Are Netflix's 'The Recruit' and 'The Night Agent' Actually the Same Show?

In December 2022, Netflix released a spy series with the generic title The Night Agent. Four months later, in March 2023, Netflix released a spy series with the generic title The Recruit. Netflix just inexplicably released the second seasons of each show on back-to-back weeks — January 23 and January 30 — and while viewers haven’t asked themselves, “Are they the same show?” many have wondered, “Did I like either one of those shows and if so, which one?” We’re here to help situate you.

The Night Agent is a poorly written spy series from Shawn Ryan, the guy behind The Shield and S.W.A.T. The first season was mid-Dad TV starring almost no one of note, yet it still managed to become one of Netflix’s most popular streaming series at the time. It’s about a low-level FBI agent who works in the basement of the White House, manning a phone that never rings … until the night it does. It stars Gabriel Basso, previously best known for playing J.D. Vance in Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy. He’s somehow even less interesting here as an FBI agent caught up in a bland conspiracy thriller.

While the first season of The Night Agent was completely forgettable, the second season is completely unwatchable. It’s dull and incoherent, and Brittany Snow is brought in only to be killed off within the first ten minutes.

If you’re bored, watching wooden performances in a plodding spy series that looks like it was shot with a bad Instagram filter, you’re watching The Night Agent. My advice? Turn it off as soon as possible and find anything else to watch.

The Recruit, meanwhile, is a mediocre spy series from Alexi Hawley, brother of Noah and the guy behind ABC’s cop show The Rookie. It stars Noah Centineo, who is probably best known as the guy who looks and sounds like a young Mark Ruffalo. (He’s also instantly recognizable to tween girls who loved him in the All the Boys series of movies).

Centineo plays a young CIA lawyer who inadvertently gets sucked into international criminal conspiracies. There’s a fair bit of globe-hopping involved. The show features a number of familiar faces; Hawley periodically brings in Nathan Fillion to play a higher-up in the CIA, and — unlike The Night Agent — The Recruit has a sense of humor. The writing is thoroughly mediocre, but the cast, which also includes Colton Dunn (Superstore) and Kristian Bruun, occasionally brings it to life. It also stars Kaylah Zander, who looks like a cross between Stephanie Beatriz and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. It’s honestly a little distracting.

If you’re mildly amused and occasionally entertained, you’re likely watching The Recruit. The second season is also marginally better than the first, and it’s only six episodes long. If you do realize that you’re watching The Recruit, feel free to proceed to the end. However, understand that most of it is forgettable, and you may ultimately confuse it for FUBAR or even the canceled Obliterated. It will not, however, be mistaken for Black Doves, a legitimately great Netflix spy series.

I hope this has been helpful.