Netflix takes a break from canceling everything — renews The Recruit for season 2

The list of Netflix canceled shows in 2023 is far, far longer than we’d like it to be at this point in the year. But there is some good news for one of Netflix’s more recent releases. Rather than being canceled after a single season,  like so many other shows, Deadline reports that The Recruit will be returning for another adventure. 

The Recruit follows rookie CIA Lawyer Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) during his first week on the job. His whole life is flipped upside down when he comes across a letter from Max Meladze (Laura Haddock), a former CIA asset that is threatening to expose the agency’s secrets if she isn’t released from prison. That obviously led to a bunch of dangerous situations, and a cliffhanger ending that saw duo captured by bad guys.

The second season order means we’ll be seeing the outcome of this unresolved plot point, and hopefully, the pair can make it out in one piece. Or, at the very least, alive.

According to Deadline, The Recruit spent five weeks on the Netflix Global Top 10 (English) and reached the top 10 charts in 88 different countries. The show also picked up 52.3 million viewing hours in its first three days on Netflix and roughly 228.26 million viewing hours in its first month. Those aren’t Wednesday-level figures, but it’s still pretty impressive.

It just goes to show that Netflix is capable of renewing shows when all the numbers align, even if they aren’t incredible international hits like Wednesday or Squid Game. Unfortunately, lots of Netflix shows you like probably aren't quite hitting whatever metrics of success the streamer has imposed. Even if they were originally supposed to get an extra season, like GLOW or Inside Job.

Netflix claims that it’s never canceled a successful show, and a bunch of cancelations happen because an expensive show only brought in a small viewing audience. Then again, the streamer has never said what level of viewership a show needs to be deemed “a success”, and at one point emphasized that hitting the Top 10 list isn’t enough to ward off the specter of cancelation. 

We don’t know how long The Recruit will last beyond season 2 right now, but show creator Alexei Hawley says he will “turn it all up to 11 in season two”. Hopefully, that will be enough to bring back the original audience, and some newcomers, and keep the show going a little while longer.

Then again, this is Netflix, and experience tells us that original shows often don't last very long regardless of initial success. Here’s hoping I’m being unnecessarily pessimistic, but it’s going to be a couple of years before we find out how justified my attitude is.