I Don’t Know How, But The Recruit Season 3 Needs To Bring This Character Back After How Season 2 Treated Them

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Recruit season 2.

The Recruit season 3 has got to figure out a way to bring back Maxine "Max" Meladze after essentially discarding her following The Recruit season 1's cliffhanger finale. Even though the first episode of The Recruit season 2 picked up exactly where season 1 left off, Max's daughter, Karolina, better known as Nichka, takes Max's spotlight without explaining why she killed her mother with a fatal gunshot wound. Following the opening scene of The Recruit season 2, Max was hardly mentioned and was never seen in the series again, although she drove most of the action in season 1.

Max's death at the end of The Recruit season 1 confirmed that the hit Netflix show is going for more of an anthology approach, following Noah Centineo's Owen Hendricks to new settings and introducing new characters, like Prime Video's successful action thriller Reacher. While I understand the structure The Recruit is choosing to take, I do think their handling of Max failed to honor her character and was done rather abruptly and cheaply. At least in Reacher, the titular protagonist lets his love interests down easily and gives supporting characters the respect they deserve before moving on to the next.

Max’s Death Was Not Satisfying – She Needs To Return In The Recruit Season 3

Nichka Shockingly Never Explains Why She Killed Her Mother & Owen Never Asks

Max's death in The Recruit season 1 is an unforgettable source of frustration and confusion. While The Recruit season 2 picks up nicely, cleaning up the mess that Owen found himself in at the end of season 1 and hitting the rest button on the CIA-asset-turned-graymailer formula, it does so by creating a massive plot hole in its first five minutes. Considering the two-year gap between The Recruit seasons 1 and 2, I would have expected more closure to Max's character, or at the very least an explanation of Nichka's backstory with her mother that would justify her shocking decision.

Nichka shooting her without a word and barely reacting just doesn't make sense without additional context. Normally, something like that would prompt the plot or the protagonist to figure out the reason, providing audiences with a satisfying answer instead of leaving them hanging. Perhaps Netflix figured that enough time had passed between seasons 1 and 2 that audiences would have forgotten about Max but I think it's actually quite the opposite. Brushing Max under the rug set The Recruit season 2 off on the wrong foot, hinting that the series isn't concerned with continuity, which raises concerns for season 3.

Max Was Too Important In The Recruit Season 1 To Be Forgotten Like That

Max Was The Series Co-Lead & Owen's Love Interest Who Deserved A Better Send Off

Owen (Noah Centineo) and Max (Laura Haddock) in a church in The Recruit — Noah Centineo and Laura Haddock in The Recruit

Laura Haddock's Max was the series co-lead in The Recruit season 1 and quickly became a fan-favorite character. It's downright odd to toss away a principal actor like that without good reason or to create a satisfying twist, which this was not. It would have been one thing if Nichka was revealed to be her daughter in the season 1 finale and Max knew exactly why Nichka would want to kill her, alluding to something that had gone wrong in their past. Maybe Max was not a good mother to Karolina, or perhaps Max betrayed her in an unforgivable way.

The Recruit Season 3 Story Tease Means The Show Risks Repeating Season 2's Critical Mistake

Early teases about The Recruit season 3 suggest that the hit Netflix thriller series could repeat the same big mistake as The Recruit season 2.

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Nichka should have said something – anything –to Max before she shot her. The fact that she didn't feels like a big creative error. There is obviously something in their past that caused Nichka to kill Max, so to avoid the issue altogether in The Recruit season 2 comes off as such a narrative misfire.

I'm not sure which is more appalling, that Nichka never explains why she killed Max or that Owen never asks why.

I'm not sure which is more appalling, that Nichka never explains why she killed Max or that Owen never asks why. Both of their reactions to Max's death don't align with their relationships to her character. Nichka and Owen's showdown in The Recruit season 2 finale would have been the perfect time to bring it up. Instead, Max was forcibly forgotten.

How Max Can Return In The Recruit Season 3

Season 2's Complete Silence About Max Is Very Suspicious

The only way that The Recruit can explain the glaring ambiguity around Max's death is if she is somehow alive and returns in season 3. Nichka shot Max on the lower right side of her chest, just above her rib cage. Even though the bullet appeared to have killed her instantly, the fact that she wasn't shot directly in the chest or head offers some hope.

There's too much not being said about Max that makes it seem like The Recruitseason 3 is silently setting up her surprise return.

It's not out of the question for Max to have survived the gunshot given its placement on her body and the fact that Nichka only fired her gun once. The Recruit season 2 never reveals what happened to Max's body either. Ultimately, there's too much not being said about Max that makes it seem like The Recruit season 3 is silently setting up her surprise return, which at this point it nearly has to.