Season 1 Discussion

[mledawn]

The little sister looked less out of place than the older sister to me. If the little sister wore a headscarf, I think it wouldn't be an issue anyway. 

Suleiman crossed into the US from "Montreal" on a private airstrip or via a private jet. He was portrayed to be a rich man, and people with money get away with a lot. That US border agent looked like he was taking his time and being thorough, so I thought they'd have something flagged in the system. Like the lecture from Greer earlier in the show - don't stop them, just follow them and see where they go.

All told, I enjoyed the series and am glad a second season has been greenlit. I'll watch it, it was fun

[leighdear]

2 hours ago, revbfc said:

I would give them the benefit of the doubt, but the cars in the exterior shot had Virginia tags.

It was a CIA safe house.  The guards and minders would be employees, probably living in Virginia, driving out to the Maryland house for their shifts.  I lived in Leesburg & worked in Rockville for years.  Nothing unusual about living in MD/VA/DC and working elsewhere. 

Honestly, I missed the whole vitamins-as-delivery-system thing.  Went right over my head.  *LOL*

[revbfc]

3 hours ago, leighdear said:

It was a CIA safe house.  The guards and minders would be employees, probably living in Virginia, driving out to the Maryland house for their shifts.  I lived in Leesburg & worked in Rockville for years.  Nothing unusual about living in MD/VA/DC and working elsewhere. 

Honestly, I missed the whole vitamins-as-delivery-system thing.  Went right over my head.  *LOL*

Sykesville ain’t no Rockville.  Can’t we just agree that they screwed up?

[Penman61]

This series relieved me of any qualms I might've had about USA's use of drones because apparently their main job is to STOP ARAB RAPISTS IN PROGRESS.

Edited September 3, 2018 by Penman61

[Netfoot]

38 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

I might've had about USA's use of drones because apparently their main job is to STOP ARAB RAPISTS IN PROGRESS.

They're not doing anything ELSE to stop them...

[yourmomiseasy]

22 hours ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

It was a little annoying how easily Suleiman and his son got into the US. Meanwhile, I'm Middle Eastern and get patted down "randomly" on every other flight I go on. I've had tank tops on and they still patted me down or asked me what a weird lump near my shoulder was. ("uh, my bra strap?"). At least now I have global entry so I can do TSA pre-check and coming back home from international trips is a little less obnoxious with customs and I don't quite as feel like a second-class citizen. Annnnyway......

 

I don't fly private, but I know someone that does and from what I hear it's more like was portrayed here than what you experience in commercial.  He had houses in Florida and the BVI and he said whenever he bought anything large for the BVI house in the USA he'd fly it home private so he didn't have to deal with customs.

On 9/1/2018 at 11:13 PM, Bridget said:

I didn’t feel chemistry between John Krasinski & Abbie Cornish. I thought Abbie was awful in the role. John played a guy who you could tell had butterflies in his stomach about meeting a new person. Abbie’s range and emotion were non-existent. Really bad casting choice with regard to her, but I really liked that Cathy wasn’t portrayed by a size 2 actress. I’m not body shaming anyone at all, but Abbie has put on some weight, and she now looks like a normal, everyday woman in her 30s. That was a fantastic switch up from what we usually see on TV. I like that she doesn’t look like a model or made me think “I should stop binge watching the show and go do some cardio.”

 

I liked that too and that they didn't assume we'd all be grossed out by her "ample" flesh and were not afraid to have her do a love scene.

[mxc90]

All that commotion and gun fire at the beach and no one runs away. I guess they were too tired to move or it's just another day to them.

At the end, Jack runs in with valuable intel but Greer had to interrupt with a story that could have waited while they were on the plane.

[mxc90]

I was waiting for the son to be shocked and pissed at his father for lying about his mother's death.

9 hours ago, mledawn said:

I was so exasperated when one of the CIA officers gave the daughter the game as a gift.

She probably missed the the detail on the box that tells you can communicate with it. Her next assignment will be in Alaska.

All those electronic equipment in the house and I thought they would have been monitoring all communication sent from there. 

Edited September 3, 2018 by mxc90

[mxc90]

Good series.

I appreciate this was 8 episode compared to Netflix's 13. Made for a good binge today.

Would Cathy be in trouble with Secret Service for pulling the fire alarm?

The people on the subway platforms couldn't hear gun fire in the tunnel and call the police? 

