Netflix's series The Recruit's cast was led by Noah Centineo, whose onscreen charisma helped keep the series feeling quick and exciting.

show like Reacher or Jack Ryan. Unsurprisingly, given the positive response to the show and the potential to tell numerous other stories about Owen's time with the CIA, season 3 seemed like a real possibility, but that has all changed now.

Netflix Cancelled The Recruit Just Five Weeks After The Release Of Season 2

Season 2 Set Up Noah Going Into Other Adventures

The Recruit season 2 was released on Netflix on January 30, 2025, and the series immediately rocketed into the streamer's top 10 charts. In fact, season 2 remained in the top 10 for three weeks, but that was not enough time for The Recruit to garner the attention it needed for renewal. Netflix has now announced that the series will not return, meaning that The Recruit's season 2 ending is now the end of the show. Sadly, it seems that we will never get to know what happens next for Owen.

Before the cancellation, updates surrounding the potential for The Recruit season 3 seemed fairly positive, with the show's creator, Alexi Hawley, stating (via Deadline) that he felt "a lot of goodwill inside Netflix towards the show and towards Noah," since the actor had first become famous through the Netflix movie To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Since the show seemed to have a lot of potential to explore further stories about Noah, and Nichka and Jang Kyun in particular, the cancellation seems to be more a result of viewership than a reflection of the show's potential.

Was The Recruit Cancelled Because Of Viewership?

Despite Better Ratings, The Recruit's Viewership Had Declined

As of the time of writing this article, Netflix has yet to confirm the exact reason for The Recruit's cancellation, but based on the past decision-making of the company, viewership seems like the most likely reason. According to data from What's On Netflix, The Recruit season 2 saw significantly lower viewership than season 1. Whereas season 1 saw 7.3 million views, season 2 saw only 5.9 million.

Likewise, this difference was also visible in the number of hours watched, with the new season generating 31.8 million hours compared to season 1's 52.3 million, although season 2 is shorter. Additionally, when compared to season 1, The Recruit season 2 did not have the same jump in viewership between the first and second weeks, which indicates that new viewers were not beginning the show later after seeing its popularity.

While the series being in the top 10 was a good sign, it did not actually indicate long-term popularity, which likely contributed to its ultimate cancellation.

While the series being in the top 10 was a good sign, it did not actually indicate long-term popularity, which likely contributed to its ultimate cancellation. However, it is still worth mentioning that season 2 actually fared much better with critics, garnering a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes compared to season 1's 68%.

What The Recruit's Cast & Crew Have Said About The Cancellation

Several People Involved In The Series Have Already Expressed Disappointment

Immediately following the news of The Recruit's cancellation, the series' cast and crew have already begun to speak about it. Colton Dunn, who starred as Lester in the series, posted on Threads to share the news with his followers, stating that it was "such a bummer" to see the cancellation come so close after the premiere of season 2 and promising to share pictures from behind the scenes. Likewise, Alexi Hawley took to Instagram to share his thoughts.

Hawley's lengthy message, in particular, is very touching as the creator expressed his love for the project and everyone who worked on it. He outlines how special it was for all the circumstances to align to make a show happen and that The Recruit was the culmination of the hard work of so many individuals. It seems likely that more cast and crew of the series will speak about it in the coming days, but, sadly, their positive memories seem to be the last time that audiences will get to hear about The Recruit.

Sources: Deadline, What's On Netflix, Threads, Instagram