I like a good action thriller, and when there’s a military and or spy element to it I’m more eager to check it out. So I was excited when I heard that one of the books on my TBR was being adapted. The Terminal List is based on the book series and the first book in said series written by former Navy SEAL Jack Carr. The series was adapted by David DiGilio and stars Chris Pratt, Constance Wu, Taylor Kitsch, Riley Keough, Jeanne Tripplehorn, JD Pardo, and Jai Courtney that for some reason I didn’t recognize.

Premise: The series follows James Reece after his entire platoon of Navy SEALs is ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission. Reece returns home to his family with conflicting memories of the event and questions about his culpability. However, as new evidence comes to light, Reece discovers dark forces working against him, endangering not only his life but the lives of those he loves.

Review: They started the show with a bible quote, and that alone seemed like it was going to set the tone for the whole series. I expected them to lay it on thick and make some of it a spiritual experience however, they were more subtle.

They went the gaslighting route when it comes to James Reese’s team incident, which was an amazing idea – even if the execution was not great. Trying to convince him that he was not remembering correctly the events that got his platoon killed was really working for me in particular when you consider Reese’s medical condition, and I also thought that they would ditch what in the show became a fridging. My thinking was that if his mind cannot be trusted, the need to crush his support system was unnecessary.

I enjoy the plot in the book as it is, but the way they set the whole series up almost made me think that Reese would be fighting to protect his family from harm instead of avenging them. When they attacked him at the clinic, I fully expected his wife and daughter to make it. He could have sent them to safety while he tried to get revenge for his unit and figure out who was behind this and threatening his family. The loss of his wife and daughter was unnecessary given what they changed from the story in the book. But I guess some men need that level of grief to jump into action.

It was also very hard not to notice that everyone who used and betrayed Reese and his unit was not “real military.” In the sense that they were mostly people who’d seen little to no actual combat, but the few who did were almost given excuses for their behavior. I understand and like the idea of putting service men and women on a pedestal but to reuse a phrase we’ve heard in other areas, every job has its “bad eggs.”

The mystery-spy-action-thriller part of the show was solid and familiar but I feel Pratt added his own flair to the proceedings. The story is not rushed, at least, it doesn’t feel the need to push plot points forward to keep the momentum and excitement up. The material has time to breathe and it makes the story feel a little more real.

The Terminal List is arguably well-made and entertaining but check out the book.

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