The Recruit season 2 on Netflix is finally back after a two-year break between seasons. You have to hand it to Alexi Hawley and the writers. They do not mess around at all when jumping into the action in The Recruit season 2 episode 1, “Y.N.A.H.Y.A.L.”
Remember, at the end of season 1, Max (Laura Haddock) was shot by Karolina, also known as Marta, also known as Nichka (Maddie Hasson). We don’t know if Max is alive or dead coming out of season 1, but we find out very quickly.
Max dies in The Recruit season 2
The season begins with Nichka/Karolina beating the hell out of Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) and trying to figure out who he is and what he’s doing. He gives up the information quickly. Owen tries to warn her that she needs to keep him alive because he’s a CIA lawyer and she just shot a CIA asset, but Nichka doesn’t believe him. She leads him into a pre-dug hole at the factory, but Hannah Copeland (Fivel Stewart) calls Amelia (Kaylah Zander), who sends in a team to save Owen’s life.
The team, led by Dawn (Angel Parker), arrives just in time to save Owen. Dawn pulls a gun on Owen and tries to decide if she’s going to kill him or what he learned about her in season 1. At that point, it’s revealed that Max is dead, while Owen survived.
Hannah breaks up with Owen
After Owen is rescued in Prague, he is transported to a US military facility where Hannah is waiting for him. She threatens to move out and break up with him unless he drops out of the CIA right now.
Owen worries that he will be blamed for all the chaos if he chooses to leave the CIA now as a scapegoat, but Hannah knows that he likes this life, so she’s not about to wait around for him.
Lester (Colton Dunn) and Violet (Aarti Mann) are tasked with flipping Nichka into a CIA asset just like her mother, who she killed. The thing is that they don’t exactly have the plan to flip Nichka, but it’s clear they don’t care about that. They know that Owen is going to take the fall for the failed mission and body count eventually.
While that happens, Dawn and Owen connect in the locker room about the plan to save their butts when the CIA starts asking questions about what they’ve been up to and looking into their pasts. Nichka hears the full conversation, and she plans to use that information against them. Owen informs her that she’s about to become an asset of the CIA or she’ll be turned over to the Russians.
Owen gets rubber-roomed
A week later, Owen heads back to the CIA, and he gets chewed out by his boss, Walter Nyland (Vondie Curtis-Hall). Owen knows he’s the target of the investigation, and he’ll be fired if they find anything that they can pin on him. Nyland tells Owen that he must lay low, just sit in the office, and do nothing until the investigation is over.
Alternatively, Amelia reveals that the only way to get out of this situation is to go back in time and not mess up the mission.
No one will talk to Owen because he’s part of the criminal investigation. They fear associating with him will implicate them. Then, Owen gets a letter in the mail addressed to the person who had his office, Bill Bemus, who is dead. Owen tries to get the tech guys to look into the letter, but it triggers some RED ALERT WARNING SYSTEM LOCKDOWN and Owen is caught red-handed doing something when she should have stayed in his office doing nothing.
Owen reveals that an address in the letter points to the Paradox Hotel in Seoul, South Korea. Owen asks Nyland to send him to Seould to investigate this graymail. I don’t why they send him, but hey, we have a TV show to watch!
Nyland sends Owen and Janus (Kristian Bruun) to South Korea to investigate.
Owen and Janus go to South Korea to find the Graymailer
On the flight to South Korea, Owen is on a dating app, and he reveals that he’s looking for an old friend, Yoo Jin (Do Hyun Shin), from when he lived in South Korea with his father.
When they arrive, the South Koreans question Janus and force Owen to wait outside. While waiting, Owen meets Jang Kyu (Teo Yoo), who sneakily interrogates Owen, but Owen knows what’s up. Finally, the South Koreans let them go. On the way to the hotel, Janus and Owen are followed by Jang Kyu.
Someone left Owen a weird note in the room asking Owen to meet at a nightclub. On his way out of the hotel, Owen brings food out to Jang Kyu as a peace offering before he sneaks out. On this way, Owen makes a pit stop to see his old friend, Yoo Jin. He thanks her for “saving” him when his dad was killed while they lived in Seoul. Then, he hops in a car and leaves.
Jang Kyu is the Graymailer
As it turns out, the note asks Owen to meet at a nightclub, which he does on his own without Janus, but Jang Kyu follows him there. Owen gets into a fight while trying to evade Jang Kyu, which starts a massive brawl.
Then, Jang Kyu joins the fight on Owen’s side! And, he’s very, very good at fighting. They fight their way out into Jang Kyu’s car. Then, Jang Kyu sprays Owen in the face with something and knocks him out. As he loses consciousness, Owen realizes that Jang Kyu is the graymailer.
What does Y.N.A.H.Y.A.L. stand for?
Deciding the acronym episode titles is one of my favorite parts of The Recruit! The acronym for The Recruit season 2 episode 1 is “Y.N.A.H.Y.A.L.” As you all know by now, these acronyms are also lines of dialogue from the episode.
In this case, “Y.N.A.H.Y.A.L.” stands for “You’re not a hero. You’re a lawyer,” and that’s what Nyland tells Owen when he returns from the busted mission in Prague and while Owen is forced to wait until his fate is revealed.
And, if you need the rest of the episode title acronyms decoded, we have the full list of all the episode titles and what they mean right here!
Notes:
- In Russia, a woman working for a South Korean NGO is kidnapped by masked men while delivering food, or so she says. We don’t know what that means, but we expect it will loom large this season.
- Nichka tries to blackmail Owen again and threatens to reveal some secrets unless she gets paid.
Next up is The Recruit season 2 episode 2!