The Recruit Netflix

Netflix's new spy-adjacent show starring Internet boyfriend Noah Centineo feels decidedly familiar.

One just wishes there was more to this spy drama than cheap thrills wrapped around a pretty boy who keeps failing upward (and into the wrong hands, over and over again). (Oh, did we forget to mention that subplot involving a torture robot?) As the season careens into a wintry high-stakes final mission for Owen and Max, the show’s spidery plot culminates in a well-worn kind of standoff where Centineo is forced to deliver lines like, “You’re a prisoner of this incessant need to survive” with a straight face. Maybe even stuff like [The Blacklist](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/the-blacklist) and [Covert Affairs](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/covert-affairs). All of which, of course, require him to jet set all over and continually demand he be paranoid of every new person he meets. Owen Hendricks (Centineo) is the new kid at the CIA. And the likes of [Chuck](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/chuck) and Nikita. That is, until, in true spy-caper form, the plot continues to get more and more complicated, even as its set pieces and action sequences become easily spotted a mile away. Such a trope of a guy needing to bend the rules to get shit done is so overdone it’s almost laughable when presented so earnestly. The rookie, of course, dives headfirst into Max’s case. In algorithm-speak, if you enjoyed shows like those, you’re likely to find something to love about Centineo’s first stab at becoming a Gen Z action hero. You’d see [Alias](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/alias) there, of course.

Colton Dunn, Laura Haddock, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Kristian Bruun and Aarti Mann also star in a series created by The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley.

We’re looking forward, though, to seeing more of Bruun as the extraordinarily paranoid Ferber (more on that in a second). Centineo has gotten past his YA heartthrob image from Netflix romcom films and plays Hendricks as a guy who might not always fit the mold of a tough CIA operative, but he always seems to be in the right place at the right time, even if his methods are clumsy at best and dangerous at worst. So it’s not a surprise that Alexi Hawley, who is a writer/showrunner for The Rookie and The Rookie: Feds is the creator of The Recruit. Hendricks is a lawyer, not a spy, but it seems that this series is going to be full of situations where this rookie with no experience either stumbles upon or actually digs up big and dangerous situations that he ends up insinuating himself into. All that being said, Centineo is credible as an enthusiastic rookie who seems to thrive on constantly being in over his head, and he has a good asset/foe in Haddock as Melazde. It’s not a stretch to say that the comedy-thriller vibe of The Recruit reminds us of a network series like The Rookie but with more swearing. When Hendricks decides he should go to Yemen to find Meladze’s former operative himself, the pair don’t give him any advice other than to “fly coach.” That gets him in trouble — and loses him a fingernail — when he goes unannounced to the black site where the operative is stationed, without a passport that would grant him diplomatic immunity. But the operative eventually tells him more about Melazde, and he goes to Arizona to talk to her. When he reports it to Nyland, he tells Hendricks to continue and gives Lester and Violet the crazies file back. Alexi Hawley, the showrunner of both The Rookie and [The Rookie: Feds](https://decider.com/show/the-rookie-feds/) has created a new series that centers around a new CIA lawyer who wastes no time in getting embroiled in some of the agency’s touchiest operations. But he manages to get away, and lets Melazde know that she needs him more than she’s letting on. Meanwhile, behind a truck, a guy is peeing in the snow and singing “Trouble.”

This weekend you deserve to take a break from life and enjoy some amazing Netflix Shows. The streamer is ripe with great titles like Harry & Meghan.

[ The Recruit](https://netflixlife.com/2022/12/16/netflix-the-recruit-episode-titles-acronyms-meaning/) is now available to stream. [ Last Chance U: ](https://www.netflix.com/search?q=last%20chance&jbv=81046613)Basketball will focus on East Los Angeles College (ELAC) and give viewers a glimpse into the world of college basketball. A spinoff of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, this series follows Lauren Conrad as she moves to Los Angeles to pursue a career in fashion. The hoax began in 1992 and would carry on for 12 long years, with 70 occurrences being reported. Historians will also speak about the current state of the British Commonwealth and the royal family. The series consists of six episodes and will take viewers from the early days of their romance to the challenges faced due to their standing in society, which led them to back away from royal life.

Noah Centineo leads the cast of Netflix action comedy-drama The Recruit, playing a CIA lawyer who is unexpectedly drawn into a dangerous mission.

