| November 13, 2019 | Jill Bold | managing editor |
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The Jack Ryan saga continues in season two of Amazon Prime’s conspiracy thriller series, rife with the breathtaking violence and international intrigue that audiences have come to expect.
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan character has been played by many a leading man over the years, including Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine. Jack Ryan has starred in countless films, books, video games and now an eight-episode TV series. This time, John Krasinski stars as the title character.
In this story, Krasinski tackles a role that displays a huge departure from his famous pushover character role from “The Office,” Jim Halpert. The potential for a dramatic portrayal in this Jack Ryan role sets up Krasinski for either a great performance or one that falls flat.
Fortunately, Krasinski did not disappoint.
The crux of the action is set into motion by an assassination in Venezuela of a prominent character and Ryan’s quest to achieve justice for his friend. Ryan’s raw display of emotion at this pivotal scene was on point, and solidly set his mood as vengeful, focused and deadly. The journey and mission set forth from this point becomes solidly established.
Ryan’s personal investment became “all-in” after the savage assassination at the beginning of the season. His character is gruffer and tougher and a bit more cynical this season, down to the seemingly permanent five o’clock shadow and the less than perfectly coiffed bouffant he rocked in the first season. Ryan does not take anything lying down and isn’t afraid to openly accuse multiple villains of their ruthless misdeeds and isn’t afraid of the international fallout that would follow if he acted on these impulses.
Beyond that, the primary objective in season two is to infiltrate the suspicious shipments that Ryan and his associate James Greer, played by Wendell Pierce, had previously traced.
Ryan employs a follow-the-money method of sniffing out the bad guys, and this theme runs throughout the second season. Also, the super basic follow-the-phonecalls technique yields Jack Ryan some good leads as well. In a complex and dangerous situation, Ryan is keeping it simple.
Each episode inundated the viewer with abrupt sequences of violence dispersed throughout the narrative. The plot moves forward at a good pace, with plenty of ancillary characters keeping each episode interesting.
Several bad guys are revealed and layers of evil are unraveled as Ryan teams up with a strong female supporting character, a woman who at first goes by “Lee” but is later revealed to be a German Federal Intelligence Service agent tracking a mutual enemy located in Venezuela. Her path crossing with Ryan’s made for some great action.
The final episode provides an intense finish tied somewhat neatly with a tiny twist at the end that could open the door for a potential season three. Thankfully, no crazy cliffhanger situation here, just a tidy ending should this be it for the TV series.
Both season one and two are for mature audiences only due to extreme violence and explicit language, and binge watching while doing laundry is highly recommended.
