Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan has had quite a run as a character in books, movies, and television. Clancy created the CIA analyst turned superhero for 1984’s book, Hunt for Red October. The character has had jobs ranging from Marine Lieutenant, to CPA, CIA spook, to President of the United States.

Jack Ryan’s most recent iteration started in 2018, with the eponymously titled mini-series on Amazon Prime Video. The first season of Jack Ryan was excellent, and it’s our recommendation for this week’s iteration of Weekend Buff.

This series takes us back to Ryan’s earlier days as a CIA analyst. The story starts in a manner similar to many real intelligence operations – with a suspicious bank transaction. Ryan uncovers a terror funding plot linked to a before-unknown Islamic extremist named Mousa bin Suleiman. As in other Jack Ryan tales, the analyst is soon ordered into the field to gather more information.

That field work quickly gets him involved in the operational side of the CIA operation against Suleiman. Suleiman is conducting a hostile takeover of ISIS in order to fulfill his plot to commit a multi-pronged terror campaign using CBRN attacks. CBRN stands for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attacks, and it’s what keeps counterterrorism investigators up at night.

Suleiman is planning on using all parts of that acronym in a deadly series of attacks. Naturally, Ryan finds himself in the middle of the operation to thwart the attacks,

This version of Jack Ryan is played by the talented John Krasinski, who has made a successful effort to break out of his comedic role in The Office. As in 13 Hours, Krasinski does a great job as the action hero. He is supported by Abbie Cornish, who plays love interest, and future Jack Ryan spouse, Cathy Meuller. Wendell Pierce (The Wire) plays Ryan’s CIA boss James Greer. Ali Suliman plays terrorist Mousa bin Suleiman. Timothy Hutton makes an appearance as CIA Chief of Operations. The cast is solid. The writers do a nice job of giving background to the Suleiman role, and Suliman gives a great performance (not sure why they made those names so similar).

I liked the premise of this show, because of the accuracy of the initial investigation into Suleiman. Intel analysts are constantly combing FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) and other sources for leads into everything from drug dealing to international terror plots.

Jack Ryan captures certain truths about counterterrorism work. The interagency friction, the reliance on foreign partners, and the constant tension between intelligence collection and actionable operations that are truisms in the intelligence community. The scenes involving coordination with French authorities, for example, reflect the reality that most counterterrorism work is multinational and heavily dependent on cooperation.

The show takes a detour from reality when a CIA analyst armed with an accounting degree finds himself as the tip of the spear in an operational role. That doesn’t happen in the intelligence world, but it makes for a cool story, and that is what sells in Hollywood. It’s a well-crafted narrative, even if it leaves real life in the rear view as the season progresses.

Jack Ryan is on Amazon Prime for free with a subscription or you can rent it by season or episode on Apple TV and other streaming services. The first of the four seasons runs eight episodes, each one running between 45 minutes and an hour. This is another solid iteration of Jack Ryan and Hollywood’s interpretation of the CIA. Enjoy!

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