Jack Ryan 3: On the Edge of Your Seat, In a World Both Better and Worse than Ours

I binged the third season of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime Video -- and let me say how good it is to binge rather than watch a TV series on the old-fashioned weekly basis -- and also say that I thought this was the best of three new Jack Ryan screen forays.  Which is to say, I thought the action was great, the plot complex and surprising and even profound at times, and the overall narrative excellent.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

The enemy is a Russia quite familiar to us.  Luka (a very major character, very well played by James Cosmo) laments that, in Russia, "We don't build things anymore, we build lies."  This is a tragically apt description of Putin.  And the villain (not Luka) yearns and is working for a restoration of the Soviet Union.  But though there's a fleeting, unclear reference to Ukraine, it soon becomes clear that Ryan is dealing with a very different kind of Russia than we all are dealing with off-screen.

In fact, in Jack Ryan 3, the man in charge seems more like Gorbachev, and it's the young Defense Minister who would start World War III if that would enable the return of the Soviet Union.  There are good and bad players and in between on both sides of this escalating tension, in Russia, the U.S., and central Europe, where most of the action takes place.  More than enough to keep you guessing, and they are all well played.

My favorites, in addition to Luka, are Wendell Pierce back as James Greer (who hasn't "been in Moscow many times"), Michael Kelly as Mike November (great name, and at least a dozen or more prime wisecracks), Nina Hoss as Alena Kovac (President of the Czech Republic), and Peter Guinness as Petr her father. There've been a long line of Jack Ryans on screen, going back to Alec Baldwin, and proceeding to Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine.  At this point, John Krasinski is at least as good as Pine, which is high praise.

Considering the shape our world is currently in, seeing what Jack Ryan has to contend with -- no Putin in power, no COVID -- is almost a relief.  But Jack Ryan 3 manages to make the end of the world seem more harrowingly at hand.  It keeps you on the edge of your seat and the series in top form.

See also Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime: Right Up There ... Jack Ryan 2: Fascism Loses -- At Least, In This Story

Jack Ryan 2: Fascism Loses - At Least, In This Story

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

Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime: Right Up There

You've got to give Amazon credit, doing a new, rebooted Jack Ryan series, starring John Krasinski in the title role, after the likes of Harrison Ford, Alex Baldwin, Ben Affleck had knocked the role out the ballpark - well, certainly Harrison Ford - in a series of riveting movies from 1984 through 1996.  Sort of like what Amazon attempted when it brought Philip K. Dick's alternate history masterpiece novel The Man in the High Castle to the streaming television series screen with little-known actors.   And with the same result: both succeeded splendidly.

I haven't read any of Tom Clancy's novels, which I think is actually good when judging a movie or a television series based on the novels, because it allows appreciation of the movie or TV series on its own terms.   And my wife and I, binge-watching the eight Jack Ryan episodes in just two nights, really enjoyed this first season of this classic American spy-action story.

The trapping are familiar and updated - ISIS in Syria, attacking a church in Paris, and before the end of these episodes, bringing the fight to the U. S. homeland, with an ebola virus and a dirty bomb designed to wreak havoc.   But although this new Jack Ryan is reminiscent of both Jack Bauer and Homeland, with some Doron from Fauda thrown in, it has a pace and a heart all its own.

Jack is determined to not only save the day but do the right thing - as in trying to come through for the people around him on his commitments - for not only his friends but relative innocents caught up in the struggle.  His immediate boss, James Greer, is played by Wendell Pierce, who gives the best performance of his long career since The Wire.  Abbie Cornish is good as Dr. Cathy Mueller, who we know in a subsequent story will become Cathy Ryan or Mrs. Jack Ryan (Jack, by the way, is a Dr., too - a PhD in economics).  Ali Suliman as Suleiman is scathing, sensitive, and memorable as the terrorist mastermind.

There's humor, surprises, interludes of non-stop action and deaths - expected and unexpected - in just about every episode.  I'm ready for the second season, which I'll review here as soon as it's up on Amazon.