Season Four of television series ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’

A fourth and final season of Amazon Prime Original Series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018-2023) was presented to fans of the series starring John Krasinski as Dr. Jack Ryan over this past summer. Reprising characters from a series of best-selling “thrillers with detailed themes of espionage, military, science, politics and technology” (Biography.Com) written by Tom Clancy, Jack Ryan was central to many of those books while aim for the same things. Here’s our reviews of season one, season two and season three of the series, with the final 6-episode season review of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan presented as follows.

(Betty Gabriel as Elizabeth Wright in season four of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

The murder of Nigeria‘s President Udo in his home opens the mysterious conditions at the heart of the story this season. Jack Ryan, having ascended to deputy director of the  Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) alongside new acting director Elizabeth Wright, is called upon to defend what looks to the oversight committee to be CIA involvement in the death. Ryan offers this along with the promise for he and Wright, as portrayed by Betty Gabriel, to clean-up the perceived overreach and corruption within the agency. Former CIA director Thomas Miller, as portrayed by John Schwab, is immediately suspected.

(From left, Michael Peña as Domingo Chavez and John Krasinski as Dr. Jack Ryan in season four of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

The consolidated power of a drug cartel, a terrorist organization and the Central Intelligence Agency had been formed into an organization with seemingly unchecked power to function against the interests of the United States for the aims of profit-making and causing chaos through murderous and symbolic ends. James Greer, Mike November and newcomer Domingo Chavez are enlisted in the direct support of intervening against the people bent on the evil ends. Greer, November and Chavez were portrayed by Wendell Pierce, Michael Kelly and Michael Peña, respectively.

(Wendell Pierce as James Greer in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

Chavez is added aiding the original consolidated CIA mission in Mexico when a plot connected to Chao Fah, as portrayed by Louis Ozawa, leads to Myanmar. Jack, Chavez, and November investigate a Dubrobvnik, Croatia lead while James Greer is elevated to deputy director in an effort to keep Jack’s value as an agent both in play and from tarnishing Elizabeth Wright’s congressional hearing for removing the acting tag from her role as deputy director. Okieriete Onaodowan portrayed Adebayo ‘Ade’ Osoji, a U.S.-based oil lobbyist with special knowledge of the Nigerian political climate, unfolds as a mystery for Wright to puzzle out through this season.

(From left, Louis Ozawa as Chao Fah and Michael Kelly as Mike November in season four of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

Abbie Cornish reprises her role as Dr. Cathy Mueller, with her value to Jack through his transition with the Central Intelligence Agency something that seems to have emerged off-screen between season’s three and four. This romantic link pays off with the further relationship developed with Zeyara Lemos as portrayed by Zuleikha Robinson, whose outcome and purpose played into motives that were distinctly unromantic.

I found the fourth season of this series entertaining. The point-of-view mixed the notions of heroism and mystery well without getting overly preachy on the political or social messaging. Overall, I grant season four of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan 3.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Season Three of television series ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’

A third 8-episode season of Amazon Prime Original Series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018-2023) was presented to fans of the series starring John Krasinski as Dr. Jack Ryan in December of 2022. Reprising characters from a series of best-selling “thrillers with detailed themes of espionage, military, science, politics and technology” (Biography.Com) written by Tom Clancy, Jack Ryan was central to many of those books while doing the same for this series. Here’s our reviews of season one and season two of the series.

(From left, Michael Epp as Russian scientist Yuri Bashkin and John Krasinski as Jack Ryan in season three of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

This season invokes the threat of a nuclear conflict thanks to a secret 1969 project in what had been the U.S.S.R., otherwise called the Soviet Union. Soviet officer Luka Gocharov orders the end of project Sokol in a heinous slaughter of the scientists responsible for the project at the hands of the military. With the aid Zoya Ivanova, Jack Ryan receives a tip that the program has been resurrected under Russian guidance with the suspected object of detonating the weapon. A sophisticated attempt to build actionable intelligence takes Jack to a cargo ship where a scientist on the relaunched project is pursued with Ryan in Athens, Greece. James Cosmo portrayed Gocharov as Ana Ularu portrayed Ivanova.

(From left, Adam Vacula as Radek Breza as Alena Kovac’s body guard and Nina Hoss as Czech president Alena Kovac in the third season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

As this is happening, president of Czechia Alena Kovac meets publicly with the Russian defense minister, the last of which being when the defense minister shot dead in Prague. Alexei Petrov ascends to power as the new defense minister with plans of escalating the profile of Russia back to the world power Russia had been when a prominent part in the former Soviet Union. Unknown to most of the relevant power players as the season unfolds, the father of the Czech president (Petr Kovac) is working with Petrov toward similar ends as the new defense minister. Nina Hoss, Peter Guinness and Alexej Manvelov portrayed Alena Kovac, Petr Kovac and Alexei Petrov, respectively.

(From left, James Cosmo as Luka Gocharov, Alexej Manvelov as Alexei Petrov and Peter Guinness as Petr Kovac in season three of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

At the center of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) response includes Jack seeking support from James Greer, former Chief of Station in Moscow, and Chief of Station for Rome, Italy, Elizabeth Wright. The dynamic takes an interesting trajectory over the course of the season, with power plays built interpersonally and professionally taking turns that impact the plays available to Jack Ryan in the field. Ryan reaches out to Michael November, as portrayed by Michael Kelly, introducing a separate dynamic at play between Wright and Greer. Wendell Pierce and Betty Gabriel portrayed James Greer and Elizabeth Pierce, respectively.

