So, halfway through Jack Ryan. It’s good!

I like the guy that they got for Jack Ryan, because while he is kind of awkward, well, so was Ryan.  At least in the earlier books.  The dude that they got for Greer is excellent, not least because he’s not taking any of Ryan’s BS while at the same time being absolutely in Ryan’s corner (and refusing to admit it).  They’ve rewound the time line back to when Ryan first met Cathy, which is interesting; they’ve also switched her medical specialty, I assume for reasons.  So far it’s been pretty good and kinetic.

And I think I can determine the exact moment that the Vanity Fair reviewer well and truly misplaced her excrement over Jack Ryan.  I don’t want to spoil it for you, but you should know it when you see it. If not, I’ll tell all y’all later.

8 thoughts on “So, halfway through Jack Ryan. It’s good!”

  1. By “the guy,” I assume you mean John Krasinski. Which…well, you should know his name, Moe. There’s no excuse at this point. Did you not see his Benghazi movie, 13 Hours? Or the more-recent A Quiet Place, where he was co-writer, director, and star?
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    Or literally any of the American version of The Office?

    1. Saw 13 Hours, but not the others. I honestly didn’t want to see 13 Hours, because I knew it would infuriate me, but they gave me a free ticket and I was still on the job then.

    1. Never saw The Wire .. I think Pierce does really well.
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      Keeps reminding me of Lawrence Fishburn’s portrayal of Jack Crawford .. which is intended as a compliment.
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      Mew

  3. After having watched the whole season now, I find myself unsettled. I’m a huge fan of Clancy’s Ryan series and “Executive Orders” is my favorite re-read. Allowing that this is a spin-off and it doesn’t need to follow Clancy’s original outline, I still thought it was too lightweight. One bad guy has delivery access to three types of weapons of mass destruction? Really? A pale, pale shadow of Clancy’s tight and reasonable depictions that include a wide cast of villains.

    As for characterization, Krasinski’s portrayal of Ryan’s moral and ethical makeup was far too “tough guy” and not enough Catholic upbringing. And Greer as a moderate Muslim????

    Overall I also felt it leaned Left into the story line. I’m a little torn about the drone pilot story line, but I imagine that we get a lot of real bad guys too. Then there’s Greer again riding along with the French bigot. Then the poor stinky follower showing the plight of the poor downtrodden jihadi. Then the hair trigger French police that start the whole thing by imprisoning the villain after a zero probable cause, bigoted stop. So yeah, they’re killing people but they all have good reasons…

    1. Yeah, I got to the end of the second episode and am wondering where this turns in to a paean to american supremacy. So far it has been a morally grey story about a boy-scout CIA analyst who freezes some money he thinks is suspicious because of his gut. Then he gets to go to all sorts of exciting places and get shot at (much to his dismay).
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      I will say that if whoever was in charge of the Paris arrest attempt didn’t get killed they should be shot.

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