Some of the reviews of this episode did not recognize the theme of the subplot that framed the main story. Victor, the drone pilot, is very good at his job. But it is a bad job: killing people remotely. Every time he makes a successful killshot his partner gives him a dollar. He's been saving them and numbering them but one night, seeing all 108 dollars or kills, he decides to get rid of them. He tries to lose them at the roulette table but is uncommonly lucky and leaves with more money and an odd couple, calling themselves Stanley Kowalski and Blanche Du Bois. Obviously Victor has never heard of "A Streetcar Named Desire." They go to his apartment where again he gets lucky with Blanche while Stanley hate-watches them. Then Stanley beats Victor, which appears to be part of his and Blanche's kinky relationship. Victor begs him to take his winnings but Stanley refuses. "You earned it." The next time we see Victor he is spying on and brooding about the kid whose grandfather Victor killed at the beginning of the episode. He sees the situation unfolding with Suleiman's wife and daughters. He disobeys orders and takes out a man he sees is a murderer and rapist. It looks like he will lose his job but his superior officer does not reprimand him and tells him that he is lucky. Victor feels good about what he did...till his partner gives him a buck as is their ritual. Victor's mood sours. More blood money. He has killed another human being. He is still very good at a very bad job. The framing story has the feel of a very dark O'Henry story.
15 Reviews
Black 22
bobcobb3017 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Wow, those final moments with the escape and then the chase and then the last minute survival was gripping TV. This is the kind of action we need throughout the series.
The soldier and his gambling habit and the whole weird encounter with the couple was not something I was crazy about though.
The soldier and his gambling habit and the whole weird encounter with the couple was not something I was crazy about though.
Am I crazy?
Williwatch24 December 2020
I mean, what's going on with the reviews on this one? I thought it was a rather off the line yet brilliant episode. Sure, it didn't quite go on with the main plot and storyline, but it was an episode with a lot of nuanced emotions and subtle, implicit development on that aspect. I thought the drone pilot story was very interesting, how he was so conflicted with his job and his feelings about it, and when he finally gets to do some evident, apparent good, it somehow still looks like he feels hollowed.
And I love the dinamic that we, the viewers, are familiar with both sides of this story but we get to see a man in Nevada striking down on people all across the ocean and he doesn't really know these people and the ones he saved, for example, will probably never know who was behind the strikes. The abyss between those people yet the entangled nature of this "relation" was very interesting to watch.
Just my two cents, although I can definitely see why and even agree at some point with people who thought this was boring, uneventful or dull. Not my experience, thankfully.
Edit: Damn, he gets to "know" the people. This just elevated the episode to another level. I'm changing from an 8 score to a 9. Judge me. Awesome episode.
And I love the dinamic that we, the viewers, are familiar with both sides of this story but we get to see a man in Nevada striking down on people all across the ocean and he doesn't really know these people and the ones he saved, for example, will probably never know who was behind the strikes. The abyss between those people yet the entangled nature of this "relation" was very interesting to watch.
Just my two cents, although I can definitely see why and even agree at some point with people who thought this was boring, uneventful or dull. Not my experience, thankfully.
Edit: Damn, he gets to "know" the people. This just elevated the episode to another level. I'm changing from an 8 score to a 9. Judge me. Awesome episode.
"A Wolf Who Plays at Being a Sheep"
lavatch14 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The wily French intel officer Sandrine Arnaud offers a perceptive analysis of the character of Jack Ryan as "a wolf who plays at being a sheep." Instead of the mild-mannered bureaucrat sitting behind a desk, the forté of Jack is clearly in the field.
In Paris, the combined French intelligence corps and the American CIA agents Greer and Ryan follow the trail of Ali to a kind doctor who has befriended the wounded Ali. By using a video game, Ali gets in touch with Suleiman in Syria. He is given explicit orders to dispose of all eyewitnesses.
