‘Jack Ryan’ Recap: ‘Dressed to Kill’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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One of the biggest draws when it comes to Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan, in my humble opinion, is the sheer fact that this series is quite the chameleon storytelling wise. Because this show has proven time and time again that it can be anything that it wants on a moment’s notice. It can be a powerful war drama that reminds us that such an act is hell and has lasting repercussions, or it can be a powerhouse action and adventure story, filled with explosive moments that drop your jaw. Or It can be a spy drama filled with all kinds of twists and turns and in season two, it’s starting to find footing as a political drama as well. If anything, the show’s ability to transform in this manner is just magnificent, since you never know what you’re going to get when you tune in.
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As it turns out, the next episode in this phenomenal franchise chose two of those elements to work within since ‘Dressed to Kill’ featured a great deal of spy related moments and political goodies to play with and that made for another delightful episode, one filled to the brim with surprises and powerful moments and most of that came about by way of Jack’s journey in this tale. Because following the botched operation in the jungle, Jack was in essence sent packing back to America since COS November believed that he was too close to the case and compromising himself along the way, and that of course, didn’t sit well with Dr. Ryan. In fact, he was far from being done on the matter and pulled a few strings to head across to the pond to England in order to chase the money and the man that set up his rough set of circumstances.

While he started his investigation over there, the political drama in question played out back in Venezuela because Gloria Bonalde came to discover that her push to obtain the presidency is making people in high places, nervous. For in the middle of the night, President Reyes swung by her home to play nice and offer her a spot in his cabinet, wherein he would groom her to become the next leader of this proud country. An offer that she quickly rebuffed and recognized as a desperate ploy and unfortunately for her, that prompted Reyes to resort to intimidation tactics, which in turn motivated Gloria to get in contact with Greer and ask him for help protection wise. Which of course, he was happy to provide. But while this is all pretty by-the-numbers, what matters the most here is that Gloria did take the time to offer Greer a clue as to what might be going on in the jungle and why her husband is gone and why Senator Moreno may have died, since she has a unique mineral in her possession, one that Greer will likely study post haste.

But while those aren’t exactly earth-shattering moments, have no fear. For this particular tale saved the best stuff, for last. Because Jack’s journey to London began to unravel the intricate web surrounding the death of his friend and eventually he and Harry and a member of MI5 were able to get face time with the head of a corporation named Rupert Throne, and his business was involved in all kinds of shady dealings, including the whole mess in Venezuela and all that Jack wanted here; was to get his hands on Max in the hopes of obtaining a full confession. But as is often the case in operations such as these, nothing quite goes to plan, and Max was ready for such a betrayal and managed to kill Rupert in brutal fashion, leaving Jack with more blood on his hands and nothing to show for his efforts and that is quite the savage manner in which to end this particular tale.

If anything, I’m loving the fact that every single episode so far just keeps throwing twists and turns and misdirection our way. Because at this point, the mystery behind Moreno’s assassination just continues to grow and it seems to involve so many people and we are no closer to the motivation behind this attack, nor do we know who we can trust outside of COS November and Greer and man, I love that. Because so many shows in this vein begin to tip their hand at this point, out of concern that they may lose the audience. But this one, knows that its viewers want as much mystery as possible and well, I need to get back into this story as soon as possible. To not only see what the fallout is going to be from Jack’s blunder, but to also see if any answers are coming our way. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m heading back into this world to see what surprises await me. Until next time. 

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