Was a little surprised it was Greer instead of Jack that fired the shots in front of Cathy. Then she could really appreciate/understand him.

On 9/2/2018 at 11:05 AM, preeya said:

Yes, but the scene in the courtyard where the "recruits/students" were shooting the machine guns toward the sky, Samir looked like he was really into the moment.

As he firing the shots.... I was hoping he would have lost control, dropped the gun, and in the process sprayed the crowd.

I like to root for the underdog and felt bad for Jack's co-worker that kept making eyes at him. He always ignored her.

Edited September 4, 2018 by mxc90

[mxc90]

10 hours ago, mledawn said:

I was massively confused by how Sandrine was shot - did the other police officer shoot her? Was he with Ali - Jack ended up shooting him, right? I will rewatch the whole series again, but I'm bingeing and have no time to double back just now :)

I believe he didn't know she was a cop, she turned around with the gun and he shot her after he ordered her to drop it. It was just coincidence he was there at the same time they were. Ali shot him.

[Raja]

48 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

 

Would Cathy be in trouble with Secret Service for pulling the fire alarm?

 

I doubt it, she doesn't work for the Secret Service. If it was just a law enforcement agency giving orders perhaps. but unless the President is a lame duck there is no way he could politically survive his justice department prosecuting a doctor for trying to save her patients from a dirty bomb while he was snuck out.

[Irlandesa]

On 8/31/2018 at 4:53 AM, biakbiak said:

So you just invaded an apartment with no reconnaissance? This show is going to annoy me more and more. I have a problem so will continue to watch.

Yeah.  I actually like the show because of the pace and how it's pretty well made, if not exactly revolutionary. But things like this undermine the characters.  I get that they felt they didn't have much time and wanted to barge in but to not leave people behind to watch those who saw them go in is ridiculous.

On 9/1/2018 at 5:44 PM, Stenbeck said:

So...the terrorist's password is something OBVIOUSLY predictable and ridiculously easy to figure out?

C'mon! Why can't his password be completely random shit like Oprah45#42 or BigBike4U

Just sayin'...

I'm of two minds on this.  On one hand, he should have known better.  On the other--so many people know better and yet go with something straight forward and basic because they know they'll remember it.  Still, given how allegedly organized this is, it did seem as something you'd be more likely to see in a less organized group.

[Irlandesa]

On 9/1/2018 at 4:37 PM, Stenbeck said:

This is my first time watching an Amazon show, and the production values feel much higher than your average Netflix show.

The reason the production company/creators went with Amazon is because they were willing to spend money on the show.  That is definitely showing up on screen with the production values and the locations they used to shoot in.

I think the casting of Cathy is fine but I feel like maybe this is one element of the books that didn't necessarily need to be introduced right away. 

Edited September 4, 2018 by Irlandesa

[Irlandesa]

11 hours ago, mledawn said:

I read an article a while ago in The New Yorker (I think) about the mental and emotional toll the job takes on drone pilots. I'm not sure if the show did a credible (enough) job to convey this very real problem but I found my background knowledge helped.

I didn't read that article and I felt the show did a good job portraying that with him.  And maybe I'm wrong and he shows up later in the series but after this episode, I don't think he needs to.  I think the creators' episodic television experience is coming through as he's used as an effective device here to frame the episode.  Although the husband, Lee Turgeson, does feel like he's too recognizable to simply play a role that small.

[Irlandesa]

In spite of finally getting some male nudity reciprocity, this was my least favorite episode.  I didn't love the dialogue Ryan and Greer had with their French counterparts in the car surveillance scene.  The way they portrayed the French agents rubbed me a little the wrong way.  I'm surprised they got off so easy since the French wanted to pick Ali up right away while the US people didn't and it ended up with Ali dead. 

On 9/1/2018 at 11:53 PM, revbfc said:

I’m just not buying that nobody at the funeral looked at those dudes dressed as priests and didn’t get suspicious.

There are priests from all around the world, although the priest with the ponytail is a bit edgy  So I don't think they, seated separately, would have piqued suspicion.  However, if I saw three priests walk out and leave behind a bag, I'm going to notice (and probably step out).  That's one thing that irritates me about shows in general.  People never seem to notice when the person next to them gets up to leave.  I always notice. 

