‘Jack Ryan’ Recap: ‘Orinoco’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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​I think what I’ve always enjoyed the most when it comes to Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan, is the sheer fact that this series goes above and beyond when it comes to how it tells its story. I mean, sure, it’s a spy drama that features some pretty intense moments involving bad people doing bad things before our hero stops them dead in their tracks. But it also offers up more intimate moments, the kind that help us to get to know every single character that populates this rich and fascinating world and thankfully that’s something that season two of this magnificent series is working to stay true to.
 
For ‘Orinoco’ allowed for us to spend a lot of time with some of the side characters who haven’t quite received their due, such as General Ubarri for example. Which is a wonderful thing since we’ve all been wondering exactly where his loyalties lie and while this story didn’t exactly reveal where his heart is just yet, we did get some great insight as to why he stands so close to the president and why he’s so conflicted about supporting him in the here and the now since he seems to think Reyes has lost his way. And this internal debate was fascinating to watch him go through, simply because it is clear that he is starting to have his conscience call to him and he’s starting to wonder if selling his soul for safety and security was worth it, and that could take his journey into some interesting and dangerous territory down the line.
 
But Ubarri wasn’t the only side character that we spent extended time with in this tale. For we also had the opportunity to finally meet the opposition in the upcoming election and now it makes sense why Reyes and his people have concerns over Gloria Bonalde’s chances when it comes to winning the presidency. Because she really is for the people and genuinely stands for everything that you want a politician to stand for and her message is truly resonating with the people and giving them hope like never before. Yet while this was refreshing and wonderful to see in its own right, what was truly fascinating and powerful about Gloria, is why she’s running for office in the first place. And as it turns out, what motivates her is that her husband is one of many that have disappeared in the night for speaking out about the corruption in Venezuela and she clearly wants to set things right and ensure that no one else has to endure that horror, and that kind of nobility serves as a wonderful anthesis to Reyes and his arrogance.
 
However, while all of this was fascinating to watch in its own right, this is a spy drama and this episode didn’t forget about its roots. Because in between all of these character heavy moments, Jack and Greer were continuing their investigation into Reyes’ shady dealings and that meant it was time to head into the jungle for some covert operations with Matice and his latest batch of mercenaries and this plotline led to some ugly and tense moments. For the plan was to inspect the cargo containers that recently arrived in Venezuela aboard the Almeta, and unfortunately for this band of brothers, Jack pushed that search to the limit. And while he was able to uncover some potentially explosive components in at least one of the containers, their cover was blown and that led to an ugly firefight that ended with a man being left behind, the boat driver named Marcus who we met in the last episode; and we are still lacking answers since no one knows definitively what is in those containers.
 
If anything, I would fully expect that this particular failure will not sit well with COS November or the United States Government, and the fallout should be ugly to say the least. But I actually get where Jack was coming from here; he needed something more concrete and that ammonium nitrate discovery does indicate something suspicious is happening in the jungles of Venezuela. But for now, this is just another great episode to celebrate. Because this one featured some wonderful character development, the kind that I’m certain will come around full circle in future episodes and it set the stage for something nefarious for certain, since deep down we know those containers are filled with trouble and it is only a matter of time before their contents are revealed to the world in terrifying fashion. Until next time. 

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