Tracker Meets The Rookie In Netflix's 2-Part Espionage Thriller

Two of the biggest live-action law enforcement dramas on TV today are CBS's Tracker and ABC's The Rookie. However, despite sharing broad crime-solving roots, as viewing experiences they couldn't be more different. Tracker follows lone survivalist Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) as he tracks down missing people and fugitives across America, while The Rookie centers on John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), whose late-in-life decision to join the LAPD creates an upbeat ensemble procedural built around learning the job.

Still, while Tracker and The Rookie may be unalike on the surface, a two-season Netflix series proves there's plenty of entertainment to be found when their best elements are combined. That show is 2022’s The Recruit. Not only was it created by The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley, it even features Nathan Fillion in a supporting role. While this and the similarities between their titles make it easy to dismiss The Recruit as “we have The Rookie at home” after a glance, don’t be deceived.

Rather than focusing on the police, The Recruit follows rookie CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) as increasingly dangerous assignments drag him into the world of international espionage. Sharing a creator with The Rookie and featuring its leading star in the cast of The Recruit gives the show immediate appeal for fans of that ABC hit, but the true genius of the Netflix show comes in how it applies that creative DNA to a distinct dynamic that fans of Tracker are sure to fall in love with.

The Recruit Brings The Rookie's Fish-Out-Of-Water Humor To Tracker's Core Dynamic

Of the two shows, the similarities between The Rookie and The Recruit are the most immediately obvious due to them having incredibly similar foundations. Like The Rookie’s John Nolan, The Recruit’s Owen Hendricks is thrown into a profession where everyone around him has more experience. Both spend much of their show’s earlier episodes trying to survive while learning the rules as they go. Their inexperience becomes the narrative engine for each, creating lighthearted humor as improvisation and quick thinking become just as important as professional skills, and mistakes are plentiful.

Essentially, The Recruit has the same balance of comedy and action that’s made The Rookie such a success. Owen's legal training rarely prepares him for the situations he faces, forcing him to bluff and stumble through life-threatening missions. By taking this approach, The Recruit became to espionage thrillers what The Rookie has become to modern police procedurals. They’re both plucky underdog stories centering on characters who’re just as out of their depth as most viewers would be in similar situations.

Structurally, however, The Recruit often feels surprisingly closer to Tracker than it does The Rookie. While Owen and John may be similar characters in many ways, the worlds they get thrown into aren’t. Rather than focusing on routine police work, Owen is tasked with locating hidden assets, uncovering dangerous conspiracies, or tracking down international criminals before someone else reaches them first. The Recruit turns the familiar search-and-recover formula of Colter Shaw’s cases in Tracker into a globe-spanning CIA adventure.

That unusual combination is what makes The Recruit stand out. It delivers the charming rookie perspective and humor that define The Rookie while embracing the investigative hunt structure that powers Tracker. What’s more, neither element undermines the other. For fans of either show, it should be considered essential viewing.

Sadly, The Recruit's Brilliance Wasn't Enough To Save It

Despite earning strong reviews from audiences, The Recruit came to an abrupt end after two seasons when Netflix canceled the series. It was a shocking decision considering how popular the show was among its sizable fandom. Season 2 entered Netflix's global Top 10 following its January 2025 release , while the series maintains an impressive 80% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

While there’s not been an official reason given, reports following the cancellation of The Recruit suggested several factors worked against the series (via Deadline). The long delay caused by the 2023 Hollywood strikes interrupted its momentum, while its second season launched shortly after another major Netflix spy thriller, season 2 of The Night Agent. It can’t be proved, of course, but there’s every chance this could have had a negative impact on The Recruit’s performance.

Sadly, for Netflix and other streaming platforms, viewership figures are everything. The Recruit being canceled is yet another case of a seemingly popular show that simply didn’t reach whatever behind-the-scenes benchmarks drive Netflix’s renewal decisions. Still, this doesn’t make the lack of a The Recruit season 3 an easier pill to swallow, and star Noah Centineo perfectly summed up the disappointment while reflecting on the show's ending (via THR):

“Netflix, they have a certain mandate that they need to fill, and I’m very proud of the show, very grateful to our audience. We have a pretty strong cult following. And with Netflix, it just didn’t really fit what it was that they needed, I suppose. And so onto the next, I guess.”

For all its brilliance, The Recruit became another example of a streaming series ending before it reached its full potential. Alexi Hawley's energetic blend of comedy, espionage, and action had carved out a distinct identity, offering something noticeably different from more conventional spy dramas. Even across just two seasons, it remains an easy recommendation for fans of both The Rookie and Tracker, combining the strengths of each into one of Netflix's most entertaining modern thrillers.