The Recruit: Why did Max Meladze turn into an assassin? Character arc explored

Netflix's The Recruit Season 2 saw the return of Noah Centineo's Owen Hendricks as the CIA lawyer, which debuted on the platform in December 2022.

While fans were happy to see Centineo back in action after breaking his image of 'Internet's boyfriend' from To All The Boys I've Loved Before movies, they were sad to see Laura Haddock's Max Meladze not return in the sophomore year.

Max was one of the most mysterious characters in The Recruit Season 1, and her character was in stark contrast to Owen. While he was unknown to the world of the Russian Mafia, Max was a ruthless person who knew her way around the world.

The series established that Max had a troubled past, which made her awry of the world. After she was left to fend for herself and become a rebel, she killed her husband and became an assassin to earn a powerful place within the Russian Mafia.

More on Max's character in The Recruit in her story.

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Who was Max Meladze in The Recruit?

While we do not know exactly why she killed her husband, it was likely to take his place in the mafia world. After killing her husband, she pinned the blame on a rival gang and took her place with the Russian Mafia. Because of her troubled past, she knew the only way to survive in this world was by taking your place, even if it meant by force.

But after the CIA got to know about her reality and her connection with General Kuznetsov, they forced her to become a CIA asset, which placed her at a crossroads with the CIA and the Mafia.

Max almost seemed deprived of emotions and feelings throughout The Recruit Season 1, except for her daughter, who she thought was dead. The season 1 finale finally reunites her with her long-lost daughter but at a tragic cost.

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Max Meladze suffered a tragic end in The Recruit Season 1

After being separated from her mother, Max's daughter Karolina became Nichka, a Russian Mafia enforcer who was trying to get her mother killed throughout The Recruit Season 1.

Nichka believed that Max was a CIA asset, which directly puts her at the opposite end of her Nationalistic ideologies, and she wanted her dead.

In the Season 1 finale, Max finally sees her daughter, unaware that she has now become Nichka. She even calls her 'My Angel' in Russian, which suggests that Max did care about one person in the world, and she was her daughter.

But before they could be reunited for good, Nichka fatally shoots her in the chest and Season 2 reveals that Max dies in the Season 1 finale. Considering that she never got to be reunited with her daughter and tell her who she was was deeply tragic for the character.

While Season 1 had moments that suggested a romantic connection between Owen and Max, her death didn't profoundly affect him as he moved on with Yoo Jin Lee, but he did try his best to save her from Nichka.

In Season 2, Nichka took her mother's place and became a CIA asset.

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