While the return of The Night Agent is going as expected with a lot of viewership and an already-greenlit third season, I am starting to get a little more concerned about The Recruit season 2, and what it may mean for The Recruit season 3.
Unlike The Night Agent, The Recruit did not have an automatic renewal for season 3 before season 2 even aired, and it will have to prove itself like most other shows with its returning viewership. Right now, that feels a little bit up in the air. A few reasons:
- On the US Top 10 list, I have not seen The Recruit season 2 get above #3 on the list for more than a quick second or so, always behind The Night Agent, which came out before it, and this new OJ Simpson True Crime Show.
- Looking toward more global lists, The Recruit is barely the #1 show in any region right now, The Night Agent taking that spot far more often. By my count there are only seven regions out of the 100+ Netflix is available where The Recruit has the top spot. Not great for what’s supposed to be a relatively big show.
- Two days ago, it was reported that The Recruit season 2 debuted with 5.9 million views, but we do not know how that compares to season 1 as those numbers were never shared or estimated. Netflix usually brags when a show really breaks out, but they haven’t done so here. That was in its first four days of season 2, though that week The Night Agent hit 15.2 million views in its second week.
The good news? Audience scores have dipped just a touch from season 1, 80% to 83#, which is solid. Critic scores have increased from 68% to 89%, albeit with only a third of the reviews of season 1.
The two things we do not know at all about how The Recruit is doing in season 2, and things we cannot know for sure, is the budget of the series and how that relates to viewership requirements, and how many people are finishing season 2, which is not split in half like other Netflix productions have been. If viewership drops heavily over the course of a season, especially a binged one, that does not bode well for the show. And we have seen many shows given a “second chance” with a season 2 only to end up cancelled afterward.
At this point, given all this info, I am about 60/40 on The Recruit getting a season 2, and I was probably 80/20 a few days ago, but it has really not made significant progress from what I can see. We may find out in the next few weeks here, but Netflix could make us wait longer than that.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Read the full article here
