Season 2 of The Recruit, which rolled out on Netflix on 30 January, features new and more dangerous threats for our protagonist. This time, Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) receives a graymail from an NIS agent in South Korea. Its far-reaching implications place him and the CIA against some hefty global challenges. As conspiracies and action unfold, our The Recruit season 2 ending explained piece will help decipher what happens in the show’s finale.
Created by Alexi Hawley, the new season sees CIA lawyer Owen resolute to help Korean agent Jang Kyun (played by Teo Yoo) save his wife Nan Hee (played by Lee Sang-hee) from Russian clutches. He must brave all the odds in Seoul to find redemption after all the wrongdoings in the previous Max Meladze operation.
What happens in The Recruit season 2
The Recruit season 2 opens with Nichka (played by Maddie Hasson) being vetted for the CIA. She gets reinstated as an asset in Russia. After all the chaos of season 1, Owen manages to get back to his office, but things take a wild turn when he receives a cryptic letter with Korean diagraphs addressed to his predecessor. Opening it means unlocking a Pandora’s box, unleashing a pandemonium of global conspiracy across Seoul and Russia. But who sent it?
When Nan Hee gets abducted by the Russians, Jang Kyung is desperate to save her covertly, without letting the NIS and his boss Deputy Director Grace Cho (played by Kim Young-ah) realise he might be compromised. So he sends a graymail to the CIA to seek their help as their diplomatic relations ensure cooperation.
Turns out, things are even wilder than they seem. CIA Director Alton West (played by Nathan Fillion) gets involved as there is a power struggle between the former Moscow station chief and Max Meladze’s handler Dawn Gilbane (played by Angel Parker) and lawyer Lester Kitchens (played by Colton Dunn) who wishes to take the position.
The General Counsel Walter Nyalnd (played by Vondie Curtis-Hall) sends Owen, Lester and volatile lawyer Janus Ferber (played by Kristian Bruun) to Seoul to dig up more intel. At the Korean capital, Owen seeks help from his former flame Yoo Jin-lee (played by Shin Do-Hyun) to fight the Russian Coast Guard and locate Nan Hee with the help of Nichka.
But, he must complete the love story as a means to atone for all the people he has hurt and all the wrong decisions he has made. Lester might tell him that he is “a 100 per cent bad guy” but Owen devises a plan to reach the finish line on the right terms.
So what happens in the end and who are left alive? The Recruit season 2 ending explained piece clarifies your doubts.
The Recruit season 2 ending explained: Does Owen save Jang Kyun’s wife?
Owen Hendricks and Dawn Gilbane enter a truce
You read that right. Despite their troubled past over the Max Meladze operation in season, time and situation turn them into temporary allies.
Owen, Jang Kyun, Lester, Dawn and her sketchy friend Dodge (played by Jesse Collin) along with Yoo Jin-lee finally make their way to Russia aboard the latter’s father’s boat to rescue Nan Hee from the ferocious Yakuza clan. Owen banks on Nichka to be his backup on the ground, but she’s been a dicey asset from the very beginning.
At first, Nichka provides Owen and Jang Kyun with reliable intel that Nan Hee is alive and even arranges a meeting between the two parties to buy her release. But Owen runs out of cash to pay for her release. They still make the deal and agree on a meeting.
Posing as hostage negotiators, Owen and Jang Kyun meet with the Yakuza chief, who brings Nichka and Nan Hee to their boat. The CIA lawyer and Jang Kyun devise a plan to have Dawn and her team of operatives ambush the gathering before the Yakuza gang gets a chance to count their cash.
But when has the Netflix show‘s storyline gone without last-minute mishaps? Just when Owen is expecting Dawn to arrive, a Russian Coast Guard patrol boat pulls up and Dawn’s team is forced to abort the mission. Unable to carry out a covert mission, Dawn stays put, and Owen, Jang Kyun and Nan are left to fend for themselves. Owen manages an initial escape, albeit into Nichka’s hands, but an injured Jang Kyun and Nan Hee are taken in.
At Yoon Ji-lee’s boat, Lester and Dawn speak to CIA Director Alton West who orders them to kill Jang Kyun and return to the USA as soon as possible. While Lester says it is impossible as Owen is not with them, Dawn readily agrees to the plan to kill Owen and the Koreans, in exchange for her Moscow station chief status and all “sins forgotten”.
Owen becomes a scapegoat for the CIA and Nichka
Determined to save Nan Hee and Jang Kyun from all the perils, Owen decides to remain in Russia against Lester’s orders. This compels Lester to ask Nichka to retrieve him. Little does he know that Nichka has already been hired as a double agent by the Russians. It is revealed that she had promised her Russian mob bosses a CIA agent (implying Owen).
Nichka finds Owen and pulls a gun at him to take him hostage. But he manages to knock her out and stuff her in the trunk of her car.
Meanwhile, back in Langley, Aton CIA official asks Amelia Salazar (played by Kaylah Zander) to put Owen and Lester off the paper. Hence, if things go sideways, the agency will have nothing to do with it and can easily declare them rogue.
Dawn decides to kill Owen
We can’t skip discussing this essential plot point in our The Recruit season 2 ending explained piece.
The CIA orders Dawn to kill Jang Kyun before the Russians can break him during interrogation, but, with all the leverage, she hatches her own plans. All the characters assemble at the local airfield, the site where the Russians are holding Jang Kyun and Nan Hee. In an attempt to flee from Nichka and find the couple, Owen, too, stumbles upon the airfield, and ends up meeting them in time.
However, unknown to him, Dawn takes position with a snipper riffle to shoot him in the head. The plan is foiled when Nichka arrives to take revenge on Owen herself. Nichka kills Dawn and their fight allows Owen, Jang Kyun and Nan Hee to escape into the sea.
Who is left alive at the end of The Recruit season 2?
The Recruit season 2 ending explained piece must mention the finishing touch by Yoo Jin-lee. She manages to knock out Lester and take control of her boat to rescue Owen and the Koreans. The trio board Yoo Jin’s boat as they narrowly escape certain death by the Russian coast guard when an American submarine suddenly emerges from the sea.
The Recruit season 2 ends with Owen giving Jang Kyun two options — the CIA could either tell the world he and Nan Hee died in Russia which will allow the couple to flee to America and start a new life together. Or he sends Jang Kyun back to Korea, where he will be tried for treason. He prefers the first, implying the CIA would recruit Jang Kyun as an asset.
Owen, too, looks forward to his life ahead and back in Langley where he needs to tie up some loose ends, implying more adventures await him.
Watch The Recruit here
(Hero and featured image: Courtesy The Recruit/ Netflix Tudum)
Frequently Asked Questions
‘The Recruit’ season 2 arrived on 30 January 2025 on Netflix.
‘The Recruit’ season 2 has six episodes.
‘The Recruit’ season 2 is available on Netflix.
Max Meladze’s daughter becomes a valuable asset in Russia for the CIA in ‘The Recruit’ season 2.
Tags
Written by
Trinetra is an ardent foodie and bibliophile who writes about films, travel, food and lifestyle. As a writer and literature student, slam poetry and storytelling are her go to jam. When not working, Trinetra is busy looking for her next place to visit or binge-watching Instagram videos for travel inspiration.
