Jack Ryan

A very satsifying mix between 24 and Homeland. The characters are good and likeable, the villain is very good and the action set pieces are thrilling. Amazon's first great show.

don't watch the second season

In season 2, witness an insane hipster CIA spy destroy a real country and its people as he pretends to be woke to Venezuelan internal politics while at the same time almost getting himself killed while his friends die around him.

A simplified tale of good guy/bad guy terrorism hunt. It is nothing fancy story wise but its got impressive production and a good cast. I would watch another season.

First season was either ok, or I had a lower threshold. Second season is unwatchable, the script is a joke.

Very solid meat and potatoes anti-terrorism action thriller that scratches that post-24 itch better than the more recent seasons of Homeland or the 24 reboot last year did. Not especially brilliantly written with mostly functional expository dialogue and some deus ex machina here and there but with brisk and involving plotting, bringing in influences from James Bond-esque globetrotting to some Zero Dark Thirty flavors. John Krasinski is excellent in the lead role, alpha and everyman at once.

Starts out strong and somewhat believable but turns very Dan Brown-esque towards the end of the season and demands a stronger and stronger suspension of disbelief from the viewer. The production quality is exceptionally high, the acting is standard action movie fare with a somewhat miscast lead playing a larger-than-life character. All in all, very enjoyable entertainment but don't expect anything groundbreaking. Edit for Season 2: Even slicker production, even less believable writing.

A weak version of Jack Ryan carried solely by the likeability of Krasinski. (2 seasons)

this feels like a show that simultaneously panders to people who would never watch it in the first place and is oddly anachronistic in its execution. our hero is a one-note super genius (we know this because he gets Jeopardy answers right) former soldier wall street stockbroker turned nerdy computer numbers cia guy who mopes up the screen with a Muslim Bunk from the Wire. They have to track down a fella who was oopsie-daisy radicalized because an airstrike killed his ah who gives a shit.

Having never read the books, I had no expectation as to what I wanted the show to be. What I found was a solid action show with a very compelling story. It was able to tread the fine line of showing the perspective of different cultural backgrounds without coming across as offensive. Instead, everyone had a certain humanity to them that made even the most despicable of characters somewhat relateable.

I got bored of spy stuff, but there is a new wave of good work on this and this is one of them. It is a very balanced work: action, plot, drama, character development (acting is top notch too); none of them is over/underdone. Especially the international aspect of it is extremely well handled; at least the dialogue in the other languages I'm fluent in (French, Turkish) was very authentic; things people would say at that moment, in that environment (Hollywood sucks at this normally).

It's good stuff. Krasinski is good too. Excellent supporting cast, good action.

I wanted to like this. Krasinski is better than expected and the production of the film is top-notch, but the scripts are too much vested in becoming standard television that mixes sitcom, office drama, and adventure combat. As a result, this holds together like a Taco Bell dump: big interesting chunks floating in a syrupy fetid liquid of the same old stuff.

Decent action and stories.

S1: 74 | S2: 70 | S3: 78 | S4: 82

Season 1

Season 1 - not that clever at end, Jack just uses luck and running, shooting skill to succeed. Needs to deliver interesting tech, military and national security procedure detail every episode, prove how much more realistic it is than 24. Season 2 nothing interesting happened after first couple episodes, lots of empty time running around jungle and election filler.

S1/2/3/4

To my shame I've read one and a half Tom Clancy books, this was nearer the one. As patriotic and pro-American imperialism as to be expected with some attempts to mitigate and camouflage;. An OK watch as these things go despite some silly filler -that drone guy. Economics graduates with SQL skills are the real heroes.

John Krasinski does a great job as Jack Ryan, and the show presents solid action and suspense. The odd seasons are better than the even seasons, but it's all decently entertaining.

S1: 55 | S2: 65 | S3: 45 | S4: 40 | The first season is slow, but does a good job humanizing the antagonists, and has a surprisingly solid finale. The second season is admittedly not very well written, but I enjoyed it a lot more. Season 3 is, imo, pretty dull start to finish, with only a few notable moments. The start of Season 4 is easily the weakest part of the series, and while it does pick up steam halfway through, the finale doesn’t really stick the landing.

looks less authentic than, say, 'homeland'... but more dynamic (surely nothing can beat '24' with that regard) and more easy(or brainless)-watching . ...plot and char development is mediocre at best (but enough for that genre)... the office-ish krasinsky (just moody one) ...not many thrills (compensated by some action. though id prefer both)...

Season 1: 50

John Krasinski is woefully miscast, and his acting skills are not up to the task. But the rest of the cast is brilliant. Many scenes should have been shot with a wider lens, as a lot of the action lacks true sense of scale. With a better lead actor this could have been really good, but instead it's just OK. 24 and Homeland are far, far better than this.

Very glossy, polished production, at least by tv standards, impressive action, cringe writing.

The most awful American imperialist propaganda imaginable.

S1: 78 S2: 66

Each episode played like a mini action film with a purpose to serve the overall narrative of the season. The polarizing personalities in Greer and Ryan made things more tense and definitely created an interesting dynamic through out. It was a relatively familiar plot with the CIA chasing down a new threat in global terrorism but they attempted to add a deeper level. A wife who wanted nothing to do with that life and who desperately wanted out. It helped lead to the thrilling season finale.

Too many episodes, too little plot. It's almost like a Netflix show

1938: 1st season was perfect. 2nd season was ok. 3rd season was weak.

Aside from a terrible season 2, it's a mostly-solid (though shallow) action thriller. S1: 3/5. S2: 1/5. S3: 3/5. S4: 2/5.