What else has Colton Dunn been in? What else has Aarti Mann been in? [subscribe now](http://radiotimes.com/magazine-subscription?utm_term=evergreen-article). Most recently, she has appeared in [Downton Abbey: A New Era](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/downton-abbey-new-era-review/). Who is Janus Ferber? Who is Hannah Copeland? He has eyed a shift to more action-oriented roles with 2019's Charlie's Angels and this year's DC Comics blockbuster [Black Adam](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/black-adam-dystopian-comment/), where he played goofy superhero Atom Smasher. Meanwhile, she also plays Star-Lord's mother, Meredith Quill, in the [Guardians of the Galaxy](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-release-date/) films and had a key role in 2017's Transformers: The Last Knight. Max is a former asset of the CIA who has since turned on the organisation for reasons unknown. Who is Max Meladze? Who is Owen Hendricks? Will this trial by fire produce a hardened operative or will he crack in his first days on the job?

How are all the Netflix pretty boys doing? Jacob Elordi made a clean jump from Kissing Booth to HBO prestige, and is now working with such big-name film ...

A couple off-hand jabs at the agency’s tendency to destabilise nation states doesn’t get around from the fact that we’ve taken the cool, witty swagger that’s usually reserved for law shows and put it in a bureaucratic institution who uses its power to act in increasingly horrible ways—and while it’s not impossible to make a comedy about the oceans of paperwork and insecure agents that get field work done, putting a hot smirk on it feels a little manipulative. Spy-action pro Doug Liman (Mr & Mrs Smith, The Bourne Identity, American Made) directs a handful of episodes, and his shaky-cam dynamism contributes to the jagged, frenetic unease Owen experiences, as well as crafting really slick and impactful action sequences. A clunky first episode drags Owen into deep waters with Max (Laura Haddock), a former asset now locked up in Phoenix, and the ins-and-outs of evading assassins and looming subpoenas snowball into episodes where every conceivable angle of attack on Owen manifests, generating confusion at regarding story momentum and character motivations. Thankfully, The Recruit plays a lot more to Centineo’s charismatic and comedic strengths, adding more flair, drama and—deep breath—sex to his Netflix portfolio. He’s charming, quick-witted, and instantly in over his head, especially when he gets involved with a former agent (or, asset) who wants to reveal devastating state secrets (or, graymail). The break-out heartthrob of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before starred in four subsequent teen rom coms for the streaming giant, and after putting in hard time for about five years, he has been rewarded with…

Noah Centineo pivots from high school hunk to rookie CIA lawyer in "The Recruit" -- and he's woefully miscast in this misguided, wannabe spy thriller.

There’s not a lot of coherence to why certain events are happening, with the car chases and guns seemingly added because they’re part of the spy-thriller scenario. Centineo seems eager to graduate from high school roles without first putting in the work. Still, he plays the Owen with the same Golden-Retriever energy that he used to play a high school jock. The show’s plot is essentially, “hapless new guy bumbles his way through the CIA.” It’s hard to pin down tonally, since that sounds like a slapstick comedy, and it does have humorous moments. The plot gets convoluted as Owen runs around from locations ranging from Yemen to Phoenix, but it moves at a brisk pace. It’s awkward that he hasn’t changed his style to adjust to an older character or a shift in genre.

With all respect to the actual pencil pushers and desk jockeys at Langley, I'm sure that working at the CIA isn't inherently the Jack Ryan, Jason Bourne, ...

Centineo is curiously still figuring out his groove as an actor, and this project might get him more exposure on the Netflix homepage. Centineo rides this series for how it lets Owen be quick-witted at some points and woefully naive in other places (whatever the current scene needs). But "The Recruit" is far too amused with its wordiness in sharing the stuff that happens between cubicles at Langley, and it kills what little momentum the series gathers. There are fleeting moments of mildly rendered action, accompanied by peppy music, in which his lack of physical training leads to some improvisation the script uses lazy shortcuts for (at one point, he unscrews a toilet to escape from a bathroom in the fastest way one could do that, ever). As part of his hazing, Owen is given stacks of "graymail," written letters by people who threaten to release government secrets. Of course, someone has to do the paperwork and the bureaucratic acrobatics to protect assets, vet threats, and the like.

The Recruit is about Owen Hendricks, a 24-year-old lawyer who is recruited to the CIA fresh out of law school. He encounters a blackmail letter from a former ...

He's a (sort of) spy now! Just kidding, he will always be the internet's boyfriend. Here are some of his (and Noah Centineo's) best moments from Season 1: