The Recruit season 2 episode 2, “Y.A.R.A.C.O.T.D.O.P.,” begins shortly after the end of episode 1. Finally, Owen (Noah Centineo) wakes up where he was living when his father was killed after Jang Kyun (Teo Yoo), the Graymailer, drugged him after the fight at the nightclub.
Jang Kyun reveals why he needed Owen and the CIA’s help.
Jang Kyun’s wife was kidnapped in Russia
The woman, Nan Hee (Sanghee Lee) who was kidnapped in the season premiere is Jang Kyun’s wife. He explains that his wife works for an organization that repatriates Koreans who are trapped in Russia. He learned from jopok, which means mafia in Korean, that his wife was taken, but he doesn’t know why or by whom. And, he needs the CIA’s help because if he told the NIS she’d been kidnapped, he would be pulled from the field. He can’t have that happen, and he needs Owen and the CIA’s help to get her back.
After returning to the hotel, Owen and Janus (Kristian Bruun) argue about what to do next. Janus claims he’s turning this case over to the CIA station chief in Seoul in the morning, but that doesn’t sit right with Owen. Unfortunately, there’s nothing he can do about it. He heads to the airport to fly back home.
Nyland orders Owen to find Nan Hee while Janus flips Jang Kyu
After boarding the tram to the airport terminal, Owen is attacked by an assassin and an epic flight ensues. He barely escapes and makes his flight. He calls Jang Kyun, who is briefing his supervisor about Owen and Janus, while trying to figure out why they are there. Jang Kyu doesn’t reveal much, but he makes it clear that he didn’t try to have Owen killed. It was someone else.
Obviously, Jang Kyun wants to know who, but he’ll have to try to figure it out. Jang Kyun’s supervisor instructs him to get information from Janus about what’s going on, but we all know that leads directly back to Jang Kyun,
Owen arrives back in D.C. and meets with Nyland (Vondie Curtis-Hall), while Janus calls in from Seoul. Owen is instructed to try to find Jang Kyun’s wife, Nan Hee. Janus, on the other hand, will try to flip Jang Kyun as an asset because he’s clearly read in on lots of Korean secrets and is already going behind their back, so the CIA is going to force Jang Kyun to work for them or they’ll reveal he is compromised to the South Koreans. Nyland also makes it clear that they aren’t actually going to save Jang Kyun’s wife.
Later, Jang Kyun revealed someone scrubbed the security footage from the airport, so this is a high-level organization with resources. He also reveals that he will release a US secret in 30 hours if Owen doesn’t find Nan Hee.
Meanwhile, CEG tries to meet with Owen about its investigation, but Owen gives them an excuse. Remember, he’s trying to save the day. Then, Owen crosses paths with his ex-lover, Hannah.
Hannah meets a new man, Jae, played by Omar Maskati
Back in Washington D.C., Hannah (Fivel Stewart) goes to lunch with her mother’s assistant, who reads a letter from Hannah’s mother. Effectively, she tries to cut Hannah off, but Hannah uses her mom’s tab to pay for all of the lunches in the restaurant.
One of the young men, Jae (Omar Maskati) approaches Hannah randomly to dine with her. He’s quite charming and claims he’s into trying to secure contracts for his father’s company, which does tech deals in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Interesting, but I don’t trust this dude.
Owen makes a deal with Nichka to find Nan Hee
Owen visits the various powers that be with intel on Russia. He’s trying to find Nan Hee, but they can’t help. In fact, they laugh in his face when he reveals he’s trying to find someone missing in Russia within 24 hours.
It seems like Owen is running out of options from afar. I have a feeling he’s headed back to Seoul soon.
In Seoul, Janus meets with Jang Kyu and tries to flip him into a CIA asset, but Jang Kyun is there to flip Janus into an NIS asset. They each need each other. How lovely! Jang Kyun is more than ready to play ball. He starts spilling secrets about Grace (Young-Ah Kim), his boss, and they make a deal to continue working together. Janus “asks” for $50,000 and VIP access when he returns to Seoul.
Back in Poland, Lester (Colton Dunn) and Violet (Aarti Mann) are living in a small apartment together, trying to flip Nichka into other CIA assets. Owen calls and asks if Nichka (Maddie Hasson) can help, but Lester demands that he be given Dawn’s assets in return for helping Owen. While trying to convince Lester to provide Nichka with a mission to find Nan Hee, Owen is forced to hide from CEG and the FBI as they try to bring him in for questioning.
Lester meets with Nichka and gives her the mission to find Nan Hee, but she’s not happy. She calls Owen and threatens to reveal his secrets unless she gets $100,000 for this mission. I don’t even know if Owen can promise that cast, but he does anyway. This is a dire situation, obviously.
Nichka goes into action immediately. She kills several members of the Russian mafia looking for information on Nan Hee, which she obtains.
Meanwhile, Owen meets with the head of SPEHA, Tom Wallace (Felix Solis) on a private jet and explains the situation. Unfortunately for Owen, the plane, which is headed to a location so () can have conversations with the Taliban, takes off with Owen on board. On the bright side, there are connections to Russia, which will be present for the meeting, so it’s not a total loss for Owen.
What does Y.A.R.A.C.O.T.D.O.P. stand for?
We all know fans like to find out what the episode title acronyms stand for. If that’s you, we have you covered for The Recruit season 2 episode 2 (and all the other season 2 episodes!)
Spoiler alert! This one is more vulgar than many others.
“Y.A.R.A.C.O.T.D.O.P.” stands for “You are really a condom on the d*ck of progress." Janus actually says that to Owen. Can you believe that? How rude?
Anyway, episode 3 is up next on Netflix, and Owen is moving closer to finding Nan Hee and getting himself out of trouble.