The second season of Jack Ryan began streaming yesterday on Amazon Prime. My wife and I saw it tonight, and thought was it excellent, and better than the first season, which I said last year was splendid.
The theme was shreddingly relevant to the world around us right now: a President in Venezuela who values his power more than democracy and is willing to do anything to hold on to his power. By relevant, I'm not referring to the shaky hold on democracy that has long characterized many countries in South America. I'm talking, sadly and obviously, about what is going on in the United States right now.
President Reyes is willing to suspend elections when he fears they're not going his way, and order a compliant military to murder civilians. True, that's not quite as bad as what we have in the United States today, and not likely to happen. But that's only because I don't think our military would follow orders like that in the United States. But the very fact that we have to think about it, which is because we have a President who daily denounces the news as fake and thinks any votes against him were somehow rigged, is reason enough to be very concerned.
Meanwhile, on the screen, Jack Ryan was better than ever. He's unbribeable and unshakable in his devotion to truth and justice. He's clearheaded and steadfast in his loyalty to his friends. And he gets the job done. The story has some good turns, suitable villains, and even a complicated love interest who gets in the action with Jack in more ways than one. And the supporting characters, ranging from the lead commando team, to Greer and November, are all in good, memorable form.
So see the second outing of Jack Ryan on Prime Video and enjoy. And take comfort in the fact that our current President in what passes for real life these days was roundly booed tonight in Madison Square Garden. (That's right, Joe Scarborough, that's democracy.)
See also: Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime: Right Up There
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