The Recruit season 3 gets a candid update from series creator Alexi Hawley. Picking up after The Recruit season 1's tense cliffhanger, the recently debuted second installment of the spy thriller sees CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) take a trip to South Korea to team up with a new potential ally in Jang Kyu (played by Past Lives star Teo Yoo). Consisting of six episodes, the thriller's new season garnered largely positive reviews for its brisk pace and impressive action scenes.

In an interview with Deadline, Hawley was asked about the likelihood of a renewal for season 3. The series creator strikes an optimistic tone. He mentions that they view lead actor and executive producer Centineo as a homegrown star, likely referring to his breakout performance in To All the Boys I've Loved Before. He also mentions that decision-makers at Netflix have “a lot of goodwill” towards the show. In the quote below, Hawley talks about wanting to film a potential return abroad:

Hawley: 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 bit of 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. I have been thinking about it, in broad strokes. It would be definitely nice [to film abroad]. We were meant to do a lot more traveling in Season 1, but the pandemic, really, so Doug Liman went to shoot in Vienna, everything else was shot in Montreal and faked it. We were in Korea for about a month shooting that stuff, so it’d be great to do that again.

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.

So you’re not in the writers room working on Season 3 yet?

Hawley: No, not yet.

What Hawley's Comments Reveal About The Recruit Season 3

The Show's Performance Is Key

When the first season of The Recruit premiered in December 2022, it generated solid buzz but was one of the lesser-watched Netflix Originals to get a renewal. That was revealed in a spreadsheet, released by the streamer, which tracked all of the titles watched over six months. The new season is in a good position to perform better. At just six episodes, with a tighter focus, and released outside of the holiday timeframe, it could build up a solid run of viewership.

The latest season comes on the heels of The Night Agent, which returned strong for its second outing, so the Centineo-led spy dramedy could keep that momentum going. Given the goodwill that Hawley mentions, and the fact that Centineo's star was helped in its launch by Netflix, an improved performance could do a lot to increase the renewal chances. Viewership data will be crucial to track in the coming weeks and months, as The Recruit season 2 ends with room for more.

Our Take On The Recruit's Future

It's A Very Solid Show

Lighter in tone than The Night Agent and with a more dynamic and playful lead performance, the two political thrillers are very different. The Recruit season 3 deserves a chance at moving forward, however, with an improved return that makes great use of its protagonist and introduces a very game-ing turn from Yoo.

Source: Deadline