The Recruit season 2 ending explained: Who dies at the end?

Season 2 doesn't dwell on this though, pushing through early on with a new location and a new mission designed to up the stakes in just about every way possible.

Season 2 takes Owen to Seoul in South Korea and a bunch of other countries too as he racks up air miles in a bid to protect the CIA from a blackmailer who's threatening to spill all their secrets. But along the way, Owen discovers that there's a lot more going on than he first realised and that maybe some of those secrets actually deserve to be exposed, after all.

Also, the big guy is full of heart, which is why it should come as no surprise when Owen decides to help his blackmailer, Jang Kyu, out of kindness more than anything. But where does their quest to save Kyu's wife take them? And does everyone make it out alive?

Sign up and join us as we recruit you to read on and find out exactly how Netflix's very violent, occasionally goofy spy thriller comes to an end in season 2.

The Recruit season 2 ending explained: Who dies at the end?

After lots of twisty globetrotting and enough AVIOS points stacked to fund a whole bunch more, Owen ends up in Russian waters ready to rescue Kyu's wife from the Yakuza with Kyu and a team by his side.

Upon tricking the local coastguards into leaving them alone, Owen and Kyu board the Yakuza boat with a special diving unit waiting in the wings. Except, that part of the plan doesn't really pan out when the Russian coastguard returns and scare off their backup. Owen keeps pressing the button in his watch that signals it's time to kick things off, but no one comes, so it's up to Owen and Kyu to complete their mission without help.

Owen is barely a real agent by this point, yet he's survived countless deadly scenarios with nothing more than charm and gusto. Of course, this is no different, but things do get pretty hairy when the Yakuza boss realises that he's being tricked and the money they brought on board is fake.

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Kyu and his wife are captured while Owen jumps into the water, surrounded by a hail of bullets that aren't too effective against plot armour, it turns out. Everyone assumes our boy is dead, including CIA superiors back home who have been watching this all play out via drone. The big boss suggests they pin as much as they can on Owen, because he's dead, so why not? His colleague, Amelia, isn't a big fan of that but as a loyal agent, she has no choice but to follow through.

After crashing out in a random hut, Owen wakes up to the sound of two burly Russian men opening the front door. With pluck and nerve, he kills one and beats the other into unconsciousness. Baby-faced Owen is all grown up and mad as hell, switching the show's tone to a darker vibe than we're used to.

Did we mention one guy was kicked off a balcony and bounced off a table as he fell in ways that reminded us of that scene in Titanic? You know the one.

Owen gets in touch with his gang on the boat and tells them he's going to save Kyu and his wife because 1) government secrets, but also 2) "If I walk away, I become you and I don’t want to be dead inside."

Lester asks Nichka to help the lad out, which is like asking a wolf to go feed the chickens in their pen. Needless to say, it doesn't go well. And needless to say, Owen manages to defeat a highly trained assassin once again with nothing more than dumb luck and some good old-fashioned know-how.

Nichka ends up in the same trunk she was going to throw Owen into after he knocks her out with a shotgun blow to the head. He has concussion too from the fight though, not to mention an endless ringing in his ears after using the shotgun. Undeterred, Owen continues his mission anyway after he very conveniently finds a discarded bike on the side of the road.

Meanwhile, the CIA boss played by Nathan Fillion calls up Dawn and asks her to kill Kyu now that they've cracked his secret code in a bid to tie up loose ends. Nichka escapes the boot soon too, so she, Dawn and Owen all head off to the airport where Kyu and his wife are being held, albeit separately.

Owen arrives first and narrowly avoids being run over by a jet before nabbing a Russian jacket to blend in around the runway. Just another day in the office! As Dawn sets up her sniper rifle from afar, Kyu and his wife share a touching moment in one of the hangars, thinking they're moments away from being separated forever. That's when Owen suddenly appears and saves them both, leading the couple out to freedom.

Nichka shows up and gets into a knife fight with Dawn. They're too evenly matched, both soulless and badass in equal measure, but Nichka gets the upper hand with a cheeky stab and leaves Dawn in the water to die.

Owen and his new besties drive off in a stolen car with Nichka and enemy forces shooting an army's worth of ammo at them. All hope is lost, until it's not, because they somehow manage to outrun everyone and escape into the water. Yoo Jin Lee then shows up to rescue Owen, her childhood love, using her father's boat which she commandeered back off Lester again.

Is it silly? Yes. It is a lot of fun? Also yes. But you know what's really silly? The amount of money Netflix must have spent on the American submarine that suddenly surfaces, scaring the Russian coastguard away who kept circling back like hungry mosquitos. Cue a ton of money shots that show off said submarine in all its wet splendour. It really doesn't get more American than that.

Before the submarine descends a mile back down into the ocean depths, Kyu thanks Owen for everything he's done, although Kyu himself admits that: "Thank you seems insufficient."

"Maybe, but I’ll take it," replies Owen.

Talking next steps, Owen suggests telling the world that Kyu and his wife were both killed in Russia to protect them from their own government. The CIA can give them new identities in exchange for the secrets Kyu has hidden in his head.

"Are you trying to recruit me?" asks Kyu.

"I guess I am," says Owen. "Wanna live happily ever after with your wife or get locked up for treason?"

Kyu doesn't really have a choice, so they shake hands and head down below. But before they go, Owen smiles, dramatic music kicks in, and then the credits roll.

It's a stark difference from the end of season 1, which ended with the death of a major character.

Here, most of the cast emerged unscathed, aside from Dawn and the millions of henchmen who caught a bullet to the face. But even Dawn could theoretically come back. Stranger things have happened on this show.

That begs the question: Could The Recruit last as long as other Netflix originals like Stranger Things? With no cliffhanger to speak of, season 2 has given us a complete story that could stop now and end the show entirely.

However, espionage thrillers like this do lend themselves to repeat seasons which can each revolve around a brand new mission.

Given how popular shows like this and The Night Agent are right now, Netflix execs would have to be as crazy as Nichka to stop The Recruit at this point, but we'll just have to wait and see.

The Recruit seasons 1-2 are available to stream on Netflix.

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