Netflix’s hit spy thriller The Recruit wrapped up its second season with an action-packed and emotional finale. Noah Centineo’s character, Owen Hendricks, successfully completes yet another dangerous mission—one that tests his limits like never before.
The Recruit season 2, ending explained
This time, Owen teams up with NIS agent Jang Kyun (played by Teo Yoo), the shadowy blackmailer from season one, along with his no-nonsense colleague Lester (Colton Dunn) and his love interest Yoo Jin (Shin Do-hyun). Their objective? A high-stakes rescue mission in Vladivostok, a perilous Russian town crawling with intelligence agents. Jang’s pregnant wife, Nan Hee, has been kidnapped by Russian operatives, and getting her out alive won’t be easy.
Owen steps into full-on action hero mode, proving once again why he’s the CIA’s rising star. From leaping off a yacht to eliminating an armed soldier on a houseboat and narrowly surviving a chaotic shootout, he pulls off the impossible to save Nan Hee.
But just when it seems like the dust has settled, Jang and his wife face a difficult choice. Owen presents two options: they can fake their deaths and start over in a new life, or Jang can return to South Korea, where he would face charges of treason.
Jang ultimately chooses freedom, but there’s a catch—before the CIA grants him a fresh start, he must turn over every classified secret he knows about South Korean intelligence. What initially seems like cold, calculated espionage is actually a complex exchange. As Noah Centineo explained in an interview with Tudum, Owen isn’t simply manipulating Jang—he’s offering him a way out in return for valuable intelligence.
By the end of the season, Owen has officially stepped into the role of a recruiter, and Jang Kyun gets his second chance. But Owen’s journey is far from over. Show creator Alexi Hawley has hinted that his next challenge won’t be surviving deadly missions—it’ll be dealing with the consequences of being seen as a hero. “Will that make him more reckless?” Hawley teased.
One thing’s for sure: The Recruit isn’t done with Owen Hendricks yet. Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.