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‘The Recruit’ packs a fun punch

AP photo
Noah Centineo arrives at the world premiere of ‘The Recruit’ on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, at AMC The Grove 14 in Los Angeles.

Well hello and welcome back to the entertainment section. With the second month of 2025 already underway, let’s jump into a Netflix show you probably haven’t heard much about — “The Recruit”.

This action-packed comedy-drama follows Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo), a lawyer who works with the CIA. He has to balance his time with the agency and those he cares about in season one, but in season two he’s in full agent/spy mode with no personal life to speak of.

Let’s start with why this show is worth your time.

First, there are plenty of crazy high jinks that blend with some fun background music. It’s hard to believe Owen is able to get away from terrible circumstances no matter what takes place — well he seems to get away for the most part.

Second, despite some of the silly moments this Netflix program has to offer there are high stakes which grounds each character. Some of the main cast has to overcome trauma from their days in the force. For example, in season two Owen sees a member of the Taliban, which causes him to leave a meeting and breathe heavily. He’s able to hold his composure just enough when he’s around people, but in private he turned into a nervous wreck. He’s able to overcome this moment and move on effectively.

Third, some of the characters in “The Recruit” like Lester (Colton Dunn), Amelia (Kaylah Zander) and Hannah (Fivel Stewart) bring valuable elements to the show. Hannah is Owen’s ex-girlfriend who has some important government connections, but proves she is smart and can defend herself. Lester is the funny guy out of Owen’s group of coworkers, but he brings a lot of precious information to the forefront when Owen needs it. Amelia is no-nonsense, but will show her creative side in order to help Owen and his friends.

What’s not to like about “The Recruit”?

The absurd action scenes where it seems trained professionals can’t hit their target when shooting. Owen has way too many close calls and there are way too many times where other characters say they hate or dislike Owen. I also don’t get how a lawyer with hardly any training is able to beat up trained guards easily. I can’t help but roll my eyes when that happens.

“The Recruit” is no masterpiece, but it is something fun to watch. It has a likeable cast and some familiar faces. There is no shortage of fight scenes and you might even ask yourself, “how would I handle being apart of the CIA?”

“The Recruit” came out with season two last Thursday and season one was released in December 2022. The show was created by Alexi Hawley. He also created the show, “The Rookie,” starring Nathan Fillion.

Each episode of “The Recruit” is between 50 minutes and one hour. The show is rated TV-MA. I’ll give “The Recruit” a C+.

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Anthony Fiuza is the Sentinel sports editor.

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