[Raja]

10 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

In spite of finally getting some male nudity reciprocity, this was my least favorite episode.  I didn't love the dialogue Ryan and Greer had with their French counterparts in the car surveillance scene.  The way they portrayed the French agents rubbed me a little the wrong way.  I'm surprised they got off so easy since the French wanted to pick Ali up right away while the US people didn't and it ended up with Ali dead. 

There are priests from all around the world, although the priest with the ponytail is a bit edgy  So I don't think they, seated separately, would have piqued suspicion.  However, if I saw three priests walk out and leave behind a bag, I'm going to notice (and probably step out).  That's one thing that irritates me about shows in general.  People never seem to notice when the person next to them gets up to leave.  I always notice. 

The only folks who would probably notice any priest actually arming the bombs and leaving the bags are the security for the VIPs in attendance, The rest would be following the order of service in the funeral mass and had their own specified behaviors which would be hard to break protocol and not perform because there was a bag under the pew.

The entire time  the political decision not to rely on the French seemed weird the captain and her SWAT commander did seem their version of a local PD SWAT team and not the French counterpart to Delta Force/SEAL Team 6.

[Irlandesa]

On 9/1/2018 at 3:40 PM, AmandaPanda said:

I really love the stuff going with Hanin, though. 

I like her and yet I find the story super frustrating.  Like the guy who tells her that he needs more proof instead of telling her to come back the next day since he knows he's going to contact the CIA to see if he can get intel whether or not it's really her.  And because he outright rejected her, she, of course, is looking for an alternate means of getting out of there.  So instead of going to find her easily at a refugee camp, they have to chase her while she's on the run.

On 9/1/2018 at 9:15 PM, leighdear said:

I'm not crazy about his partner either.  She's a little too stereotypical "talk like one of the guys" characters.  Not all women in the armed forces have to tell their male counterparts to "go get some pussy", or use other similar phrases.  I'm a woman that served, and not once did I ever have to use foul/demeaning language to be accepted by my counterparts.

Right. It felt like people writing a woman like a man to make her seem tough.

On 9/2/2018 at 12:44 AM, revbfc said:

it strains all credibility that the CIA didn’t have at least one guy fluent in French just hanging around within 20 feet to help out.

OMG, yes!  That they would feel comfortable relying on a translation program instead of bringing in someone who fluently speaks France French to do the translating.  I know translation programs have made tremendous strides but when it all hinges on him believing he's speaking to his brother, you do not rely on a translation program.  I was just grateful that they had Moussa be smarter in asking him multiple questions to verify who he was speaking with.  For a moment, I thought they were going to rely on the IP verification which any idiot would know wouldn't tell him a thing.

12 hours ago, mledawn said:

Had a H!ITG moment with the American guy Hanin met at the refugee camp - the one she tried to tell about her husband being Suleiman. It took me a minute to pin him down as Olly the reporter kid from Broadchurch.

Yep. Jonathan Bailey who appeared in a lot of British shows. 

[Irlandesa]

On 9/1/2018 at 5:23 PM, AmandaPanda said:

. 

When Cathy was asking what was real and what was fake with Jack, I wish he'd said everything related to work will always be fake, but everything else he ever said would be real and would always be real. I was glad to see that Cathy was talking to Jack again by the end of the episode. Things are always better when John Krasinski is smiling and that's really the only plot where he cracks a smile. 

 

I hated all that.  One, she was the one who had just told him she wanted to just be casual.  And she indicated that she knew he had more baggage than he was letting on with the scars.  Plus, the government does not pick up analysts with helicopter to inspect tainted romaine lettuce (his obviously silly explanation to avoid telling her the truth).   It's not like they were married and he didn't tell her what he did.  Most of what he told her--initially--was true.  The field stuff came later. 

16 hours ago, mledawn said:

I was so exasperated when one of the CIA officers gave the daughter the game as a gift. That was predictable, and I need to be hit over the head with an anvil to catch a lot of things. Also, to interact those kids would need wifi or data and how does that just happen?

I know.  Just ridiculous. 

[dwmarch]

On 9/1/2018 at 3:23 PM, AmandaPanda said:

I got so freaked out when Suleiman's son and daughter were talking to each other on the video game. If this was the finale episode, I wouldn't have been worried because I don't think this show is going to have one Big Bad for the duration of the series. It seems like it's going to have a new one each season. But since it's the penultimate episode, I was worried something was going to happen to the little boy. I was glad to see they just had ditched the place instead. 

