The character of Jack Ryan is one that has had a long and varied life on screen, and an even longer life in Tom Clancy’s novels featuring the iconic character. The brilliant analyst has been brought to life by the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine. When it was announced that Amazon was going to steal the character away from the world of film for their own streaming series, the pressure was on to find someone who could live up to the performances that had been given before. While John Krasinski (The Office) may not have been the first name to pop in your head, the first season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan proved he was more than up for the task. As with the Clancy novels, each season is designed to be somewhat standalone where viewers can appreciate each story on its own terms. In the show’s sophomore outing, the political intrigue is ratcheted up to head-spinning levels where the show teeters just on the right side of guilty fun.
At the end of the first season, CIA operative Jim Greer (the always stellar Wendell Pierce, The Wire) extended an offer to Jack to join him in Moscow, which we quickly learn was declined in favor of other opportunities. Jack has become suspicious of some of the activity he sees coming out of Venezuela, which leads him to make his way to South America to investigate. Circumstances lead him to once again team up with Greer to uncover what exactly is going on in the unstable country. The relationship between these two is one of the bedrocks of the series, and this season allows them to explore their interpersonal dynamic in a really compelling manner. In the midst of the main conflict, Venezuela is facing an impending election that is looking uncertain for the deviously corrupt Venezuelan President Reyes (Jordi Mollà). The possibility of Reyes losing his grip on power introduces a great amount of intrigue and casualties. The season leaps into action incredibly quick and does its best to deliver pulse-pounding action and suspense throughout.
The second entry to this series adds some really interesting characters to the Clancy universe. First and foremost is the mysterious Harriet Baumann (Noomi Rapace, Prometheus), who almost too conveniently lures Jack into bed before he can consider that she may have ulterior motives. She is a compelling character expertly inhabited by Rapace whose layers are slowly revealed throughout the season. Despite her entrancing presence, there is a bit of a Cathy Mueller (Abbie Cornish)-sized hole in the season. It is reasonable that she is not included due to their location, but you still kind of want Jack to remember he had a love interest before all of this. The highlight of the season might just be a ruthless assassin brought to life by Game of Throne’s Tom Wlaschiha. He is cold and calculating in a way that indicates Wlaschiha should be booking even bigger roles in the near future. Both of these characters make a big impact on the proceedings, and would have been welcome if they had appeared more.
While some pacing issues in the middle of the season may cause this season to notch slightly below the first, the overall product is a blast to experience. This is a show that delivers intricately crafted sequences that are awe-inspiring from episode to episode. The performances are really solid from the entire ensemble, and twists are surprising enough of the time to keep things interesting. The only strike that longtime fans of the character might have against the series is lack of resemblance to the source material. Jack Ryan may be a badass who makes quick decisions to save the day, but the show does not really utilize his intelligence and skills as an analyst as much as they should. Intense action sequences are tons of fun, but it would be nice for the character to stick to his everyman roots at times. Nevertheless, the creative team of Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Graham Roland (Prison Break) has offered up another exciting season for the longstanding character. If you enjoyed the first season, there is no reason to believe you would feel radically different about this one.
Video Quality
The second season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan comes to Blu-Ray with an eye-popping 1080p presentation that pushes the format to its limit. The series is filled with intricately curated sets and gorgeous cinematography that is presented with perfect clarity on this disc. From the many brightly lit scenes to the darker, nighttime sequences, the skin tones and facial details are incredibly rendered in a way you could almost mistake this for a 4K disc. Subtle facial features with caked on grime are readily visible. Colors from the blood and explosions pop off the screen alongside the lush jungle landscape. Black levels are very deep and never betray the objects on screen. No instances of compression artifacts crept up during the viewing. This is an immaculate presentation that perfectly showcases a beautifully shot series that deserves such treatment.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with a lively Dolby Atmos presentation that handles the action well. The track offers expert level immersion into the environment so that even the subtlest elements are represented. The Atmos presentation takes full advantage of the expanded channel allotment. Directionality of sound is never an issue with this track, and dialogue is reproduced with supreme clarity. All of the sounds are balanced well during the action sequences from explosions to the score. The firefights and other such kinetic moments provide a nice amount of activity in the low end. Speakers stay pretty active throughout the duration of the presentation and provide a nice, enveloping world to sink into. The audio presentation is just as impressive as the visual one.
Special Features
- Deleted Scenes: Eleven scenes totaling about seventeen-minutes are provided here in their finished form in high definition. Most of these scenes are little throwaway moments, and only two contain Jack, but there is some interesting stuff here. The meatiest content is a multi-scene arc from episode 7 “Dios y Federacion” which features a cut down plot of the Ubarri family attempting to assassinate Reyes. Worth checking out!
Final Thoughts
The second season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan offers up the same level of action and suspense that the first season did with the added benefit of some new, compelling characters. This show is a big, fun time that would feel like a guilty pleasure if it were not so expertly crafted. Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment has provided a truly stellar A/V presentation along with a nice assortment of deleted scenes to enhance the experience. Fans of the series should buy with confidence. Recommended
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: The Complete Second Season is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
