Nathan Fillion’s Character Was Exactly What The Recruit Season 2 Needed
WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Recruit season 2.
The expansion of Nathan Fillion's character in The Recruit season 2 was a much-needed improvement to his limited role in The Recruit season 1. Fillion plays CIA Director Alton West in The Recruit, often appearing during emergency and crisis situations involving Noah Centineo's CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks. In The Recruit season 1, Alton West only appeared in a few scenes via remote video calls. The Recruit season 2, however, gets West more involved in the plot and has him sharing the screen with multiple CIA characters.
Best known for his celebrated television roles in Castle (2009-2016) and The Rookie (2018-2025), Fillion first appeared in The Recruit season 1 finale. The ambiguity around Nathan Fillion's character in The Recruitis cleared up in season 2, appearing in four of the six episodes of The Recruit season 2. It's no coincidence that The Recruit creator Alexi Hawley also created Fillion's hit ABC police procedural series The Rookie, which is currently in its seventh season and streaming now on Hulu.
Nathan Fillion’s CIA Director Was The Right Obstacle For Owen In Season 2
His Hard-Nosed Approach Is A Huge Contrast To Owen's Youthful Optimism
The Recruit was right to make Fillion's CIA Director Alton West another force of opposition against Owen rather than keep him as an authoritative figure on the outside looking in. Prior to The Recruit season 2, Fillion had no idea who Owen was and didn't have a big part in the unfolding action in season 1 until the very last episode. Even then, West was more of an afterthought in the overall season, raising questions about if he would even return in The Recruit season 2.
In The Recruit season 2, however, several factors in West's character were explored to make him more of a responsive and integral player throughout. West had no connection to Owen, didn’t care about him or his friends, and was ready to pull the plug on his hero mission in The Recruit season 2, making him somewhat of an antagonist.
Even though he and Owen are technically on the same side, West's priorities as CIA Director make him very different from Owen's falling upward approach.
West also authorized Dawn to assassinate Jang Kyun, revealing a ruthless dark side to his character that even Nyland could not support. Even though he and Owen are technically on the same side, West's priorities as CIA Director make him very different from Owen's falling upward approach.
Nathan Fillion Was Great In The Recruit, But He Needs More Screen Time In Season 3
Fillion Is The Biggest Star Of The Series Next To Centineo
If The Recruit season 3 happens at Netflix, Fillion's character has to have more screen time with the series' biggest star, Noah Centineo. He could be a good antagonist to Owen, even a potential graymailer, which would be a shocking twist.
Since it was never officially confirmed that Max died in The Recruit season 1, West could have something to do with her disappearance, or perhaps he will want to deal with Nichka firsthand if she returns. Considering Fillion's star power, The Recruit has to do more with his character than have him standing in a room looking at screens.
The Recruit
- Release Date
- 2022 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- Netflix
- Directors
- Doug Liman
- Writers
- Alexi Hawley, George Ghanem, Amelia Roper, Hadi Deeb, Niceole R. Levy, Maya Goldsmith
Cast
Noah CentineoOwen Hendricks
Colton DunnLester Kitchens
- Creator(s)
- Alexi Hawley
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