When Cathy was asking what was real and what was fake with Jack, I wish he'd said everything related to work will always be fake, but everything else he ever said would be real and would always be real. I was glad to see that Cathy was talking to Jack again by the end of the episode. Things are always better when John Krasinski is smiling and that's really the only plot where he cracks a smile.

The video game was ridiculous. I've never been in a CIA safehouse but I can well imagine if you're a "guest" (as in politely-held prisoner) you don't get access to electronics that can be used to send messages to terrorists on the other side of the world, you don't get phone privileges and you probably don't even get to look out the windows!

Cathy's outrage was pretty misplaced and as a doctor she should know this. Hey Cathy, tell me about your work day, specifically your patients. What do you mean that's confidential information? I won't tell anyone, I promise! Why are you trying to keep secrets from me?

On 9/2/2018 at 8:47 PM, Raja said:

You have "one of them" in an otherwise dry hole. He can't fight back and you would think others besides Jack can try to question him. But a special operations guy, best of the best battle tested chosen man just shoots him?

This definitely goes against the Clancy grain. At a few points in the novels a character would kill a bad guy and have that "GIT SUM!" moment but would immediately feel bad about ending the life of another human being. Here they've set the stage that this raid was meant to be Abbottabad 2.0 and the soldiers are frustrated that there's no one to fight so they shot the only guy they could. But in real life that's a court martial offense. I remember reading about a case (in Afghanistan IIRC) where an enemy combatant had basically been blown in half by a shell from an attack helicopter. A soldier sees that this guy is slowly dying and is in absolute agony and he pops the guy to put him out of his misery. It was a violation of the rules of war. Blowing the guy in half was all fine and good but shooting him when he was down ended that soldier's career.

Also, that injured terrorist could have been a valuable source of intel. No room on the helicopter I guess.

19 hours ago, mledawn said:

I was so exasperated when one of the CIA officers gave the daughter the game as a gift. That was predictable, and I need to be hit over the head with an anvil to catch a lot of things. Also, to interact those kids would need wifi or data and how does that just happen?

Maybe the wifi network in the house is called CIA_SECRET_NETWORK (open)?

The game being used as a message conduit for bad guys was established a long time ago so it's somewhat ridiculous that the communications in that game weren't being monitored. I suppose one could argue that the kids have security through obscurity which is to say no one knows they are the spawn of America's Most Wanted and their fairly innocuous messages got lost in the general traffic. But I am sure after the leader of the terrorist group was caught communicating through that channel it would be monitored.

[DavidJSnyder]

9 hours ago, dwmarch said:

The game being used as a message conduit for bad guys was established a long time ago so it's somewhat ridiculous that the communications in that game weren't being monitored. I suppose one could argue that the kids have security through obscurity which is to say no one knows they are the spawn of America's Most Wanted and their fairly innocuous messages got lost in the general traffic. But I am sure after the leader of the terrorist group was caught communicating through that channel it would be monitored.

It's still dumb that the kid got on WiFi, but it was a different game.   The terrorists were using some kind of shooting game and the kids were using something with funny looking creatures.

[sharifa70]

Overall, I liked this. Having red some of the earlier Jack Ryan novels, I was especially happy with Krasinski.

I’m with everyone who loved Hanin. What a great character: strong and complex.

Also agree that Victor was the most pointless character in the series. I didn’t get that at all - was his back story just supposed to make us happy he saved Hanin?

I liked Cathy but I agree that maybe it was a little early to introduce her. Maybe she should have been a season 2 addition instead.

I am glad they killed off Suleiman rather than have him be an unkillable recurring villain.

On 9/2/2018 at 1:50 PM, MVFrostsMyPie said:

Also I've never seen Nats fans look so spirited and animated.

Hahaha you made me laugh because I had more or less that exact thought. I follow mostly AL West teams but my first thought at the sound of “Woo!”-ing fans was “Do Nats fans actually woo?” (I looked it up: they’re at .500 this season so the “Woo!” factor is a distinct possibility). 

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, sharifa70 said:

Also agree that Victor was the most pointless character in the series. I didn’t get that at all - was his back story just supposed to make us happy he saved Hanin?

Victor killed the guy on the moped -- an innocent guy.  We see him conflicted about this.  This obviously accounts for his departure from SOP, by saving Hanin.  Victor's part in the show is now over.