After debating whether to kill the doctor and his children, Ali decides to let them live, then makes a beeline for the border of France in the alps. Greer and Ryan convince Arnaud to wait until Ali makes contact with members of his European cell, prior to making an arrest. The Ali character is interesting because of his moral compass; he was once an art student who loved the paintings of Van Gogh and was an accomplished artist himself.
A new subplot is introduced in the character of young Victor, a skilled surveillance expert and long distance killer in a Nevada military compound. Victor sits in his cubicle firing off shots to kill suspected terrorists in the Middle East. After his most recent kill shot in Braideet, Syria, his co-worker awards him a dollar.
Troubled by the depersonalized and uncertain nature of his work, Victor takes his dollar bills to a Las Vegas casino and wins a whopping $24,000 at the roulette wheels. But he meets a mysterious couple posing as Tennessee Williams' characters Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois. Victor is beaten to pulp by "Stanley" in his own apartment.
Hanin has decided that she has had enough of life with Suleiman and has passports prepared for her and her three children. But the cagey Suleiman is on to her game. After Hanin leaves with the kids, Suleiman sends two of his henchmen to bring her and the children home.
It is at this moment that the various plot strands intersect. In western Syria, eighty miles from the border, the two thugs catch up with Hanin. One of the men kills the man who had provided Hanin with passports. But when he then tries to rape Hanin, Victor defies the order of his superior to stand down and chooses to kill the man with a drone strike. Hanin then flees with her daughters in a race to the Syrian border. For his efforts, Victor receives another dollar bill.
In Paris, the combined French intelligence corps and the American CIA agents Greer and Ryan follow the trail of Ali to a kind doctor who has befriended the wounded Ali. By using a video game, Ali gets in touch with Suleiman in Syria. He is given explicit orders to dispose of all eyewitnesses.
After debating whether to kill the doctor and his children, Ali decides to let them live, then makes a beeline for the border of France in the alps. Greer and Ryan convince Arnaud to wait until Ali makes contact with members of his European cell, prior to making an arrest. The Ali character is interesting because of his moral compass; he was once an art student who loved the paintings of Van Gogh and was an accomplished artist himself.
A new subplot is introduced in the character of young Victor, a skilled surveillance expert and long distance killer in a Nevada military compound. Victor sits in his cubicle firing off shots to kill suspected terrorists in the Middle East. After his most recent kill shot in Braideet, Syria, his co-worker awards him a dollar.
Troubled by the depersonalized and uncertain nature of his work, Victor takes his dollar bills to a Las Vegas casino and wins a whopping $24,000 at the roulette wheels. But he meets a mysterious couple posing as Tennessee Williams' characters Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois. Victor is beaten to pulp by "Stanley" in his own apartment.
Hanin has decided that she has had enough of life with Suleiman and has passports prepared for her and her three children. But the cagey Suleiman is on to her game. After Hanin leaves with the kids, Suleiman sends two of his henchmen to bring her and the children home.
It is at this moment that the various plot strands intersect. In western Syria, eighty miles from the border, the two thugs catch up with Hanin. One of the men kills the man who had provided Hanin with passports. But when he then tries to rape Hanin, Victor defies the order of his superior to stand down and chooses to kill the man with a drone strike. Hanin then flees with her daughters in a race to the Syrian border. For his efforts, Victor receives another dollar bill.
Edge sitting throughout the episode!
dvirk29 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
My and my girlfriend watched the episode last night, the part with the pilot and the casino with the weird couple was absolutely unnecessary and odd, but towards the end of the episode, my god i nearly fell of the couch from being so stressed out!
At the end the line "god watch over us" got the best meaning here depicting tha all-powerful eye which is the USA military force, great show!
The episode could use a bit more "action" and removing the unnecessary scene mentioned earlier, but the ending scene just did it for me, great job amazon!
At the end the line "god watch over us" got the best meaning here depicting tha all-powerful eye which is the USA military force, great show!
The episode could use a bit more "action" and removing the unnecessary scene mentioned earlier, but the ending scene just did it for me, great job amazon!
