The Recruit Season 2’s 10 Biggest Unanswered Questions

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Recruit season 2.

Netflix's CIA action drama The Recruit season 2 leaves many unanswered questions and head-scratching moments by the end of its 6-episode run. While the cast of The Recruit season 2 features many familiar faces, led by Noah Centineo's CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks, the series returns to narratively similar places as season 1. With a shortened second season compared to the 8-episode season 1, The Recruit season 2 has less time to answer some of season 1's lingering questions while simultaneously pushing the story forward with new additions like Teo Yoo's Jang Kyun and Shin Do-Hyun's Yoo Jin Lee.

By the end of The Recruit season 2, Owen and Jang Kyun barely make it out alive after successfully rescuing Jang Kyun's wife, Nan Hee, who was kidnapped by a Yakuza clan operating in Eastern Russia. With FGB agents and Russian Coast Guard officials in hot pursuit, Yoo Jin arrives in the nick of time on her father's boat to get Owen, Jang Kyun, and Nan Hee back to safety. Remarkably, a massive U.S. Navy submarine emerges and scares off the Russian pursuers, creating a happy ending for Owen and Jang Kyun who, against all odds, complete their objective.

10 What Happened To Max’s Body (Is She Really Dead)?

There's A Slight Possibility That Max Is Still Alive

The biggest question following The Recruit season 1 finale was whether Max was killed by her daughter, Nichka a.k.a. Karolina. While all signs point to Max getting shot and killed, she is not seen and hardly ever discussed throughout the entirety of The Recruit season 2. Nichka doesn't show an ounce of sorrow or explain her true motive for shooting Max, while Owen moves on quite quickly from his budding romance with Max with his childhood friend, Yoo Jin.

Because Max feels so abruptly deleted from The Recruit following season 1's cliffhanger, there's actually the slightest possibility that she is still secretly alive. Nichka shot Max once on the right side of her chest. While the bullet appears to instantly kill Max, The Recruit season 2 never reveals what happened to Max's body. Max's absence was certainly felt throughout season 2 and the fact that her death wasn't undoubtedly confirmed opens the door to her shocking return in The Recruit season 3.

9 What Will The FSB Do With Nichka Now?

Nichka's Plan Falls Apart & Her Future Looks Grim

After getting turned into a CIA asset at the beginning of The Recruit season 2, Nichka gets thrown back into the field as a double agent. True to her mysterious character, Nichka ends up betraying Owen in the final moments of The Recruit season 2, revealing she cut a better deal to hand him and Jang Kyun over to the FSB for a massive payday and a promotion.

Unfortunately for Nichka, her plan falls apart after Owen saves Jang Kyun and Nan Hee, which greatly upsets her FSB superior. Nichka will likely be punished in some capacity by the FSB. Owen and the CIA have no reason whatsoever to help Nichka at this point after she bit the hand that fed her. The CIA could have held Nichka prisoner but trusted her to provide intel. They even paid her handsomely for her work. Nichka's future looks more dire than ever, so much so that she may not return in season 3.

8 Are Owen & Yoo Jin A Serious Couple?

It Appears They're Official At The End Of Season 2

In just 14 episodes, Owen has formed a handful of love interests in The Recruit. From Hannah to Amelia to Max and now Yoo Jin, there's no knowing for sure how long Owen and his apparent new girlfriend will last or if their relationship will continue in season 3. All signs point to Yoo Jin and Owen becoming official at the end of The Recruit season 2.

With both Hannah & Yoo Jin saving him in season 2, Owen's heart could be pulled in opposite directions.

Given how the show is structured, Owen could have at least one other potential love interest next season, especially given the distance between Yoo Jin in Korea and Owen in Washington D.C. With Hannah saving Owen at the beginning of the season and Yoo Jin rescuing him and helping him complete his mission at the season's end, Owen's heart could be pulled in opposite directions.

7 Will Hannah & Owen Ever Be Friends Again?

Owen May Have Pushed Hannah Too Far This Time

Owen and Hannah talking on an airport tarmac in The Recruit season 2

Hannah and Owen represent the classic "will they, won't they" dynamic found in countless television shows. Despite Owen's best intentions, his earnestness and recklessness cross too many boundaries for the poised and professional Hannah. While opposite in this way, Owen appears to be pulling Hannah too far, which greatly affects her personal sense of balance and gravity in their relationship.

Hannah clearly cares for Owen and knows she can rely on him. She knew Owen would enable his CIA resources to rescue her from being held captive by the two-faced Jae. Still, Owen's new lifestyle at the CIA has put Hannah at risk in terrifying ways. Hannah moves out of their apartment to begin their formal separation process, which just may be extended in season 3 as shutting Owen out completely because of the risks he inevitably presents.

6 Will Jang Kyun Become A CIA Double Agent?

Owen Tries To Recruit Him In Season 2's Final Scene

Noah Centineo and Teo Yoo in The Recruit season 2

The final scene of The Recruit season 2 suggests that Owen tries to recruit Jang Kyun to officially join the CIA after saving him and Nan Hee. If Owen hadn't rescued them, Jang Kyun and his wife would have been tortured, held prisoner, and eventually killed by Russian intelligence. Owen was trying to build trust with the heavily guarded Jang Kyun throughout season 2, but saving him and his wife should create a powerful bond that could inspire Jang Kyun to join Owen's team.

