Jack Ryan Season 4 Review: The Right Rhythm, Making It Enjoyable and Engaging
Cast: John Krasinski, Wendell Pierce, Abbie Cornish, Michael Kelly, Betty Gabriel, Michael Pena
Creators: Carlton Cuse, Graham Roland
Streaming Platform: Prime Video
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
On July 14, Jack Ryan ended on Prime Video with its Jack Ryan Season 4, the series with John Krasinski based on the novels by Tom Clancy. A season that tries to close a circle opened four years earlier, telling a complex story through the winning formula of the debut. This is how an unprecedented conspiracy, capable of jeopardizing the very security of the CIA and the system on which it is based, returns to preponderant the motivations of the characters and their emotional ties, in a story in which everything is interconnected, public and private, calculation and instinct. Far from the coldness and programmatic nature of the penultimate season, this fourth year thus confirms, through six adrenaline-pumping episodes, between international intrigues, political conspiracies, and bacteriological weapons, what had seemed clear from the beginning.
An epilogue up to expectations that also takes up the ranks of Ryan’s human and professional parable, explaining his motivations and integrity capable of going beyond all rules and protocols for the good of his country and the people who live there. Jack Ryan Season 4 was undoubtedly the most awaited title among the Amazon Prime Video series of June 2023, and this is not only for the success of the previous seasons but also for the fact that we are ahead of the final season. John Krasinski is therefore ready to take on the role of the well-known secret agent again for one last time, between chases, escapes, and criminal organizations to face. This fourth round is made up of 6 episodes which, although not many, are close to an average duration of about an hour each, and, as in the past, there is all the time to build an articulated story full of twists and turns., even if, as we will explain to you in the course of this review, we are not faced with a story capable of satisfying the many expectations that had been created.
Jack Ryan Season 4 Review: The Story Plot
Jack is now the deputy director of the CIA, and as such must investigate cases of internal corruption, aided by his usual allies such as James Greer and Mike November. Everything is the norm, or so Ryan believed, whose research leads to a shocking truth: a new conspiracy, based on terrorism and drug trafficking in direct collaboration, whose implications touch the team closely. As he tries to thwart these phenomenal new threats, Jack begins to question the system he has always believed in and of which he has been a key player in recent years. Times are not easy for Jack Ryan. He has just become interim deputy director of the CIA and is already under the crosshairs of an investigative commission for his habitual tendency to act on his own. A modus operandi that comes in handy, however, as soon as he discovers the existence of a series of secret missions authorized by former director Miller and the possibility that, behind them, lurks a ruthless organization capable of reaching Washington.
Helped by the trusted James Greer (Wendell Pierce), Mike November (Michael Kelly), Elizabeth Wright (Betty Gabriel, who has meanwhile become director of the agency), and the spy Domingo “Ding” Chavez (Michael Peña), Jack So soon abandons the assistant director’s dress to put on, once again, that of a field agent. In an intricate criminal and political conspiracy, what will present itself in front of him will put his certainties and trust in an irreparably compromised system to the test. Between Bengali triads, Mexican drug traffickers, deviant secret services, and unscrupulous politicians, Jack will have to deal with an elusive threat with inscrutable intent that will involve him personally, threatening his certainties, his affections, and an idea of his country destined to change forever.
Jack Ryan Season 4 Review and Analysis
It was 2019 when Amazon decided to dedicate a series of its own to the famous CIA analyst from Tom Clancy’s pen. The first season of Jack Ryan proved to be a success with audiences and critics capable of setting a precedent for the platform, proving to be, in fact, its first true original serial product of weight. An approach to the theme not too distant from the starting material made its fortune, made of greater realism and an unprecedented freshness compared to contemporary products, both in terms of content and in their pure action components. However, a winning formula is put to the test by the passing of the seasons. Watered down by a development that is always the same and, above all, by a two-dimensionality of the characters that is more marked from time to time. Therefore, a change was essential for the final season, a turning point that could only translate into a return to the origins, to that CIA where it all had begun, and to those relationships set aside too soon.
From Lagos to the forests of Myanmar, from the Yucatan to Croatia, this is how the new international intrigue that overwhelms Jack, and his companions combines the usual and frenetic change of location with newfound attention for the private dimension of the protagonists, to the point of making it an integral part of the plot. This is what happens, for example, with the return of Cathy Muller (Abbie Cornish), involved despite her in the investigation of her ex-boyfriend. But affections in general, in this season, are the real novelty compared to the previous ones, from Greer’s problematic relationship with her son to that of the mysterious Chao Fah (Louis Ozawa) with his family, passing through Chavez and his desire to avenge the fellow soldiers killed. A decisive and substantial change of pace that can only benefit this last season, both in terms of emotional involvement and rhythm. Giving back depth to characters who have too often become simple pawns in yet another intricate game of massacre.
