'Jack Ryan' Recap: 'French Connection'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

​You know, every single time I settle in to watch a new television series, I find that my anticipation levels are through the roof when it comes to watching the second episode simply because there’s an air of the unknown surrounding said series at this point. After all, pilot episodes tend to be filmed well in advance of everything else, giving the folks behind the scenes time to tweak a few things and because of that, I’ve watched second episodes that are vastly different than the pilot and I was wondering if I was going to get something seamless or something focused on reinvention when I settled in to watch the next episode of Jack Ryan.
 
As it turns out, ‘French Connection’, was going to stay true in tone and design to everything that was established in the pilot episode since all of the elements that I enjoyed in that particular tale were present here, allowing for me to be sucked right back into Jack’s world and what made this next entry in his story so incredibly fascinating, is the sheer fact that despite some thrilling action and adventure sequences, this second episode actually took the time to slow things down significantly and help us to get to know our characters on a more fundamental level, which sent me over the moon with joy since character development is one of my favorite things to see on television.
 
If anything, this particular approach storytelling wise really helped to solidify Jack’s standing as a noble boy scout since we saw him stand by Jim Greer when Nathan Singer tried his best to get Jack to turn on the man with the promise of career advancement and we even saw him open up and be a touch more vulnerable in this tale since he was clearly nervous when asking out Cathy Mueller on a date and I get the feeling that all of this was explored in detail to help us root for Jack in just about every situation and also because I get the feeling that at some point, his moral code is going to be to put to the test and we are going to be pulling for him to stay true to it since we’ve seen nothing but kindness and nobility from the man. 
 
Yet, Jack wasn’t the only character put on full display in this episode, Suleiman was also a big focus of this tale since we had the opportunity to see what kind of a man he is as well since he returned home in this story to his wife and children and well, this was simply a fascinating twist to throw into the mix. Because men like him, are always portrayed as monsters in stories such as this, allowing for us to forget that bad men and women are human beings after all, they simply make some incredibly different and ugly choices in life, the kind that hurt people and while it was interesting to see him be a father and be good to his family, the show was quick to remind us of the fact that there’s a real dark side to him and the anger and fury that surges in his veins is closer to being unleashed upon the world and that’s bad news for his family since it doesn’t matter to him who gets hurt in the process.
 
But as a I mentioned before, there was some action and adventure to be found in this episode as well and it’s important we take a moment to highlight that. Because Jack was able to crack the code on Suleiman’s phone and uncover exactly how he was getting his funding and the clues led him and Greer to Paris, France to hunt down our villain’s brother and well, this was a heart pounding sequence to say the least. Because it quickly reminded us as to how ruthless Suleiman’s organization really is and how dangerous this hunt is going to be, and well, this episode was simply spectacular. It was the perfect mix of story and action and I’m so glad the Writer’s Room took the time to explore who these characters are as people because that really does add a beautiful depth to this tale. But, all beauty aside, Ali Suleiman is on the loose, and there’s no doubt in my mind that the next episode is going to feature one incredible manhunt…

---