Subtitles - Not a Fan
blemonds4 November 2019
Far From Realistic
michealbrawley10 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The scenario of the drone pilot(s) noticing (from the air) a civilian woman being assailed by two marauding bad-guys and then attacking the bad-guys with a missile launched from the drone, is absolutely ridiculous and totally unbelievable. I realize that sometimes you must suspend disbelief when trying to enjoy fiction on TV or the big screen, but this was a bridge too far. OH BROTHER!
One of the things that was always great about Clancy's work, is that it was always technically spot on and within the realm of possibilities. This really missed the mark.
One of the things that was always great about Clancy's work, is that it was always technically spot on and within the realm of possibilities. This really missed the mark.
Nothing to see here
Fluke_Skywalker6 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Pretty bland and uneventful episode w/a subplot that is alternately odd and incongruous and quite compelling involving a drone pilot. Not sure what was up w/the former, but the latter was easily the best part of the episode.
Quit Watching During this Episode
steven-mains11 October 2018
A step down
Leofwine_draca18 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A step down from the previous two instalments. Half the running time is occupied by a dull drone operator and his casino and bedroom scenes just feel included to add some explicit sex to the proceedings; as it turns out, this stuff has nothing to do with anything and the character could just have been introduced at the end of the episode as required. The material with Ryan is better, but the plot barely moves in this one.
An Uneventful Episode
nammage31 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I consider this to be a 'bridge' episode. Meaning it's a quiet and primarily uneventful; one doesn't really learn anything new but doesn't necessarily break from the plot. It also is forming a pattern of having some kind of action scene toward the end of the episode and if that's what it's going to be like for the episodes after this...how pathetically inane that would be.
Still in Paris, we learn a little bit about Sulieman's brother, he likes to draw and that's basically all we learn, oh and he doesn't necessarily do exactly what his brother wants him to do in concern to people he actually cares about. Sulieman's wife takes her daughters (attempts to take her son but he rejects her) and flees from her husband because he isn't the man she married at 16 years old. Are they ever? People change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. That's life.
Perhaps a subplot thrown in with an officer in the Air Force who kills people with drones. He doesn't seem to like it, and his wall of one dollar bills shows he's killed a lot. That's the action scene at the end where the wife and daughters are fleeing one of the men sent to retrieve them attempts to rape the mother and the Air Force officer kills him probably as a redemption for all the unknown deaths of killing (assumingly) innocents and here he gets to kill a bad guy.
Wasn't a bad episode just quiet.
Still in Paris, we learn a little bit about Sulieman's brother, he likes to draw and that's basically all we learn, oh and he doesn't necessarily do exactly what his brother wants him to do in concern to people he actually cares about. Sulieman's wife takes her daughters (attempts to take her son but he rejects her) and flees from her husband because he isn't the man she married at 16 years old. Are they ever? People change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. That's life.
Perhaps a subplot thrown in with an officer in the Air Force who kills people with drones. He doesn't seem to like it, and his wall of one dollar bills shows he's killed a lot. That's the action scene at the end where the wife and daughters are fleeing one of the men sent to retrieve them attempts to rape the mother and the Air Force officer kills him probably as a redemption for all the unknown deaths of killing (assumingly) innocents and here he gets to kill a bad guy.
Wasn't a bad episode just quiet.
Good starter....End looser.....
saptesh78628 September 2018
Just finished watching ' Tom Clancy's Jack ' series within a week all episodes. This is my first series.
Though it is not so impressive, but definitely interesting till end. I have a few points are as my viewing approach. May help to new viewers.
At first about Jack Ryan, the role looks like dull version of James bond. Mostly times dumb. A little action and thinking different from others. Role played by Krasinski is well.
Second stage, of course Greer ! He is most interesting character in story. Plain face and rude behavior giving a fascinating impact on role. Role played by Wendell Pierce is perfectly.
Leading lady Cathy is miscast actually. She is not fit for the roll of doctor at all.