Why do we see him recklessly gambling the money?  Why the weird sado-sexual episode in the hotel room?  Why the trip to Turkey?  Why slap down an inch-thick wad of spondulicks to cross the border into Syria?  Why the whole mea culpa routine, followed by the egg-buying?  None of that has anything to do with the remaining story!  It's ridiculous.

[Happywatcher]

If Jack finished TBS he should have learned some ability to shoot and pistol and urban operations. Plus keeping his pistol on his person

[biakbiak]

On 9/2/2018 at 10:34 PM, FozzyBear said:

I actually kind of liked that they cast an actress in her 30s to play a woman in her 30s and didn’t bother to try and make her look younger. She looked like a very beautiful 36 year old woman. Now I’m not saying I think Abbie Cornish was amazing in the role, but I was able to buy her as a Dr at least.

Oh yeah I don’t think she looks bad at all just that if I had to name which one was three years older it wouldn’t be John and that I think she looks her age and not 20 which is nice. 

[roundtheworld]

When Victor got out of the taxi and was looking around the town I thought we would get the female drone pilot seeing him since she's so up on the telenovela of the town.

[Irlandesa]

On 9/1/2018 at 12:05 AM, yourmomiseasy said:

I did enjoy that there was gratuitous male nudity instead of it all being female. 

Yeah.  But it was still pretty lopsided.  Like, with the first love scene, I would've taken some Suleiman ass instead of Hanin's.

On 9/1/2018 at 6:34 PM, AmandaPanda said:

Really liked this finale. I loved that Cathy's job isn't just some random happenstance, that it actually ended up being a part of the overall arc of the season.

I do think that dovetailed well with the main story but it makes me worry about future seasons.  Are they going to throw in an infectious disease every season to give her something more to do than be the love interest?

On 9/2/2018 at 10:06 PM, ladders said:

Frankly I was impressed at the quality of the scenes set in Syria and Turkey, just because I'm used to seeing the B-plot tend towards mediocrity in shows like this. When the stars are off screen you might expect characters to become one-dimensional, the action predictable and as a result, almost want to fast forward through whatever scenes are set in the village, desert, or refugee camp. But the actors were good here and the writers clearly invested time and thought into developing their stories.

And it was filmed beautifully.  The colors and landscape were so rich, especially at the shore.  There were a lot of things I nitpicked about the series but it was beautiful to look at.

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Victor killed the guy on the moped -- an innocent guy.  We see him conflicted about this.  This obviously accounts for his departure from SOP, by saving Hanin.  Victor's part in the show is now over.

As I said in the episode in which he first appeared, I think Victor worked beautifully as a one-episode character.  He's the kind of character that you can get when you look at a show as episodic rather than one long novel in that one hour can be self-contained.  I thought his part in the show would end there.  When it didn't, I figured something must be coming up with him but that never happened.  It was super random.  And super silly. 

Overall, I enjoyed the series. The pacing was great.  The final episodes especially gave me vibes of some of the movies like Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.   So it felt comfortably familiar and even a touch nostalgic.  But while it was competently enough made to give me those feelings, it wasn't so exceptional that it'd merit much of a rewatch in the way some of my favorite action movies did.  There were too many coincidental contrivances used to extend the drama which served to make characters and agencies look stupid as hell.  They're so close to making a show I'd love rather than just like.

[amazinglybored]

10 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Victor killed the guy on the moped -- an innocent guy.  We see him conflicted about this.  This obviously accounts for his departure from SOP, by saving Hanin.  Victor's part in the show is now over.

Why do we see him recklessly gambling the money?  Why the weird sado-sexual episode in the hotel room?  Why the trip to Turkey?  Why slap down an inch-thick wad of spondulicks to cross the border into Syria?  Why the whole mea culpa routine, followed by the egg-buying?  None of that has anything to do with the remaining story!  It's ridiculous.

 

I think Victor was supposed to show the PTSD drone pilots can be effected by and the prices people pay at every level. People die, people get seriously injured and he’s ruined mentally within a culture that does more harm than good. It’s all destructive and clearly flawed given that he was okayed to kill an innocent man and Hanin only escaped because he snapped.

