Because cool guys don’t look at explosions. John Krasinski reprising his role as Jack Ryan. Photo courtesy of Radio Times.
If the new season of Jack Ryan didn’t have political conspiracies, nonstop action-packed sequences, odd side stories, and lots of over the top spy stuff, well it wouldn’t be worth watching. Season Two pulled no punches when hopping back into the saddle, but I was surprised at a few shortcomings that detracted from an otherwise great show.
The series begins with Jack and his team investigating potential illegal arms shipments into Venezuela. However, once there they run into a slew of new issues to address, the largest one being the murder of a US senator of whom Jack is extremely close to. The harder Jack pushes to find the person responsible for the murder, the more twists and turns the plot takes, sending Jack on a seemingly endless chase around the world for the truth.
The calm before the storm. Photo courtesy of Apocalypse.co
It is voting time in Venezuela, and the current president, Nicolás Reyes, isn’t looking for any new scandals to impede his path to re-election, especially when the person running against him stands a good chance at winning, so when a few nosey American agents start questioning the government’s spin on who killed Senator Moreno and why President Reyes arranges a meet and greet between Jack (who earlier accused Reyes of murdering Senator Morales) with the newest assassin on the block imported all the way from London for just such an occasion. Jack survives the attempt, but because he broke the rules earlier (like all the cool guys do) he gets a one-way ticket back to D.C for a time-out to rethink his actions. I guess, I mean the whole scene is a bit vague there.
But again, Jack doesn’t follow the rules and with the help of a senator who was friendly with Senator Moreno Jack instead heads out to Europe for more intel and a closer look at how and who is funding the illegal arms shipments into Venezuela, which inevitably sends Jack back to Venezuela to meet up with his team, although completely off the record, to find out more information about the illegal weaponry and who killed Senator Moreno. Again. That’s a lot of flying and not exactly very eco-friendly. I’m just saying he could have consolidated a bit that’s all. Moving on.
Photo courtesy of tvinsider.com
Back in Venezuela, Jack and his team stumble upon a whole new group of conspiracies involving illegal mining operations, prison camps of Reyes’ detractors, and all sorts of potential election tampering, including death threats against the President’s political rival. Can Jack, the lone wolf of spying, per the norm, save the world again? Well, kind of, and that’s half the fun of watching this type of genre.
The series starts off a bit slow and at times redundant, to a confusing amount. However, around episode five things begin to pick up and the storyline becomes more cohesive, the action more intense, and the emotional flow very tangible. The ending is solid and does tie the series up well but the season as a whole doesn’t leave you excited for a season three.
For more information, you can visit the Jack Ryan IMDb here
The official trailer can be seen here