About Jack Ryan (Season Two)

Post 697:

            It’s always going to be hard for me to enjoy a new rendering of Tom Clancy’s vaunted hero, but here I go again, trying out season two of Jack Ryan. A few things. I probably hold the old Clancy books and movies up too high, bias coming from the fact that they were some of the first “adult” novels I read as a little guy.

            Something else. I’m only three or four episodes into the new series. Usually I’ll wait to pass judgment, but here it seemed okay to point out a few reasons why the first episode didn’t land.

            For one thing, the whole storyline with his “future” wife Cathy, a large portion of the first season, seems to have been abandoned. I thought her involvement was written into the story in a pretty hacky way, so I was fine that they’d jettisoned that part—except that it’s weird. Jack and Cathy are a thing from the time they meet. Whatever, new incarnations. Totally okay. I guess.

            My real grumble. Jack’s giving a talk to a bunch of people about Venezuela. He’s talking about dangers to the world and who America should be keeping a close eye on. He calls the current leader an asshole (literally) and then talks about how they need to keep an eye on this guy so it doesn’t turn into a bad deal like Yemen or Libya or Iraq.

            So… besides the fact that American involvement in those places has been complicated, to say the least, I don’t see a PhD giving a talk and offering a good guy/bad guy take. It struck me as ham-fisted. In movies like Hunt for Red October, it was never that political. There were good guys and bad, but it wasn’t really about the country. Bad and good were portrayed on both sides, and it was subtle. We’re talking about a time when Russians and the U.S. were truly playing a life and death game, and yet, Clancy managed to keep some dignity and blame for everyone. Not easy, but he found a way.

            Again, it’s early, so maybe this might prove to be the case again.

            It’s just hard for me to imagine Dr. Jack being so flippant. Krasinski’s Jack has a little more banter in his nature—that’s okay—but caution: use sparingly.

            I think maybe I’m too picky with this series, but some of the dialogue and scenes strike me as a tad lazy. Some of the actors are great. I really like the special forces leader and those dudes. Glad to see the guy from The Leftovers as the PT boat driver. I’m actually relieved when they cut to those guys.

Not sure. Maybe I’ll be surprised in the end. I did notice in the opening credits that the show has over five hundred executive producers. So that’s good…

            Okay, perhaps healthy criticism has morphed into petulance and carping. That’s not my usual bit. Sorry, Jack Ryan. And to all the executive producers, my bad. I think I’m an OG Clancy fanboy, and I’m still not sure what fanboy is.

            Cheers and see you after.