 

The gambling is blood money he’s trying to get rid of. He even had it numbered and in a creepy little mural on his wall. But instead of getting rid of the money by losing it in a casino he keeps winning and making more money off it. The sex scene was stupid (possibly trying to highlight escapism or risky behaviour) but he also tries to get them to take the money. He still can’t get rid of it because the guy who beat him won’t take it from him. He throws money at the cab driver because he wants it gone and needs to get to what has to be the conclusion to this. Then he goes to try to put it all in the hands of the family of the innocent man he killed; money and his life. It ties into how the people on the other side aren’t all monsters and in this case were arguably better than the Americans you see him in contact with when they really didn’t have to be. The guy is all about guilt and how hard it is to make amends, and he was kind of suicidal by the end.

 

It just didn’t get executed very well. Maybe he’s a mirror for JR. Action vs inaction, physical scars vs mental scars, etc. They end up being fairly similar. Both funneled into lives they didn’t initially choose, making up for a failing and getting to the end of that quest. The show botched a fairly important message, tbh. Drone pilots do deal with ptsd and militaries screw up.

[sacrebleu]

On 9/1/2018 at 6:44 PM, Stenbeck said:

So...the terrorist's password is something OBVIOUSLY predictable and ridiculously easy to figure out?

C'mon! Why can't his password be completely random shit like Oprah45#42 or BigBike4U

Seriously-- I'm only a few episodes in, and already-- Jack Ryan and Deputy Chief Bunk are like Jessica Fletcher-- when they show up, you know there's gonna be a body count. 

[TV Diva Queen]

On 9/3/2018 at 7:40 PM, Irlandesa said:

In spite of finally getting some male nudity reciprocity, this was my least favorite episode.  I didn't love the dialogue Ryan and Greer had with their French counterparts in the car surveillance scene.  The way they portrayed the French agents rubbed me a little the wrong way.  I'm surprised they got off so easy since the French wanted to pick Ali up right away while the US people didn't and it ended up with Ali dead. 

There are priests from all around the world, although the priest with the ponytail is a bit edgy  So I don't think they, seated separately, would have piqued suspicion.  However, if I saw three priests walk out and leave behind a bag, I'm going to notice (and probably step out).  That's one thing that irritates me about shows in general.  People never seem to notice when the person next to them gets up to leave.  I always notice. 

I'm the other side of the coin here.  I saw that walk out as brilliant - the each got up at the same part of the Our Father - funeral go-ers would have thought that the priests were doing something in tandem for the services.  

[Perkie]

On 9/2/2018 at 7:53 PM, Netfoot said:

Yes, but the scene in the courtyard where the "recruits/students" were shooting the machine guns toward the sky, Samir looked like he was really into the moment.

I kept waiting for all the birds to fall from the sky, riddled with bullets!!

[Raja]

21 minutes ago, Perkie said:

I kept waiting for all the birds to fall from the sky, riddled with bullets!!

Birds are smart if they see a party in that part of the world then they keep out of the airspace  

[Happywatcher]

I thought it was interesting Amazon had all the women co stars so far, except the french captain, sign nudity contracts.

[BaskingsharkGTX]

This was a fun watch, but so predictable and, what would the word be, I guess perfunctory.

It could have been so much better plotted. It felt like a lot of what was on screen was just filling in time and doing nothing much to advance Jack & co's attempts to stop Suleyman. For example, they may as well not have bothered rescuing Hanin and her kids at all. After they went to all the trouble of finding and extracting them, the only info she can give them is where Suleyman is and the layout of the house, then her kid inadvertently tips him off that they're in America so he escapes, knowing the Americans are about to attack him - and that gives him the perfect opportunity to let them "rescue" the hostages and get the Ebola into the US.

Hope season two is better written.

[TV Diva Queen]

On 9/1/2018 at 3:40 PM, AmandaPanda said:

I am so incredibly bored by everything about the drone pilot. Maybe it's because I couldn't stand him on Orange is the New Black, but that's my least favorite plot thread. I really love the stuff going with Hanin, though. 

OMG, that's who he is.....I didn't care enough about him to look him up.  thanks!

[TV Diva Queen]

On 9/3/2018 at 4:44 PM, mxc90 said:

I was waiting for the son to be shocked and pissed at his father for lying about his mother's death.

She probably missed the the detail on the box that tells you can communicate with it. Her next assignment will be in Alaska.

All those electronic equipment in the house and I thought they would have been monitoring all communication sent from there. 

yeah - like wouldn't the kid need the wifi password?  I imagine (hope) there would be a password in the safehouse's wifi.  LOL 

1 minute ago, TV Diva Queen said:

yeah - like wouldn't the kid need the wifi password?  I imagine (hope) there would be a password in the safehouse's wifi.  LOL 

ETA:  @dwmarch beat me to it, and won too.  Credit where credit is due.  

