Jack Ryan “Dios Y Federacion”

Oh, Jack Ryan, I am so disappointed in you right now.

Allow me to elaborate.  As I have said in the past, one of the things that worked so well with season one of Jack Ryan was the cat-and-mouse aspect of the story.  Jack and his opponent were both intelligent men who were well-matched.  The terrorist villain was actually somewhat three dimensional, given moments to show, for example, he cared for his family and though his plans would have killed many people had they come to fruition, he likewise might have had reasons for hating the West as much as he did.

But then we get to season two, and I can’t say that President Reyes is that sort of villain.  If the plot is clever, it’s not because he came up with it, but because it just seems to have so many working parts for too much.  I mean, what was that satellite thing all about?  Remember the satellite?  It was why Greer came to Venezuela in the first place.

Yes, I know it has something to do with rare mineral location and all that fun stuff, but still.  It seems needlessly complicated.

Factor in as well that, at this stage in the story, Reyes has become a complete cartoon character Latin American dictator character.  His people burn down portions of his old neighborhood, he has a Greer tortured first, then sent to the prison camp in the jungle where Reyes keeps all the political types he doesn’t like (including Gloria Bolande’s missing husband), then orders those men all killed, and that’s not including moving the election date up and personally killing his childhood friend.

See?  Cartoon evil at this point.

It’s not as if other characters aren’t still doing smart things.  Jack knows he and Mike can’t stop whatever is going on alone, even with the help of Boat Guy and the other two.  So, Jack does the one thing he knows he can always do:  takes duffel bags full of cash and buys the services of the mercenary army in the jungle to free the prison camp.

However, Greer isn’t there.  He’s, for some reason, being personally held in the presidential palace.  So, I guess the finale may be more Jack Bauer than Jack Ryan.

Remember how this started with a U.S. Senator murdered in a foreign country?  How did that not cause more outrage?