‘Jack Ryan’ Recap: ‘Strongman’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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

In my humble opinion, a television season has done a fine job of telling a particular story, when it leaves you unprepared and uncertain of how the story is going to end. Because it means that nothing is predictable at this point, and anything can happen and that’s precisely what season two of Jack Ryan has managed to accomplish. Because at no point, as I settled in to watch the season two finale, did I feel comfortable or knowledgeable in the slightest, since I hadn’t a clue how Jack was going to save the day, or if Greer was going to make it out alive with his heart condition and quite frankly, if Jack was going to handle the pain building within his heart with class or bloodthirsty revenge.
​
But thankfully, ‘Strongman’ took the time to answer all of the questions on my mind in explosive and powerful fashion and the first issue that it addressed was how exactly Jack was going to save the day and Venezuela for that matter since Reyes’ grip on the country was firm. And as it turns out, sometimes the only way to beat a man like Reyes, is to firmly place his dastardly deeds squarely in the court of public opinion. Which is why Jack sent footage of what Reyes had done in the prison camp to every news agency out there, because they quickly made it breaking news and embarrassed the president in front of his own people. Something that prompted Reyes to shut down the polls in a desperate bid to retain power, an act that backfired immediately since the people saw the news and wanted their vote counted and they instantly stormed the palace.

Which is something that could not have worked out better for Jack and his boys. Because come hell or high water they were going to get their hands on Greer and get him to safety and they flew into the palace whilst the riots were taking place, and while they were indeed able to discover that Greer was fine outside of a few bumps and bruises, and get him to the chopper, what matters more about this segment of the story is that this is where Jack was forced to face down the darkness within his soul. Because this was a grandiose opportunity for revenge, under the cover of riots and that brought Jack and the president face to face for a little fist fight. But when the opportunity arrived to put a bullet into Reyes’ brain, some prompting from Mike and Jack’s moral code kept him from giving into the fury, allowing for Jack to keep his purity and for Nicolas Reyes to pay the piper at the hands of his loyal subjects.

If anything, that allowed for quite the happy and bittersweet ending to come to fruition. One that saw Gloria Bonalde become the next president of Venezuela and reunite with her husband briefly aboard an American boat. But what made the finale of the finale, so bittersweet was the sheer fact that it had one last loose end to tie up, specifically; who was it that Max spoke with before the assault on the convoy? And as it turns out, Jack was able to put the pieces together with one last favor from Harry and sadly the man that Max called was Senator Chapin and with a little bit more digging, Jack came to understand that the Senator worked with Reyes via that shell company in order to strike it rich, all in the name of preserving American interests of course. But thanks to Jack’s fine work, Chapin will be behind bars for a long time and at long last, there was justice for Jimmy Moreno.

In the end however, this really was a magnificent way to end season two of this powerful series. For it was intense and dark and brooding, which a good spy drama should be. Plus, this story took us on all kinds of twists and turns that kept Jack true to what he stands for and I loved every single second of it and of this finale. Because you cannot go wrong when the bad guys get their comeuppance and truly everyone that was shady and evil in this story got just that, and the poetic justice of Reyes being dealt with by the people he wanted adoration from was brilliant, as was how Jack handled the Senator’s deception and betrayal of his country. I suppose though, if I have a complaint, it would be that, the journey has now come to an end and that stinks, because I could definitely go for more. But alas, I’ll have to wait until next year to discover what new adventures await Dr. Jack Ryan and I truly cannot wait to see which powerhouse story from the Tom Clancy archive, this series will bring to life in season three. Until next time. 

---