[Bannon]

Tried to enjoy this show, but it was just too poorly written. The wife and kids having access to wi-fi, the helicopter pick up on the lawn, and 

Spoiler

in the last episode, when CIA officers are running around D.C., in gunfights with terrorists, 

 

among othert things,  is just too much for me. Too bad, because the acting was decent.

[candle96]

On 9/1/2018 at 10:58 PM, amazinglybored said:

I expected more and was disappointed by what I’d call a well made but mediocre show. If I had no expectations I think I would have been okay with wasting a rainy weekend on it and then forgetting about the show. I thought Krasinski was surprisingly weak until episode 8 where he was much better. Maybe that’s all on me. Idk. 

I was alright with Victor in theory but the execution made him a problem which is a shame. Cathy worked out better than I would have expected and Greer was one of the better parts. They made the French look pretty incompetent as well.

Hanin was awesome though. I really liked how they handled the family part of Suleiman and I think that was the best part of the show.

On another forum someone likened this show to the crime/military procedurals they show on CBS, with a bit more nudity and F-bombs. I watched the last 4 episodes with that analogy in my head, and agreed. Fine, good enough, entertaining, but nothing that really sticks with you. And the plots tend to wrap up a little too neatly. Not a single word about what happened to the doctors from other countries with ebola?  It was more than just the one guy who contracted it. Hundreds of people could've been exposed, depending on how many flights were taken to get everyone home. 

I too was the most emotionally invested in Hanin, and I actually even liked how they sort of showed how Suleiman got to be the way he was. Given his background, education and intelligence, I think he could've continued to be a compelling villain for the next season.

On the other hand, I would be fine with this show getting entirely off the Muslim extremists as bad guys train. A little too predictable. I guess with them going to Moscow, it's likely the Russians will be the big bad for season 2. 

[Happywatcher]

This is all of Victor's drama I can take

[tennisgurl]

Good to see Jim decided to keep up with riding his bike to work!

The reviews of this were a little "meh", but I really thought the production values were great, and I love John Krasinski, who is having a nice little career resurgence lately, which is always nice to see. It didnt have many surprises (the two kids are the main baddie and his brother, the guy Jack was talking to is no mere body guard) but I still enjoyed it, and while a lot of the beats were a bit cliche, they are cliche for a reason at times. They make for an exciting story, even if its not reinventing the wheel. Its not quite the same "holy shit" high intensity of early 24 or Homeland, but hopefully that means it wont go to the same weird, crappy places that 24 and Homeland would eventually end up in.

I am already super interested in head terrorist guys wife. The actress has a really expressive face, and I got a ton from her, even though she didnt actually have many lines. 

[Morrigan2575]

On 9/2/2018 at 5:51 AM, dwmarch said:

CotC: no gunfights at all but Jack is held at gunpoint by the Russians.

Was there some gun play when Jack was boarding the plane to leave Russia or was that a simple exchange? CotC is my least favorite, I've only read it once and could be confusing it with something else.

On 9/2/2018 at 5:51 AM, dwmarch said:

guy that we saw in a few episodes but he was not John Clark.

Always Mr. Clark....never Kelly ?

Quote

Also conspicuous by their absence: Ed and Mary Pat Foley, Ding Chavez, Judge Moore, Bob Ritter, Robbie Jackson, Skip Tyler, Bart Mancuso, Sergey Golovko, various others.

I guess it depends on if they can/will incorporate the books and move Jack towards the stories. I would imagine that Skip and Robbie should/could be included now since he knew them before the CIA. 

I'm not watching, this doesn't look/feel like Jack Ryan and I'd rather just read the books than watch this but, it was nice to read your review since you brought back so many memories of the books (haven't read them in awhile).

That being said, I hope they don't screw up Clark or Ding, they are my favorite characters outside of Jack.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 02/09/2018 at 8:38 AM, Jodithgrace said:

I'm curious about that whole Stanley and Blanche episode. They didn't rob him, which I assumed they were going to do. What did they get out of that encounter? Is this going to be significant later on? I just can't imagine how. It bugs me every time they show Victor. 

I figured it was just some freaky sex thing. I liked the ending of it though which is good because adding a random character seemed weird and the story of Suliman's wife wasn't really interesting me before the end. The drone pilot who is just totally beaten down and does not give a fuck is an interesting thing to explore. I mean the guy had 100+ kills.

