I.Y.D.I.A.A.C.

 is the fourth episode of the first season of the Netflix series The Recruit.

Synopsis
When a major snag jeopardizes Max's case, Owen races to find a legal loophole — and urges her not to take matters into her own ruthless hands.

Plot
Owen Hendricks is out buying breakfast with Violet Ebner and Lester Kitchens. Owen and Lester talk about their trip to Lebanon. Violet is upset that two first-year guys were sent to the Middle East, while she, a more qualified lawyer, is stuck redacting memos. She wants something more challenging. Owen is then handed a stack of documents by a man from the Office of Technical Services. He goes to Walter Nyland's office, where he is introduced to Dawn Gilbane. He immediately recognizes her as the woman who pulled out his nail during his trip to Yemen. Walter and Dawn inform Owen that they intend to make Max an asset in Belarus again, due to her connections with the FSB. This complicates the case, as it means the Attorney General can no longer just make the case disappear, as Owen had planned.

When Owen informs the Attorney General that he can no longer help in the case, the Attorney General is angry and mentions that someone witnessed Max murdering the man. Owen tries to get the name of the witness, but the Attorney General leaves.

When Walter Nyland hears about the documents from the Office of Technical Services, he wants to put Lester on the case, but Owen convinces him to give it to Violet instead, since she had said earlier that she wanted a challenge. However, this attempt to help Violet backfires as she doesn't want an AI case. She believes Owen purposely sabotaged her.

Owen and Amelia arrange to go on a date again.

In South Carolina, Violet visits the lab where they had been creating an AI robot to do interrogations for the CIA. However, while testing the robot, due to a programming issue, the robot ripped an arm off a person. Violet believes this case will turn into a scandal, and is concerned now that her name is on the case.

Later, Violet discovers that as long as a test is still ongoing, incidents are not required to be reported. When she is informed by the lab employee that the robot does not run on battery and can operate indefinitely, she advises them to keep the robot on and never end the test, so the incident will never be made public.

Owen visits Max Meladze in prison and reveals the news to her. Max believes that they want to send her back to Belarus, because it would be easier to kill her off US soil. Owen tells her that she needs to prove that she is worth more alive than dead. Max also mentions that she has learned that he met with Xander Goi in Vienna and sent him a note.

Hannah Copeland is invited to go to the Sea Life Society Gala, where Senator Sebastian Smoot is the honorary speaker. Since Hannah's parents are on the board of the Sea Life Society, she has to go. Hannah was initially going to bring her boyfriend Jeff, but he is busy working at the White House. Owen convinces her to let him go with her. There, they meet Hannah's parents, the ambassador, Senator Smoot and Justice Collins. Senator Smoot seems concerned by Owen and asks someone over the phone to find out information about Owen.

After Owen learns that the witness to the murder is Danny Woodrow, he goes to Danny's house and convinces him to testify on camera at his house, instead of doing it in court. The interview is interrupted by a large man breaking into the home and attacking the two of them. Owen and Danny lock themselves into the bathroom, while Owen calls Max, questioning why she did not trust him and sent a hitman to Danny's house. Max advises Owen to blind the hitman with some chemicals and escape, which he does successfully.

Cast

 * Noah Centineo as Owen Hendricks
 * Laura Haddock as Max Meladze
 * Aarti Mann as Violet Ebner
 * Colton Dunn as Lester Kitchens
 * Fivel Stewart as Hannah Copeland
 * Daniel Quincy Annoh as Terence Hoffman
 * Kristian Bruun as Janus Ferber
 * Vondie Curtis-Hall as Walter Nyland