Noah Centineo (who looks like a young Mark Ruffalo) does a great job playing the lead character in this quirky series. Centineo’s role as Owen Hendricks, a rookie lawyer for the CIA who quickly gets in over his head, generates plenty of surprises and humor amid the violence.
Creator Alexi Hawley gives us a Central Intelligence Agency that is a nest of vipers ruled by Machiavellian rules. Trust no one!
As a CIA newbie, Owen is given stacks of “graymail,” written letters by people who threaten to release government secrets. Most of them are kooks, but Owen has to check them all. Sure enough, Owen finds someone who might be the real deal, a woman named Max Meladze (Laura Haddock), who is currently in an Arizona jail for murdering a truck driver. She is threatening to release secrets unless she is set free.
As Owen investigates Meladze’s claims, he’s beaten, tortured, and assaulted–much of the abuse caused by his naiveté and ignorance of spy craft. After all, Owen is a recent Law School graduate with little field training. But, Owen learns fast and as he follows the clues, larger issues emerge.
I love spy novels, spy movies, and spy series. If you’re looking for something different in the espionage realm, give The Recruit a try. GRADE: A-
This sounds interesting, but Netflix has been throwing so much new stuff out there lately that I hadn’t even noticed it. Right now the only streaming series I’m working on are the excellent PERRY MASON reboot on HBO MAX and the truly weird YELLOWJACKETS on Showtime. THE RECRUIT looks interesting enough to get on my list.
Michael, I enjoyed THE RECRUIT because it’s very different from the usually spy stuff. Owen learns the CIA operates like the Borgias and takes a lot of lumps in the process. He’s just a law school graduate who has a rugged learning curve as dangerous events spiral around him. Usually spy stories feature incredible agents like James Bond…Owen is just newbie trying to cope.
I hope he learns quicker than Peter Sutherland in THE NIGHT AGENT. For an FBI agent, all I can say is, I think he’s reached his level of competence – manning an overnight desk in the basement of the White House, waiting for a phone that almost never rings. Because the one time it does ring, he fucks it up again and again. One would think that after the team of assassins finds you for the THIRD TIME, you would have checked your car for a tracker. But NOOOOO!!!!
Jeff, Owen is a CIA rookie lawyer standing in a minefield–and not knowing the rules of the spy game. But, he is smart and learns the Hard Way at times. You and Jackie would enjoy THE RECRUIT.
If you liked Bill Fairclough’s epic spy thriller Beyond Enkription in The Burlington Files series about a rookie accountant working for Pemberton’s People in MI6 and the CIA you may like The Recruit by Alexi Hawley about a rookie CIA lawyer (Noah Centineo). The plots are quite complicated in both productions but unlike The Recruit, The Burlington Files plots and characters are real, credible and much more intriguing. However, do remember Beyond Enkription is a fact based novel about a real spy called Bill Fairclough (MI6 codename JJ) aka Edward Burlington. He was one of Pemberton’s People in MI6 and worked with real SAS Rogue Heroes and other ungentlemanly officers as explained in a news article dated 31 October 2022 available from TheBurlingtonFiles website.
Tony, thanks for the heads up on BEYOND ENKRIPTION. I’ll check it out. I did like THE RECRUIT which has been renewed for a Second Season.