits don’t stop from that terrifying moment. “This show lives in propulsion,” Hawley says. “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 2 — and then we just never let our foot off the gas.”

While adventure lies ahead, Hawley promises a lot of heart in Season 2. “Owen rolls into this season basically screwed,” the writer says. 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 1.

“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,” Hawley says. “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.”    

When does The Recruit Season 2 come out? 

All six episodes of The Recruit Season 2 are now streaming. 

What do the Recruit Season 2 episode titles mean? 

Each episode title for The Recruit is a reference to an especially catchy line of dialogue in the corresponding installment, written out as an acronym. Below, we decode their meanings:

“You’re not a hero, you’re a lawyer,” Owen’s boss Nyland (Vondie Curtis-Hall) says during a contentious conversation between the two. 

“You are really a condom on the dick of progress,” Owen’s colleague Janus (Kristian Bruun) memorably says, while trying to hide the truth about the graymail case. 

“How hard is it to kill a lawyer?” case officer Dawn (Angel Parker) asks after her scheme goes awry. 

“And then Nyland will have you pulled apart by horses,” says Janus, explaining the potential severity of the situation at hand.

“We’re still tinkering with the programmatics,” says Nyland when he’s… still tinkering with the programmatics.  

“I do not want to be dead inside,” Owen tells Dawn and Lester (Colton Dunn).

Who’s new to the Recruit Season 2 cast?

The Recruit’s team is getting a little bit bigger for Season 2. The new cast includes: 

• Teo Yoo (Past Lives, Love to Hate You) as Jang Kyun, a clever and driven South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) agent. Highly skilled with a subversive sense of humor, he’s willing to do anything to protect those he cares about.
• Young-Ah Kim as Grace, a savvy senior intelligence officer and single mother who’s under increasing pressure to discover what the CIA is up to in South Korea.
• Felix Solis as Tom Wallace, a senior diplomat in the State Department tasked with bringing American hostages home, and he’ll talk to anyone — even America’s worst enemies –– to get them back safe.
• James Purefoy as Oliver Bonner-Jones, a rich, charming British businessman who lives somewhere between the legal and illegal.
• Shin Do-hyun as Yoo Jin Lee, a free-spirited young woman with a childhood connection to Owen.
• Sanghee Lee as Nan Hee, a passionate and nurturing Korean aid worker with a sly sense of humor.
• Omar Maskati as Jae King, a jet-setting rich kid with a charming and affable personality.
• Brooke Smith as Marcy Potter, a seasoned and serious CIA counterespionage group officer leading a crucial investigation.
• Devika Bhise as Juno Marsh, an eager CIA counterespionage group officer whose buttoned-up persona masks a wild side.
• Alana Hawley Purvis as Amanda Fern, a stern and by-the-book CIA station chief in Seoul who’s resistant to taking any instructions from a CIA operative.

Creator Hawley and fellow EP Centineo are excited to welcome all of these potential allies and foes into Owen’s world — particularly with the addition of real-life martial artist Yoo. “He’s just an incredibly talented actor who brought great humanity to the role. He is also a badass,” Hawley says.

“He is such a strong antagonist and is extremely propulsive. Our Season 2 story arc is totally dominated by his performances and intensity,” Centineo adds. “We became friends quickly, and our work was always a collaborative and fulfilling process. Teo radiates positive energy and brightens the screen in every frame you watch. I can’t wait for the world to see him in our show.”

Which cast members are returning from The Recruit Season 1?

The returning cast 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

Can I see some photos of The Recruit Season 2?

You don’t need to graymail us for these photos. The images offer a glimpse of Season 2’s rollicking action, as we check in with Owen, Lester, Violet, and CIA leadership — even “walking ‘fuck you’ ” Nichka. 

Hawley says Max’s daughter will be very different from her “political” mother. “Nichka is much more of a blunt instrument. She is very id, very much about ‘I want what’s mine, and that’s about it,’” he says. In fact, Nichka might prove to have a lot in common with Owen.   

“Nichka is also a bit of a ‘jump in the deep end and see what happens’ person,” Hawley says. “It’s actually more dangerous for Owen to be up against somebody who is like him, because Nichka is not necessarily trying to manipulate him. She’s just trying to win.” 

The Recruit Season 2 Featurette

Can I watch any videos of The Recruit Season 2? 

Spy meets Seoul in the trailer, which introduces viewers to Owen and Jang Kyun’s complicated relationship. You’ll also get a hint at what’s ahead for Owen’s colleagues, like Lester, Janus, and Amelia, along with his bosses, Walter and Alton — and even the mysterious British businessman Oliver Bonner-Jones (James Purefoy).  

In the featurette above, we get a look at Yoo and Centineo doing their own stunts. “Doing stunts is like a a dance,” Yoo says in the clip. “You put your emotionality into it to raise the stakes.” The rest of the video shows all the hard hits ahead for the duo, from brutal fights to desperate action sequences, and even a motorcycle chase. “Owen’s pretty much physically destroyed by the end of this,” Centineo says in the clip, laughing. Watch the full video to go behind the scenes of The Recruit Season 2. 

Where was The Recruit Season 2 filmed?

The Recruit Season 2 was shot in Vancouver, Canada, and Seoul, South Korea.

The team spent about a month in Korea, and Hawley is pleased with the “authenticity” of shooting abroad. “You can’t fake being on the streets in Seoul,” Hawley says. “The city is a character in the show, and it was very important to us that we got it right.”

Centineo agrees that the new Korea setting “elevates” Season 2. It also might reveal some hidden secrets from Owen’s past. “Korea carries a heavy weight for him but also brings back sweet core memories from his childhood,” Centineo reveals. As Owen deals with “personal dissonance,” he also finds himself in a new sticky web of intelligence in-fighting. “So you have fertile ground for all the vicious and life-threatening fun Owen loves to find himself in the middle of.” 

Who is behind The Recruit Season 2? 

While Hawley created and executive produces The Recruit, it was actually Centineo who first brought the script to Netflix and helped develop the story. Centineo is not only the series’ star but also an executive producer. 

“When Noah and I hooked up for this show, I knew he was super talented — but I didn’t know how talented,” Hawley says. “There’s a lot of nimbleness required to be funny and play pathos and then fall on your butt but also be a hero –– all within a very short amount of time. And he just gets it.” 

Doug Liman, Gene Klein, David Bartis, Adam Ciralsky, Charlie Ebersol, and Julian Holmes also executive produce. 

Press play on The Recruit Season 2 now. And, for more Owen Hendricks, keep coming back to Tudum for all your breaking intelligence updates.

Additional reporting by Tara Bitran.  

Go on Set of The Recruit with Noah CentineoA behind-the-scenes look into the filming of the new series.