The following contains spoilers from Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Season 3, Episode 1, "Falcon," now streaming on Prime Video.
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Season 1 was an immediate standout because of its strongly defined characters. The Prime Video series served up an incredible thriller, but the suspense was propelled forward by the character development, particularly for Jack himself. John Krasinski's take on the character was an analyst who happened to be thrust into the field. He was more cerebral than physical, and how he dealt with his new station in life was part of the charm.
Unfortunately, Season 2 forgot that as it leaned hard into the action component of the show. Perhaps playing on Krasinski's ever-increasing popularity, the series turned Jack into a full-blown spy and pushed character development to the wayside. What little he had didn't resonate and he felt like any one of a dozen action heroes. Luckily, Jack Ryan Season 3 appears to be conscious of that mistake and has corrected to give Jack more room to breathe -- metaphorically, at least, because his life isn't getting any easier.
Jack Ryan Season 3 Makes Up for Season 2
Jack Ryan Season 2 was entertaining, but soulless. Jack's mission in Venezuela was fun yet it lacked the intellectual or emotional stakes of the first season. With the exception of Criminal Minds alum Michael Kelly's pitch-perfect Mike November, none of the new characters had a real presence for Jack to play off of the way that Season 1's lineup did. And there were the predictable genre plot points, like Jack's random hookup with an attractive foreign agent. Nothing in Season 2 pushed Jack Ryan forward as a person; it was more about achieving his goal. The third season has reversed that.
"I've never really liked heroes," Betty Gabriel's Elizabeth Wright tells Jack in Season 3, Episode 1, "Falcon." She adds that "They tend to think more of their actions than the repercussions." Those sentences sum up Jack's character arc very well. Season 3 highlights how he's the protagonist, but he's no hero. His opening scene involves a great plan to get intelligence... that ends with him unceremoniously thrown into the street. He once again has to talk through his actions with Wright, James Greer and the higher-ups at Langley. And when things go predictably pear-shaped, it's clear that he's going to have to think his way out of trouble -- not just fight his way out.
Krasinski's version of Jack has been fascinating because he's emphasized Jack's intellect and the effect that has more than previous takes on the character. The third season dials back in on why Jack Ryan can never be just another CIA agent, instead of trying to make him one.
Jack Ryan Season 3 Brings John Krasinski's Performance Forward
The series is called Jack Ryan for a reason, and Season 3 recenters itself on John Krasinski and the core co-stars who are truly important to Jack's progression -- both as an agent and as a person. Wendell Pierce's Greer continues to be a perfect foil; he's the Murtaugh in this Lethal Weapon-style partnership. Gabriel's Wright is the strongest female character the series has had since Season 1 and gives Jack an antagonist whose point of view has actual merit. Jack is no less capable, but Greer and Wright show that he still has room to learn. That means Krasinski has more character beats to play. Audiences get to live a little more in his skin and even in the first episode, see a little more of how becoming a case officer has shaped him -- for better and for worse.
Audiences already know that Jack Ryan Season 4 will be the last, with a spinoff in development. Season 3 getting back to what makes Jack a compelling protagonist and showcasing how far he's come allows Season 4 to be a blank slate. He's had the growing pains he needed to have in going from unprepared analyst to veteran operative, and now he can take on one last mission that brings all that experience to bear and brings his story to a satisfying conclusion. Jack Ryan is at its best when it focuses on the human part of saving the world, and Season 3 once again illustrates Jack's humanity while putting him in a position to bow out gracefully.
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Season 3 is now streaming on Prime Video.