(From left, Betty Gabriel as Elizabeth Wright, Chief of Station Rome, and Wendell Pierce as James Greer in the third season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

From the storytelling perspective, the best thing for me with the third season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is that the story took what felt like a storyline distinct from the Tom Clancy books that I have read. While a nuclear device in fact was a central storyline for a major book in the Jack Ryan book, this book went in a distinct direction. I found this series entertaining, though felt echoes of the television series 24 (2001-2010) and The Bourne Series (2002-2012) of movies when watching this season. Overall, I grant season three of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan 3.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Season Two of television series ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’

A second 8-episode season of Amazon Prime Original Series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018-2023) recently dropped for binge watchers the world over. Starring John Krasinski as Dr. Jack Ryan, the season first came online in November 2019 as a reprise of characters from a series of best-selling “thrillers with detailed themes of espionage, military, science, politics and technology” (Biography.Com) written by Tom Clancy. Jack Ryan as a character was central to many of these books.

(John Krasinski as Jack Ryan, left, and Noomi Rapace as Harriet Baumann in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

Jack Ryan, as played by John Krasinski, is the first character we see in the season two story of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan to see the threat that may exist in Venezuela governing political unrest and natural resources. James Greer, as portrayed by Wendell Pierce, is a close second as he sees a similar threat from a different perspective while in a completely different part of the world.

(Wendell Pierce as James Greer in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

Allied to the cause for setting things right for the interests of the Americans is Matice, as portrayed by John Hoogenakker. Hoogenakker reprises his role from the first season, rendering paramilitary assistance through the jungles of Venezuela,  with Mike November, as portrayed by Michael Kelly, playing chief of station.

(John Hoogenakker as Matice in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

Jack Ryan pursues multiple angles in seeking justice and revenge between London, England and Venezuela, in part based on a spy-based relationship with Harriet “Harry” Baumann, as portrayed by Noomi Rapace. Baumann serves in the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) agent tracking her former associate Max Schenkel, as portrayed by Tom Wlaschiha.

(Michael Kelly as Mike November in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

Nicolás Reyes, as portrayed by Jordi Mollà, and Gloria Bonalde, as portrayed by Cristina Umaña, center much of the political story dramatized in season two of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. This story line adds tension to the season, no doubt, though is not a particularly complex nor satisfying on a pair of key fronts. First, the tale feels fairly stereotypical of its own right while exploring a story that I’ve previously encountered. Second, the larger character truths that it establishes for characters such as Mike November, James Greer, and Jack Ryan also seem played out. While the tales fulfill some character points inspired by the characters in books written by Tom Clancy, there isn’t much depth here in the stories as told in this series.

(Jordi Mollà as Nicolás Reyes in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

That the series chose to take the course it did with the character Matice was interesting, especially if the series sees fit to setup other characters as stand-ins for characters established within the canon left Tom Clancy readers. I enjoyed some of the tension offered by the second season of Tom Clancy’s Tom Ryan, and I believe there is plenty present within the series to recommend it for people who appreciate the characters. The second season of Tom Clancy’s Tom Ryan gets 3.25-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Season One of television series ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’

So I recently watched the 8-episode first season of Amazon Prime Original Series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018-2023). Starring John Krasinski as Dr. Jack Ryan, the series first came online in August 2018 as a reprise of characters from a series of best-selling “thrillers with detailed themes of espionage, military, science, politics and technology” (Biography.Com) written by Tom Clancy. Jack Ryan as a character was central to many of these books.

(Wendell Pierce, left, and John Krasinski in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan)

The series starts with the premise that it will be telling a story based on characters from the Tom Clancy universe of books. While many of the thrillers were based on the Cold War and aftermath, with the book The Hunt for Red October first being published in 1984, the series makes no apologies for being set in the modern day with a modern set of stories for the characters to face.

An early scene in the first episode brings Jack Ryan into accidental contact with Vice Admiral James Greer, who is in the Central Intelligence Agency in the books as well as in this series. Both characters are portrayed essentially true to their known characters, though both find themselves basically being introduced to each other and in a different place in their careers than you might expect walking in. Greer is played by Wendell Pierce.

(Writer Tom Clancy)

Character Dr. Cathy Ryan (nee Mueller) as portrayed by Abbie Cornish brings home a solid introduction to the character that is sensitive to Jack Ryan yet with the intelligence to question and trust the man the audience knows Jack Ryan to be.

(Abbie Cornish)

Besides introducing the audience to characters we know, there is an actual story that is told in a world aware of the events of the early 2000’s and beyond.  It seems fair to point out that much of the story of season one aims to set the viewer up for the expectation of multiple threads of stories that are occurring in strands and threads that, if told like a true story by Tom Clancy, would come together by the end of the season to bring together loose strands into a tightly weaved whole.

The analytics of Jack Ryan play a part in the story. The backing of James Greer in pursuing some zany thoughts of an unproven analyst also play their part. The role of the character played by Ali Suliman is important, though precisely his tale or backstory are worth the effort to watch.

(Ali Suliman)

The story of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan was compelling, and the known characters were properly likable. The known characters were largely true to their original vision, yet the alterations and switches in personality and character points were welcomed and not off-putting.

Some of the threads of the story tied together better than others. While parts of the story felt like there was material to fill-in the narrative length of an 8-episode season, nothing in the season felt supremely out-of-place, either. Those familiar with books of Tom Clancy might recognize some things in the resolution to the larger story of the season. My grade for the first season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is a 3.5-stars on a 5-star scale.

Matt – Friday, October 5, 2018