The only thing I thought was dumb was Suliman telling he brother to get out with no witnesses (had to look that up since there was no on screen translation, kind of annoying). Because sure leaving the Doctor alive is a big risk and could draw unwanted attention. But at the same time, the sound of gunshots and a couple of murdered kids would draw a ton of unwanted attention too.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Kel Varnsen

[Kel Varnsen]

I liked this episode but I wasn't sure what the point of the guys murdering the priest was. Was that supposed to mean something or just set them up as bad guys?

[Kel Varnsen]

I really liked how this episode brought things back around with the dead priest from episode 2 and the poison in the olive oil from episode 1. I was wondering if either of those were going to get a follow-up.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 01/09/2018 at 11:15 PM, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

I am so invested in Hanin and her girls. Was she in the books?

It's funny in the first couple of episodes I thought her storyline was totally boring, especially the whole "you don't trust me/ because I don't know what you are doing" exchange. But since she left him, seeing what she has been going through is really interesting.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

It'll make sense to you why they did that in one of the future episodes.

[TV Diva Queen]

Note to self:  check to see how many episodes a series has.  I thought I had 10 and when Jack shot Suleiman (sp), I was like "now what are they gonna do for 2 more episodes"  I did this with Miss Maisy too.  ugh!

[theredhead77]

I'm a long time fan of Clancy / Jack Ryan books and I totally dug the series. I'm looking at this as Jack Ryan in his younger days and while it should lead up to the Jack Ryan in the novels I can't see these stories tying right into Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, etc... Those books were products of their time with the big-bad being the current big-bad IRL. 

With that said, I'm OK with it deviating from the books with his back-story and going down a new path. My biggest issue with The Sum of All Fears was the timeline.

Obviously the kid was going to give away their location - that was obvious the minute a handheld device was handed over. FBI / CIA safe houses should know better.

I found Victor compelling and appreciated what they were trying to convey with his character - not all soldiers with PTSD / trauma are frontline soldiers.

All in all I can't wait for season 2. 

[Juliegirlj]

Jump the shark moment when Jack pinpoints Sulemon’s location, but Greer (Bunk) decides it is story time first. 

Jack and Cathy have ZERO chemistry. It can’t be too difficult to cast an actress that has good chemistry with John Krasinski...

[TV Diva Queen]

On 9/4/2018 at 8:09 PM, roundtheworld said:

When Victor got out of the taxi and was looking around the town I thought we would get the female drone pilot seeing him since she's so up on the telenovela of the town.

that would have been sweet - and maybe given Victor a storyline too.  

[Danny Franks]

So this was... fine. Well made, good production values, and the acting was more than acceptable.

It's not exactly nuanced or deep, but then nor is the source material, as far as I'm aware. All very American and heroic, with a noble hero who always does the right thing. It did bug me a little that Ryan was right about everything, at every turn. You need to have your hero face some sort of crisis of confidence at some point. Though again, I don't think he ever did in any of the Jack Ryan movies (I haven't read any of the books).

It all felt very wish fulfilment-y. He's super smart, ex-military but also with a doctorate in economics, he has beautiful women being utterly charmed by him, and gets to look like the coolest guy ever, being called away to deal with an emergency. His bosses doubt him, but he almost immediately wins their respect, and his sceptical colleagues are proved wrong.

But John Krasinski is likeable enough, and Wendell Pierce is always very watchable. Abbie Cornish did seem like an appropriate love interest for John Krasinski too. I really loved her in Stop-Loss, which is all I've seen her in, so I'm sure I'll like here in this.

The plot itself was all quite direct and obvious. The guy that only Ryan believes in is actually a secret mastermind, and they manage to capture him but don't realise it until too late. Ryan is the only one who realises he's not a simple bodyguard, something the far more experienced interrogators apparently miss. I'm not keen on the 'masses of indistinguishable Arabs throw themselves at the American barricades' stuff. But I did like Suleiman's wife, who showed up with a lot of charisma, and will hopefully give the Arabic characters a bit more humanity. And I'm encouraged with the fact that the bad guys have a sympathetic origin story, which already sets this show ahead of the sort of dreck given to us by the likes of Michael Bay.

It's definitely watchable, though. I just don't expect to be wowed by clever writing and shocking twists. But sometimes it's nice to know what you're getting.