In what’s surprising information for followers, Netflix introduced the cancelation of its much-loved collection The Recruit in early March. Led and produced by Noah Centineo, the collection made its debut again in 2022 and obtained a optimistic response from viewers, resulting in renewal for a second season. The present’s shorter second season was launched in January 2025 and carried out even higher than its predecessor, scoring 92% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer.
Given the success of the collection, many believed that they might anticipate Centineo’s Owen Hendricks to return for a 3rd season. In any case, the collection did make its manner onto the streamers’ International High 10 charts. Nevertheless, dashing all hope and evidently viewing issues in a special mild, Netflix has determined to cancel the collection as a substitute of renewing it. Though a bitter tablet for followers of the collection, The Recruit’s cancelation might enable Netflix so as to add one other motion drama, S.W.A.T., onto the platform in its stead.
Why Did Netflix Cancel ‘The Recruit’?

The Recruit
- Launch Date
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December 16, 2022
- Community
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Netflix
- Administrators
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Doug Liman
Netflix has not provided an official rationalization relating to their resolution to cancel The Recruit. Nevertheless, it’s value noting that the streamer takes a while to make its cancelation selections and analyze a present’s efficiency and viewership over the long term. Looking back, The Recruit was presumably already on the brief finish of the stick earlier than Season 2 aired. Whereas the second season was initially set to have eight episodes, matching its debut season, Netflix subsequently lowered the depend to 6 episodes. For a US drama collection, a six-episode season is fairly brief, pushing writers and creators to condense tales, presumably taking away from the general impact of the storyline.
Furthermore, whereas The Recruit‘s second season was well-received, scoring 92% on Rotten Tomatoes in comparison with its 68% in Season 1, the general viewership of the season was lower than Season 1. This will likely have been what finally sealed the collection’ destiny. Regardless of making it onto Netflix’s charts, The Recruit Season 2 spent simply three weeks on the charts earlier than utterly dropping out of Netflix’s weekly International High 10 checklist. It’s probably that The Recruit‘s efficiency was additionally impacted by Season 2 of The Evening Agent premiering simply days earlier than. On condition that each collection deal with male protagonists who’re each attempting to show themselves as brokers, they share a considerably comparable narrative. With The Evening Agent being launched first, viewers might not have been that inclined to delve again into yet one more collection promising an identical dose of motion and drama.
‘S.W.A.T.’ Would Be a Excellent Alternative for ‘The Recruit’
Whereas the cancelation of The Recruit is disappointing information for followers who had been trying ahead to extra of Owen Hendricks in a attainable Season 3, the curtains drawing on The Recruit opens the door for yet one more action-packed drama to take its place on the streamer. S.W.A.T., a collection centering on a bunch of highly-trained professionals of the LAPD striving to guard the general public from threats imposed by essentially the most harmful criminals, was initially launched in November 2017. The collection has now run for eight seasons, though not with out its personal challenges.

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The collection has confronted a number of cancelations by CBS through the years. The motion drama was initially canceled in 2023 after a six-season run, a call that was then overturned mere days after its announcement. It was as a substitute reported that Season 7 of the collection can be its closing run. Nevertheless, this resolution was additionally overturned in Could 2024, with the present being renewed for Season 8. Now, S.W.A.T. has been canceled for a 3rd time, and followers are in an uproar. It has been reported that the newest cancelation announcement will not be reversed as CBS has opted out of renewal talks altogether and must make room on its launch schedule for beforehand introduced spinoff reveals, leaving no room for S. W. A. T. Season 9.
How Does ‘S.W.A.T.’ Examine to ‘The Recruit’?
Nevertheless, with Netflix’s fixed content material reshuffle, it could possibly enable S.W.A.T. an area on the platform. By way of narrative, S.W.A.T., with its intense motion, character-driven storytelling, and high-stakes motion, can be the perfect collection to fill the hole left by The Recruit whereas nonetheless providing its personal distinctive narrative taste. Whereas The Recruit delves head-first into the world of espionage, covert operations, and secret identities, S.W.A.T. delivers its drama on the streets, with the themes of camaraderie amongst officers being highlighted in distinction to The Recruit‘s delicate stability of belief and betrayal. In doing so, it nonetheless maintains the excessive stage of pressure and interesting narrative that followers of The Recruit are accustomed to, providing a well-known thrill.

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Furthermore, provided that the collection already has its personal established following, Netflix will probably not have to fret about viewership in buying S.W.A.T. With confirmed viewers enchantment, evident from its future, S.W.A.T. would guarantee instant engagement upon its addition to the streamer. On condition that the primary seven seasons of the present are at present streaming on Netflix US, S. W. A. T. star Shemar Moore has already known as on Netflix to choose the collection up.
“So Netflix, in the event you’re focused on a present that’s on autopilot that the world is watching, we’d love to come back play.”
Appearing because the cherry on prime, the mastermind behind Netflix’s extensively common collection, The Evening Agent, can be the identical artistic expertise behind S.W.A.T., with the collection being created by Shawn Ryan. Given the success Ryan has had on the streamer, with The Evening Agent Season 1 having a everlasting spot on Netflix’s High 10 Most Common Reveals of all time, it’s probably that S.W.A.T. might fare equally nicely on the streamer. Ryan has already confirmed his means to craft compelling narratives which are capable of resonate with viewers, and, given this, there’s a excessive probability that S.W.A.T. can be a standout addition to Netflix’s ever-growing, various lineup. S.W.A.T. is at present obtainable to stream on Netflix, Paramount+, Pluto TV, and Philo.

S.W.A.T.
- Launch Date
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November 2, 2017
- Community
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CBS