Of course, not everything works out perfectly in this final season of Jack Ryan. Starting from a development that seems to reduce the initial premises in favor of a more conventional development without too many twists and turns. Not to mention a smoky enemy with an uncertain characterization, whose motivations remain partly obscure and implausible. Yet it is undeniable, especially when compared with previous vintages, that this season regains rhythm and sense of action, together with a more precise and defined background vision. Trust in the system itself is at stake, moreover, in this epilogue which, from the shootings in the forest, reaches the palaces of power. A weakened and no longer reliable system, inhabited by corruption and interests distant from the people that the protagonist has always sworn to serve. A world to be questioned, even to be refounded if necessary, in defiance of any protocol or preconception. Perhaps the most suitable ending to coherently close Jack’s parable.
The Jack Ryan series has always been capable of building large-scale events capable of touching various regions of the world, developing the basis of international intrigues which, as happened in the previous season, concerned the future of entire continents. Even this fourth season does not want to be outdone, and leads us to observe a large criminal network, thus immediately shifting the story to several fronts, and also including the USA. And it is precisely from the United States that this new criminal alliance seems to draw strength, given that Jack, now in the role of Acting Deputy Director of the CIA, is forced to take the field again in person after his agency begins to show evident cracks created from within. The plot, therefore, seems very similar to past seasons, and in particular, to the first two, abandoning the scenario of a hypothetical global apocalypse that had characterized the third season, and returning to a narrower field that had worked particularly well in the first two chapters.
The latter, returning for a moment to the past, managed to mix the more adrenaline-pumping and eventful component of the story and the more reflective side of the title by balancing the narration, for a balance which, as we wrote in the Jack Ryan 3 review, had unfortunately come to missing in the last few episodes. This fourth season, despite a more focused and less dispersive story than the third part, is once again not very balanced, and in particular much prominence is given to the investigative side by clearly cutting that action component which had always been one of the merits of the series. We are not talking about pure action, because as previously mentioned Jack Ryan has always tried to create a complex story capable of combining politics and action, but in this case, except for two more intense and heated episodes, most of the time we witness dialogues and plots that rarely manage to warm up, in a narrative that travels very slowly and does not always manage to involve as it would like.
There is no shortage of flashes and some interesting revelations that surprise in the finale, but something more was certainly waiting for us from the final season of Jack Ryan. A frantic pace and a not-always-compelling story are the most significant regrets of this fourth season, but as anticipated there are undoubtedly some valid passages, and the action scenes themselves, although not many, are quite convincing, even if above all in compared to the first seasons, something seems to be missing, due to a decline that had already appeared quite evident in the third season. Whether it’s the fault of the budget or a waning interest on the part of the public, this new cycle of episodes repeatedly shows itself as a tarnished and reduced version of the beginnings, even if once again the excellent interpretation of Krasinski and the rest of the cast.
Considering the wait for these last few episodes, there is still some regret about how it was decided to close this journey, especially considering the excellent first season. The slow decline of Jack Ryan is therefore confirmed by this closure, for a series that considering the much material available could easily continue on a much brighter path, and which instead struggles both to involve and to excite, between dialogues that are not always inspired and secondary characters who do not always enjoy sufficient characterization. The finale, thanks to some interesting turning points, fortunately, represents the peak of this fourth season, but this is not enough to revive a season that is too sluggish by the standards of the title, confirming a downsizing that has unfortunately affected the series, and which in this case, while not ruining what has been built, struggles to exalt and convince.
Jack Ryan Season 4 Review: The Last Words
From the final season of Jack Ryan, we certainly expected something more. An excessively slow pace at times and a main story that is not always engaging are the weak links of these last episodes, redeemed in part by an ending that manages to bring in some more emotion. And precisely in terms of emotions, these rarely come out, in a final season that struggles to capture attention, except for some more exciting scenes that occasionally manage to dampen a not-always-brilliant narrative. The series recovers the right rhythm, making it enjoyable and engaging. As in the first year, relationships and affections come back to count, giving greater depth to the characters.
Jack Ryan Season 4 Review: The Right Rhythm, Making It Enjoyable and Engaging - Filmyhype
Date Created: 2023-07-15 12:23
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Pros
- Excellent cast, led by John Krasinski
- Complex and engaging plot
- Well-choreographed action sequences
- Realistic depiction of the intelligence world
- Thought-provoking questions about the role of the United States in the world
Cons
- Some of the twists are a bit predictable
- The show can be a bit slow-paced at times
- The ending is a bit anticlimactic
