Noah Centineo and The Recruit Boss Tease the Fallout From That Game-Changing Finale

[Warning: The following contains spoilers from the finale of The Recruit. Read at your own risk!]

Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) did not expect his first two weeks at the CIA to be filled with violence and death. It all started when the rookie lawyer stumbled upon a graymail from Max Meladze (Laura Haddock) — a former asset at the agency who wrote from prison demanding to be exonerated. Owen must do whatever he can to stop Max from spilling the beans about dark secrets at the CIA, even if it means engaging in criminal activity or risking his life. And though the case seemed like it was finally about to wrap up, with Max getting released from prison and about to go undercover again for the CIA, everything went terribly wrong in the finale of The Recruit.

As Max was meeting with Lev in Prague to buy her way back into the Russian mafia — with Owen and CIA agents on the lookout — they were attacked by a group of shooters led by Nichka Lashin. Owen and Max escaped, but not before Owen shot and killed someone in an attempt to save Max. This turned out to be his breaking point, since he soon jumped out of a moving car and told Max he was done with the CIA — and done with her. 

The lawyer walked away, but didn't get very far before getting captured on the streets. He found himself tied to a chair, in a windowless room with Max. Moments later, Nichka walked in and revealed she was Karolina, Max's daughter who she has repeatedly said was dead. A stunned Max spoke a few words to Karolina, but Karolina shot her mom. "Who are you? And what the f–k are you doing running around with my mother?" Karolina asked Owen before the end credits start to roll.

Our burning question from the finale was, of course, is Max actually dead? "I can't tell you that," showrunner Alexi Hawley told TV Guide. But Hawley did share more about Max's relationship with his daughter. "I do think that [Max] was very much aware that she was alive," he said. "But in her mind, she lost her which she [made] equivalent with death." That's why Max talks about her daughter in the past tense, Hawley added. But part of her saying Karolina died was also strategic. "You never tell anybody something that can be used against you," Hawley said. "As a former asset, as a person who lives in a world of duplicity, you can't be vulnerable." But there definitely is much room to explore with Max and Karolina's past. "We didn't reveal the whole backstory, and that's obviously something that we could do more of going into the next season."

Based on the finale, we also don't know the details about how exactly Karolina is connected to Lev. "They're all part of the Russian mafia," Hawley said. "Ultimately, the reason that Nichka and her people came in and created mayhem was because she wanted to get to Max." The showrunner said that a second season would dive into the fallout from her actions. "One hand shooting the other is a problem," Hawley explained. "But for Nichka, for Karolina, getting her mom was more important than anything else."

Now that Max is either dead or incapacitated because of the gunshot, Owen is on his own. There's a chance that Dawn and the CIA will come and rescue him — after all, Dawn (Angel Parker) was tracking Max's phone and Max is with Owen — but that's not a sure bet. This is Centineo's biggest question at the end of The Recruit Season 1. "How does he get out alive? I just don't get it," the actor told TV Guide. 

"If there's anything that he has learned, it's that if the CIA needs to abandon him, it's standard operating procedure if he no longer serves the agency," Centineo continued. "That was something that Xander told him early on, and that I think it gets confirmed over and over again."

Besides, Dawn in particular has reason to abandon Owen. "He knows things that Dawn wants to keep quiet," Hawley said. "Her big secret that Max knows, the thing that gives her Kompromat on Dawn is that she's sort of created a network of fake assets in order to pocket the money the CIA pays to them." This is a crime that Dawn would go to jail for, Hawley explained, and she wants to protect the information from getting out. And even though Max told Dawn that Owen does not know about the fake assets, "nobody believes anybody," Hawley said.

The showrunner laid out the different possibilities for Owen. "Is there a world in which Dawn comes and rescues him? Sure. Is there a world in which he gets out of it himself? Sure," Hawley said. "Is there a world in which she comes in not intending to rescue him? All those things are possible." 

And even if Owen is rescued, there's another huge problem at hand. In his last conversation with Max, the lawyer said he is ready to quit the CIA. But there are many possible repercussions of leaving the agency. "Time and time again what we've learned is just because you think you're done with something, it doesn't mean that it's done with you," Centineo said. "And that's what it's like here at the CIA." The actor said the agency could throw him in jail, or blame an entire scandal on him. This case is a prime example. 

"What happened in Prague at Lev's compound was a disaster," Hawley said. "It's an operation that went epically wrong." If Owen leaves now, it's highly likely that the agency will make him take the fall. "It's that reality that you can't just walk away because then you become the scapegoat," Halwey explained. "Can you extricate yourself from that situation even if you want to would be where we would start Season 2, in theory."

Owen also now faces the trauma of having killed someone with his own hands. Even though people around him died during his first two weeks at the CIA, this incident was different. "In that moment he became someone he swore he wouldn't be," Centineo said. The someone is Owen's father. "His father died overseas fighting in a war," the actor continued. "And he chose to be a lawyer or attorney at the CIA because he thought it would be safer but he would still be able to do right by his father and his country." But Owen did not want to be his dad. "He never wanted to pick up a gun and use it so he was violently against that notion," Centineo explained. "It's really not until it's a protective instinct that he pulls the trigger."

In the end, Owen did it because he saw Max get shot. "There's an extreme amount of guilt, shame, regret," Centineo said. "And it was something that was avoidable — he didn't have to be in that room, on that mission." 

Hawley said the fact that killing someone was Owen's breaking point also emphasizes how he's not designed to be an action hero. "He's a lawyer in a world that is not his," the showrunner said. "If he picked up a gun and was suddenly Jason Bourne in Episode 2, that would be a different show." It was important for the series to depict the impact of the kill. "It's hard for him to pull that trigger and the repercussions of what happens when he does has impact in a way that I think is really human," Hawley said. "for him to have to deal with that moment and that would carry on, in theory, in a Season 2 as well."

The Recruit Season 1 is available to stream.