‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ Is Back in Action! The Cast Previews Season 2
Preview
A car careens across a narrow street in Caracas, Venezuela, cutting off a U.S. convoy. Shots ring out, tires are blown, and passengers are hit. Then CIA agent Jack Ryan climbs behind the wheel and attempts to get the vehicle to safety. Yes, Jack (John Krasinski) is back to save the day (and the world) in Season 2 of the Prime Video hit Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.
But before our hero travels the globe to jump off buildings, plunge into rivers, fight assassins, and survive bomb blasts, he is out of the field, teaching recruits at the CIA’s Langley HQ in Virginia. He’s also working on loan as an aide to his former Marine comrade, now a U.S. senator, Jimmy Moreno (Benito Martinez, The Shield).
Months have passed since the desk-bound analyst evolved into the lauded agent who took down the cunning Islamic State terrorist Suleiman. He’s still bent on doing good, but no one calls him Boy Scout anymore.
“Jack was very straitlaced and clean-cut — both literally and figuratively,” Krasinski says of his alter ego, a character depicted in 22 books and five movies. (A third season of the series is already in the works.) “He was a guy who [labeled everything] as either good or bad, with a right way to do things or a wrong way.” After his brutal experiences tracking Suleiman, Jack is now more sure of himself and “morally ambiguous,” Krasinski adds, and knows “that in order to do the right thing, you have to get your hands dirty.”
Stock up on the sanitizer, Jack! When Ryan and Moreno get intel indicating Russia is secretly sending missiles to Venezuela, they head to South America to meet with its dictatorial president, Nicolás Reyes (Jordi Molla), who’s in the middle of a reelection campaign against a rising reform candidate. Their intention: Sit down with Reyes and ask him what’s going on, before the situation can escalate into a war between Venezuela and the U.S.
(Jennifer Clasen/Amazon Studios)
But danger comes calling soon after their arrival in the unstable country. In the aftermath of that violent street attack by unknown assailants, Jack’s motivation becomes personal and he insists on returning to field work. He gets an assist from his former boss James Greer (Wendell Pierce), who moved on to a deputy chief of station gig in Moscow. The weary veteran shows up in Caracas working his own case (and hiding a big secret: He’s been ordered to desk duty because of a health crisis).
The pair quickly suspect Reyes had a hand in the ambush. “Reyes is a leader who’s not beloved by his people, and he’s trying to protect himself from his unsavory deeds,” says executive producer Brad Fuller. Krasinski adds: “He doesn’t want anyone to find out what he’s doing in the Venezuelan jungles.” And that’s exactly where their investigation takes Jack and Greer, who are joined by Mike November (House of Cards‘ Michael Kelly), the CIA’s by-the-book Caracas station chief.
The men also cross paths with German intelligence agent Harriet “Harry” Baumann (Noomi Rapace), who could prove helpful in the search for the black-market weapons. Before he knew she was a spy, Jack met Harry at their hotel and was instantly attracted. What Jack doesn’t know is whether he can trust her.
Swedish-born Rapace, who came to fame in the original The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movie trilogy, credits an “instant connection” with Krasinski for convincing her to do her first American TV series. “While he was in London doing publicity for the first season, he came to see me and we just vibed,” she recalls. “He was so sweet and funny. I was like, ‘Yep!'”
(Sarah Shatz/Amazon Studios)
Despite a badly broken toe from doing her own stunts on a previous film, Rapace enjoyed the action shoots in Colombia (subbing for Venezuela), London, San Diego, and New York City. “I love Harry,” she says, “because she’s not just a badass character who can fight. There’s an emotional battlefield inside her, and she has to choose sides.”
But what are those sides? While the team follows the trail of the illicit arms shipment, “they discover a network of people who don’t have America’s best interest at heart,” Pierce reveals. In other words, the missiles are linked, says Fuller, “to an [international] conspiracy, which Jack will be unraveling through the season.”
But rest assured, once he stops the bad guys, the world can sleep soundly again.
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Season Premiere, Friday, November 1, Prime Video
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