Owen gets stuck on a plane headed for the Middle East at the end of The Recruit season 2 episode 2, and we see the immediate fallout of that occurence in the next episode.
The Recruit season 2 episode 3, “H.H.I.I.T.K.A.L.” begins in Doha, Qatar with Tom Wallace (Felix Solis) and Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) heading to a meeting with the Taliban. They’re trying to bring home four Americans who have been kidnapped and held hostage.
Tom introduces Owen to a British intelligence officer/businessman Oliver Bonner-Jones (James Purefoy) facilitating the exchange. Owen gets a call from Jang Kyun (Teo Yoo), but he hangs up before speaking to the British officer. After speaking with this British friend, Owen realizes that something is up with this prisoner negotiations. He sees one of the Taliban’s bodyguards putting in earplugs, and he calls Jang Kyun for some advice.
Owen warns Tom right before they are ambushed by ISIS fighters. It’s a full-on shootout. Owen and Oliver fight their way out after Owen kills one of the ISIS fighters with a pipe.
Shortly after, Owen learns from Oliver that Russia is not responsible for Nan Hee’s kidnapping, so it’s back to square one. Conveniently, Nichka (Maddie Hasson) calls Owen right after he learns this news. She knows who kidnapped Nan Hee (Sanghee Lee), but she’s only going to reveal the information if Owen and the CIA give her the $100,000 in cash.
Owen says farewell to Tom in Qatar and convinces Lester (Colton Dunn) and Violet (Aarti Mann) to give Nichka her money, which they do.
Dawn hired a hitman to kill Owen at the Seoul Airport
It’s revealed that Dawn (Angel Parker) is actually the person who tried to get Owen killed in South Korea at the airport. Her team hired a hitman to kill him to cover up her crimes, which Owen knows about. My guy is collecting more enemies by the day as he tries to keep his head above water.
Dawn can’t figure out why Owen is back in the game, but Lester calls and forces Dawn to give him an asset. Instead of doing that, Dawn is planning to kill Lester.
Owen gets interviewed by Grace
After landing in Seoul, Owen gets interviewed by Grace (Young-Ah Kim). She is convinced he’s an intelligence officer, but he claims to be a lawyer and she has nothing else on him, so eventually he gets freed.
Later, Owen meets up with Yoo Jin (Do Hyun Shin), and they catch up about the past a little more. Is there a real love connection between them? We’ll find out!
CEG interviews Amelia
CEG ambushes Amelia (Kaylah Zander) at her office and questions her about her involvement in Owen’s issues. They are asking a lot of good questions about Hannah (Fivel Stewart), her ex-boyfriend, and Owen screwing up.
Later, Nyland (Vondie Curtis-Hall) gives Amelia a heads-up that CEG is on their way to her house. She deletes a bunch of stuff on her computer, and when CEG shows up, she throws down, blames them for their part in screwing up parts of the situation involving Max (Laura Haddock), Owen, and Xander from season 1. They panic, and they call off the search of Amelia’s house.
Hannah hooks up with Jae
Hannah visits Jae (Omar Maskati) at his hotel room and has him sign some papers. She informs him of a potential conflict of interest, but he isn’t interested. They hook up.
In the morning, Hannah catches Jae going through her phone, possibly, which freaks her out. He explains that he was worried about a text he saw being from Owen, her ex, and he panicked. She isn’t up for his excuses, though. He apologizes, and she accepts.
The Yakuza kidnapped Nan Hee
Lester takes the money to the drop where he meets Nichka. After the exchange, Nichka reveals that the Yakuza have Nan Hee, but she doesn’t know where they are holding her or why they took her. Lester immediately calls Owen and informs him about what he knows.
After Lester calls Owen, he is attacked by one of Dawn’s assassins. Lester fights off the assassin and kills him but barely.
Jang Kyun confronts Owen in the bathroom of the restaurant where Yoo Jin works. Owen reveals that he just learned the Yakuza took Nan Hee. He was just about to call Jang Kyun with the news, but Jang Kyun admits it was all his fault before running out of the bathroom and jumping in his car with Owen.
They visit the informant Jang Kyun was working with in the second episode. Jang Kyun dangles him off the roof of a building while collecting information, and he finally reveals that the Yamakazi Clan kidnapped Nan Hee, but he doesn’t know why.
Finally, Jang Kyun admits what happened. The CIA and NIS created a traceable crypto, which Jang Kyun used in the payments for his wife’s NGO to the Yakuza and other terror and criminal organizations. Somehow, the Yakuza found out about it and took his wife. He also reveals that the CIA is using it to monitor civilians, as well.
Owen locks Jang Kyun on the roof and flees in his car after saying that he’s “taking control.” Owen, bro, what are you up to?
What does “H.H.I.I.T.K.A.L.” mean?
This is my favorite acronym episode title of the season so far! “H.H.I.I.T.K.A.L.” stands for “How hard is it to kill a lawyer?” That’s what Dawn asks one of her minions while speculating about how the hitman failed to do his job and kill Owen in South Korea. Even though he’s just a lawyer, Owen is holding his own against real spies.
Up next is episode 4 on Netflix!