Jang Kyun's NIS superior, Grace Cho, would certainly not like the idea of him switching sides and joining the CIA. Jang Kyun would have to be a double agent, which means he would have to betray his country, something that he wouldn't want to do and that Owen likely wouldn't ask of him. Rather than deceiving Grace and the NIS, Jang Kyun could work out an honorable diplomatic relationship that wouldn't force him to defect.

5 What Deal Did Violet Make With Grace To Have Janus Released?

A composite image of Owen looking on in front of Owen and Amelia looking around a corner in The Recruit

Violet and Grace meet at the NIS headquarters in South Korea to discuss the release of CIA attorney Janus, who was dramatically arrested. Grace doesn't believe that Janus and Owen are actually lawyers, while Violet reveals that the CIA found out about Jae King, Hannah's "boyfriend" who is really an undercover NIA agent sent to spy on Owen.

Grace and Violet seem to work out a deal that would involve "pinning everything on Owen".

Grace and Violet seem to work out a deal that would involve "pinning everything on Owen", an objective that Violet has been oddly and aggressively trying to accomplish since season 1. The specifics of whatever deal they came to aren't revealed but Janus is ultimately released and banned from Korea at the end of The Recruit season 2.

4 What Happened To Dawn’s Partner Dodge After Her Death?

He Was Knocked Unconscious After Trying To Kill Lester

Dodge is an important sidekick to Dawn's various schemes throughout both seasons of The Recruit. Now that Dawn is dead, having been killed by Nichka in a brutal knife-fight scene, Dodge seems to have no friends left at the CIA. He is moments away from killing Lester in the season 2 finale, claiming to be "following his boss's orders", when Yoo Jin ruddenly strikes him with a fire extinguisher, knocking him unconscious.

With Dawn dead, there's not much of a reason for Dodge to return in season 3, considering he is now exposed as a threat within his own agency.

While the blow didn't appear to kill Dodge, his future doesn't look very bright at the CIA after trying to kill one of his own. His allegiance to Dawn is never completely discussed but is most likley about money since Dawn has been stealing millions from the CIA for years. With Dawn dead, there's not much of a reason for Dodge to return in season 3, considering he is now exposed as a threat within his own agency. He could face an offscreen criminal trial and serve prison time.

3 What Will The CIA Do With Jae?

He Could Go To Prison & Be Monitored His Entire Life

Nathan Fillion as CIA director In The Recruit season 2

Jae was put in a compromising situation by Grace and the NIS, which is why he was spying on Owen and lying to Hannah. Jae's manipulation makes him an irrefutable villain in The Recruit season 2 who ends up revealing his secrets to the CIA without much interrogation needed. As a spy working for an international interest group such as the NIS, Jae could be tried and face jail time in the United States.

It's hard to find sympathy for Jae when he's playing with fire at the CIA, assaulting and falsely imprisoning Hannah in the process. Since he is quite wealthy, he could somehow avoid jail time. Still, in any case, he will surely be monitored by the CIA for the rest of his life. Not only that, but he lost any and all hope of a relationship with Hannah, despite his claims that his feelings were real and not part of his cover.

2 How Did The U.S. Navy Know To Rescue Owen?

Nyland Could Have Called In A Favor Behind-The-Scenes

Although the surprise rescue from the U.S. Navy was a thrilling twist at the end of The Recruit season 2, it remains unclear how the Navy knew to intervene. One possibility is that Walter Nyland could have made the call after walking out on CIA Director West, who authorized Dawn to assassinate Jang Kyun. Nyland exited the room as a display of his disapproval of West's decision and is not seen for the rest of the season.

If anyone called in a favor to the U.S. Navy, Nyland seems like the most likely option. Alternatively, the Naval submarine could have just detected the boat race on their radar and decided to investigate. Still, revealing the location of a U.S. submarine just outside of Russia to save a CIA lawyer, an NIS operative who the CIA wanted dead, and two Korean civilians is not something that would ever happen in reality.

1 Will Owen Become A Legitimate CIA Operative?

He's Gained Even More Field Experience In Season 2

Owen is still technically a CIA lawyer by the end of The Recruit season 2 even though he has years worth of field experience during the first two seasons, which only span a couple of months. Owen is now primed more than ever to fully transition from a behind-the-desk lawyer to being a formally trained CIA operative. With Dawn's death and the likely removal of Dodge from the CIA, Owen is a natural candidate to officially take the field, potentially with Jang Kyun by his side.

Now that Owen has proved himself in the field multiple times, it may be time for the CIA to finally give him some proper field agent training.

Even if Owen remains a CIA lawyer in The Recruit season 3, he is bound to find himself in another "graymailing" situation based on seasons 1 and 2. He met some powerful field agents in the middle of season 2, Oliver Bonner Jones and Tom Wallace, on his unexpected trip to meet the Taliban. Now that Owen has proved himself in the field multiple times, saving an important asset such as Jang Kyun, it may be time for the CIA to finally give him some proper field agent training in The Recruit season 3.