Hanin is another special character who impressed with outstanding performance and innocent beauty looks. Perfectly played by Dina Shihabi.
Suliman is also perfect casting for main villain as terrorist.
In short proper and perfect casing is a major plus point of the series except some characters.
Starting episode ( 01) is very good, but second one (02) is low. Again third (03) is interesting. There is a patch of another story of Victor Polizzi ( John Magaro) . I did not understand why stitched this part to main story because there is no connection or explanation of this sub story at the end of series. I feel whole series as stretching unnecessarily beyond limits many times. Leading us to lose interest from the story. Also ending episode is not as expectation which should have must be powerful for such thriller series. Main villain gets bulleted only within a second after a long chase without any retribution! Also none could not get a view of Suliman and his men when they entered in the Hospital whereas mobile network already jammed by police due to security reason. This means they only gave their attention on devices like mobiles etc rather that human. Human is not vulnerable to them!
Anyhow, the series is watchable. I expect more interesting and more action packed next season. It must be believable.
At first about Jack Ryan, the role looks like dull version of James bond. Mostly times dumb. A little action and thinking different from others. Role played by Krasinski is well.
Second stage, of course Greer ! He is most interesting character in story. Plain face and rude behavior giving a fascinating impact on role. Role played by Wendell Pierce is perfectly.
Leading lady Cathy is miscast actually. She is not fit for the roll of doctor at all.
Hanin is another special character who impressed with outstanding performance and innocent beauty looks. Perfectly played by Dina Shihabi.
Suliman is also perfect casting for main villain as terrorist.
In short proper and perfect casing is a major plus point of the series except some characters.
Starting episode ( 01) is very good, but second one (02) is low. Again third (03) is interesting. There is a patch of another story of Victor Polizzi ( John Magaro) . I did not understand why stitched this part to main story because there is no connection or explanation of this sub story at the end of series. I feel whole series as stretching unnecessarily beyond limits many times. Leading us to lose interest from the story. Also ending episode is not as expectation which should have must be powerful for such thriller series. Main villain gets bulleted only within a second after a long chase without any retribution! Also none could not get a view of Suliman and his men when they entered in the Hospital whereas mobile network already jammed by police due to security reason. This means they only gave their attention on devices like mobiles etc rather that human. Human is not vulnerable to them!
Anyhow, the series is watchable. I expect more interesting and more action packed next season. It must be believable.
9 stars for Suleiman's family, negative stars for gratuitous sex
LoveStallion25 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The point of our drone pilot is that he feels empty and guilty about what he does, so he wants to discard the "tips" he's received over the years from his coworker. When they doesn't work at the casino and he winds up with $30K, that could have been it. Adding the kinky grifters was just some lame excuse by the writers to have some sex and nudity that did absolutely nothing in service of the plot. Purely gratuitous, and it made me want to stop watching the show.
The sex scene in the previous episode, while not as graphic, clearly depicted the terror in Suleiman's wife and how helpless she felt. It was character driven.
I'm not sure if the writers were just high on Game of Thrones, but there was zero point to extending the drone story to a sex scene other than the writers like the female form. Disappointing.
The sex scene in the previous episode, while not as graphic, clearly depicted the terror in Suleiman's wife and how helpless she felt. It was character driven.
I'm not sure if the writers were just high on Game of Thrones, but there was zero point to extending the drone story to a sex scene other than the writers like the female form. Disappointing.
Nice terrorist family???
moderator-862-91474528 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I found the multiple attempts to make Suleiman, the ruthless terrorist into a nice family man to be sickening in this episode. I can't say I particularly care about the motives of jihadis and fanatics. Trying to humanise them and explain them is boring and pointless and does nothing but make me want to turn off. Why not concentrate on the characters of Jack Ryan and James Greer instead of having romantic music as a murderer spends time with his family? This all makes me unsure that I want to continue watching, even though the Jack Ryan parts have been excellent.
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