John Krasinski (Dream Girls, Jarhead) is back for a final season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan on Prime Video. Michael Kelly, Betty Gabriel, and Wendell Pierce are back with Abbie Cornish returning after appearing on the first season. Joining the cast this season are Michael Peña, Michael McElhatton, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Louis Ozawa.
Premise: After following a suspicious series of bank transfers leading to a religious extremist (S1), wadging his way through political warfare in a corrupt Venezuela (S2), and tracking an untraceable tactical nuclear bomb in Eastern Europe (S3) Jack Ryan is back this time investigating rumors of internal corruption and an alliance between a drug cartel and terrorist organization.
Review: The six-episode final season signaled to me a faster pace but I have to admit that the season was a bit rushed yet they kept up the quality. The production values and the acting have remained top-notch and helped elevate the material. The writing hasn’t quite found the right balance because the ideas are great but the execution peters out as if they struggled to maintain the quality, writing-wise, that the original idea requires. The series managed to stay character-driven most of the recurring characters are fleshed out and have a nice dynamic. They continued to develop Jack Ryan as a soldier and a CIA analyst, which means he has lost a bit of the everyman thrown into difficult situations and creeps into the skilled action hero.
However, in their rush to wrap this up, they’ve made some non-sensical choices and taken easy outs. Those things weren’t too jarring for me but I can understand that they can be. There is enough action to keep things moving and exciting. The cast still has amazing chemistry and the addition of Michael Peña was inspired, his Domingo Chavez is unassuming but ruthlessly efficient, which explains why the idea of a spin-off based on his character is in development. I like the idea and it explains why this season doesn’t feel like a definitive goodbye.
The fourth and last season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is a nice send-off for the character who I guess might become a guest star if that Domingo Chavez spin-off gets off the ground.
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I love Tom Clancy’s spy novels (for reading and watching the adaptations) so it’s great that John Krasinski returns as CIA agent Jack Ryan for a final season. If you haven’t seen the earlier productions or read Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan novels do so and you won’t be disappointed. In fact as time goes by the novels get better whilst the films age a bit but nonetheless their flair remains intact.
Another great read on the espionage front is about Edward Burlington in the fact based spy thriller Beyond Enkription in The Burlington Files series by Bill Fairclough (MI6 codename JJ. For more, see TheBurlingtonFiles website and read Beyond Enkription about a real spy on the run from London to Port au Prince and back.
Also do look up TheBurlingtonFiles news dated 31 October 2022 about Pemberton’s People, ungentlemanly spies in MI6, and if you are shocked best read Beyond Enkription too! It is an intriguing raw factual thriller and a super read as long as you don’t expect John le Carré’s delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots. Nevertheless, one US critic has heralded it as “up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”.
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