Netflix is a mission that officially pulled the plug of a Noah Centineo-led spice thriller after two seasons to abort for recruiting. The news was first revealed in a candid post on the thread by Colton Dan, who played CIA Agent Leicester Kitchens.
“The recruits have been cancelled. Such a shame,” Dan wrote. “I share some photos and happy memories on IG, but I just wanted you to hear it from me. Thank you if you saw it. I’m available now! I’ll hire me for your TV story!!!”
Showrunner Alexi Holy looks back on the recruit’s journey
Series creator Alexi Holy looks back on his journey from concept to cancellation and heads to Blueski to say goodbye to his recruits. The show began with a fresh take on the spy genre. “The CIA is not sexy, it’s a secret post office” – but struggled to find a home and first landed on the USA network before Netflix gave him a second chance.
Holy believed that as an important reason for the show was made, he called Noah Centinoo “a straight movie star that elevates everything he touches.” However, the production was not easy. Season 1 was troubled by pandemic delays at one point, and the team demanded that scenes be filmed from six different episodes at once. “On paper, it must have been a disaster,” Holy admitted, but instead, “the footage had a spell.”
Season 2 was also not guaranteed. “The cliffhanger was a ball-like movement,” he pointed out, but after “fun zoom and green light,” they returned. Production moved to Vancouver, cut from eight episodes to six, and crashed into obstacles on strike. Then came Seoul. There, many of the cast and crew spent a month filming. “We knew how special we had at this point,” Holy wrote, calling the opportunity to work with local talent a privilege.
When recruiting was cancelled, Holy asked: “Are the two seasons and the film things? “Because we were all there in the throbbing.” Otherwise he said, “Man, we left it all on the field.”
For those who haven’t seen it yet, he urged: “Diving in. I swear to God that you will enjoy the ride,” and to those who made the show come true, he left a final message. I’m a good person who spent time with you. ”
A strong start, but an uncertain future
The recruit made his debut in December 2022. Owen Hendrix of Centino is a rookie CIA lawyer and soon found himself caught up in a high stakes spy. Arrived in January 2025 more than two years later, the second season was when Hendrix navigated another chaotic mission, this time taking on the Yakuza in Korea, surpassing the CIA and brokering a deal with new recruit Jang Kyun (Teo Yoo).
While he managed to win a spot on Netflix’s top 10 TV shows on his return and boasted an 83% viewer rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Recruit struggled to carve out his own identity within the streaming giant’s busy thriller lineup. Many fans pointed to the unfortunate timing of the release shortly after they released Agent for the second season of Night Agent, another spy series that dominated the charts and obscured recruits’ momentum.
“Anyone who decides to release #Thenightagents2 & #ThereCruit within one month of each other needs to fire,” an annoyed viewer posted to X.
Bittersweet farewell
Sencho, who served as executive producer on the show, spoke about the close cast and the energy he brought to Season 2 before. “It was great to be reunited with the cast on an individual level,” he said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter in February. “They are great people. We like each other, we love each other and we always end the set.” He also praised Yu’s performance, saying, “It’s just Theo came in and raised the series. It felt really, really good, and Korea is incredible. It’s a vibrant city with such a great layer in the show, new colors.”
While Netflix doesn’t provide an official reason for cancellation, industry trends suggest that a combination of performance metrics, audience retention, and budgetary considerations likely played a role.
It’s not yet known whether Netflix has decided to give fans a long-length continuation/appropriate ending, but for now it’s closed for Owen Hendrix’s time with the CIA.
