Netflix's The Recruit was very nearly called Chaos Agent. The term "agent of chaos" is frequently dropped throughout the series to describe Noah Centineo’s character, Owen.Creator/executive producer Alexi Hawley told Deadline that if the streamer had not already had a show called The Night Agent, the series would have been called Chaos Agent. Netflix figured audiences may get the two shows confused if they both ended with the word Agent.
Hawley says the repetitive use of the term "chaos agent" is no accident for the creatives behind The Recruit. “I mean, it’s a phrase I use, and it was actually one of the titles that got kicked around for Recruit way back in the day, but they had The Night Agent, and so that got torpedoed. So that wasn’t necessarily a nod to Recruit.” The Recruit was released just four months before The Night Agent on Netflix.
The Recruit followed a CIA lawyer (Noah Centineo) as he handled international tensions in Russia and, in the second season, South Korea. First streaming in 2022, the show explored convoluted international conflicts and the politics of negotiating with assets. Centineo's character frequently found himself in trouble, often misjuding the situation he was in (hence the agent of chaos nickname).
The Recruit ultimately couldn't compare to The Night Agent
The Recruit was recently canceled not long after the release of its second season. Lead actor Noah Centineo told The Hollywood Reporter that ultimately the show had not met the targets required by Netflix to keep it going. Although fans suspect the show was canceled because of the frequent comparisons to the much more popular The Night Agent.
The actor, who recently appeared in the movie Warfare, “Netflix, they have a certain mandate that they need to fill, and I’m very proud of the show, very grateful to our audience. We have a pretty strong cult following. And with Netflix, it just didn’t really fit what it was that they needed, I suppose. And so onto the next, I guess.”
The show was well-reviewed, with the second season even landing a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The series even spent three weeks in the Netflix Global top 10, peaking at No. 2. Yet this wasn’t enough to save it from Netflix’ famous cutthroat chopping block.
Fans of the show believed The Recruit may have prematurely ended because of the popularity of The Night Agent. The two shows, both spy thrillers, have frequently been compared and the series were even released within a month of each other which many fans felt was “unfair” to The Recruit.
Upon the show’s cancellation, Alexi Hawley shared a “love letter” about the show’s cancellation, revealing his hopes to wrap up the story with a movie. “In an age of shows that feel like homework, The Recruit is a blast that has stakes and humour and hardcore action which will keep you learning forward.”
Meanwhile, the third season of The Night Agent is now in production. Fans of The Recruit couldn’t help but notice just how much bigger the promotion budget was for The Night Agent. Gabriel Basso noticeably participated in a pre-recorded skydive during Christmas Gameday to promote the Netflix series.