The Recruit season 1 recap: All to remember before season 2 arrives

The Recruit season 1 aired on December 16, 2022, on Netflix, featuring eight episodes. The series was renewed for a second season in January 2023, and is now scheduled to release on January 30, 2025.

Created by Alexi Hawley, the spy adventure series follows the newly recruited CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) on a globe-trotting mission along with the former CIA asset, Max Meladze (Laura Haddock). The Recruit season 1 ended on a shocking cliffhanger and left many lingering questions that fans are eagerly waiting to find answers to in season 2.

The show's official logline, as per Netflix, reads:

"Recruited out of law school by the CIA, a daredevil young attorney leaps unprepared into the dangerous world of international espionage."

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Owen helps rescue Max in The Recruit season 1

Owen Hendricks as seen in The Recruit season 1 (Image via Tudum by Netflix)

During his first week working at the CIA, the recently-graduated lawyer Owen Hendricks comes across a graymail involving a former CIA asset, Max Meladze. Max is serving a prison sentence in Phoenix for killing a trucker named Salvatore Kwitny. She writes to the CIA, threatening to go public with confidential state secrets that can expose CIA's illegal activities unless she is set free.

Owen is assigned to stop Max from compromising the CIA. He visits Max in prison and promises to secure her release in exchange for her silence. However, the young lawyer finds himself getting entangled in an international political conflict in the process.

At one point in The Recruit season 1, Owen ends up taking someone's life while trying to save Max. This incident leaves a profound impact on Owen, who decides to leave the CIA and go back to living a normal life with his ex-girlfriend, Hannah.

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Who is Max Meladze in The Recruit season 1?

Laura Haddock plays Max Meladze in The Recruit season 1 (Image via Tudum by Netflix)

The Russian national, Max Meladze, is introduced as a former CIA asset, recruited to work for the organization due to her close ties with the Russian mafia. She used to supply crucial information to the American agency from Belarus. However, when her cover was blown, she was brought back to Phoenix, where she lived until she killed Salvatore in cold blood.

After securing Max's freedom, Owen informs her that the CIA wants to reinstate her as an asset in Belarus. Fearing that the CIA might kill her outside the United States, she asks for Owen's help in her mission as he is the only person she trusts not to have ulterior motives.

There are many people who do not want Max to return to Belarus, including the powerful Russian mobster Kirill. She deals with Kirill by sharing an incriminating picture of his wife, Stasia, having an affair with the senior case officer, Xander Goi. Later, Xander is killed by the Russian mafia enforcer, Nichka Lashin.

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Who is Karolina in The Recruit season 1?

Max and Owen from The Recruit season 1 (Image via Netflix)

In episode 5 of The Recruit, Max opens up to Owen about her daughter Karolina, whom she presumes to be dead. It is one of the main reasons Owen feels sympathy for her. However, in the climax of the season finale episode, Max comes face-to-face with her long-lost daughter. Karolina, who also goes by Marta and Nichka, is revealed to be a Russian spy trying to stop Max and Owen from exposing Kirill.

Karolina has been seemingly keeping tabs on Owen and Max since their arrival in Europe. However, the mother-daughter reunion turns lethal after Karolina shoots Max in the chest from close range. She turns to a stunned Owen, asking him about his connections with her mother. Whether Max dies or survives the attack is one of the most pressing questions that will be addressed in The Recruit season 2.

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Viewers can watch all episodes of The Recruit on Netflix.