All 4 Seasons Of Jack Ryan, Ranked From Worst To Best

Separating the best seasons of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan from the worst requires more than just a head for numbers and a blatant disregard for authority, whatever Jack himself might say. From Harrison Ford to Chris Pine, many A-list actors have played the role of Jack Ryan, and John Krasinski joined that prestigious list when he made the surprise switch from comedy to action for Amazon’s TV adaptation in 2018. Jack Ryan season 4 ended the show in 2023, with Krasinski’s performance and the series itself broadly enjoying positive reactions throughout its run.

Nevertheless, Jack Ryan did waver in quality. Although each season told a serialized story covering a single world-dooming conspiracy from premiere to finale, the show adopted a more episodic format overall, with each season adapting a distinct narrative. Characters and themes would carry over – usually – but all four seasons of Jack Ryan can be viewed in isolation, and that makes weighing up the merits and flaws of each slightly easier. The following will be judged on overall plot strength, character development, action, critical and audience response, creativity, and various other factors.

Jack Ryan Season 4

A Muddled Final Run For Jack

Jack Ryan season 4 was confirmed as the Amazon adaptation’s last chapter in advance, but emerging from the other side, saving the world four times may have been a reach too far. Each of Jack Ryan‘s prior seasons kept a singular focus – Suleiman, Venezuela, Russian rebels – but season 4 represented a sudden explosion of convoluted plotting, attempting to weave together the Triad, the Cartel, Nigerian assassinations, CIA corruption, and displeased politicians. Throw in Cathy’s Jack Ryan return and a smattering of new characters, and season 4 was Amazon’s most overstuffed by some distance.

To make matters worse, Jack Ryan season 4 was 2 episodes shorter than John Krasinski’s previous outings, making an already complex plot even harder to follow. The villainous masterplan blurred into a haze of unclear motivations and stern glares, major revelations fell flat, and the suspense Jack Ryan had previously been renowned for collapsed under the frenetic pacing and disconcerting lack of logic. Six episodes of mediocrity was compounded in the final showdown – an I-can’t-believe-they-did-that bomb defusal scene that was as tense as making a cup of tea.

Unquestionably, there were bright spots to Jack Ryan season 4. Cathy’s return was very welcome, even if her screen time came at a premium, and Michael Peña proved himself the standout newcomer playing Domingo Chavez, blending in with the existing protagonists seamlessly. Beyond Cathy and Chavez, the main triumvirate of Jack alongside Wendell Pierce’s James Greer and Michael Kelly’s Mike November remained rock-solid as Jack Ryan‘s heart and soul. The boys just about kept Jack Ryan season 4 afloat through choppy narrative waters.

Jack Ryan set itself a high bar for adrenaline-pumping moments across previous seasons, but even the action sequences took a step down in season 4 – mid-octane rather than high-octane, and less gratifying when they did come. Between that, the shorter length, and a relative lack of quality, Jack Ryan season 4 failed to deliver the explosive last ride Amazon probably envisioned, landing closer to a mere addendum – a side story some viewers might simply pretend they never saw.

Jack Ryan Season 2

A Sophomore Dip As Ryan Got More Political

With its inherently political main storyline, Jack Ryan season 2 was always destined to provide a less immediately satisfying experience compared to season 1. Moreover, removing John Krasinski’s character from his CIA desk job and transforming him into a “proper” spy killed the underdog, fish-out-of-water elements that worked so well in season 1. Jack was now just a dog in water, and without that every-man quality, Jack Ryan lost some of what made its debut run unique within the action-espionage arena.

On the other hand, Jack Ryan season 2 added fresh morsels to counterbalance what was lost in the sophomore transition. Positioning the Venezuelan president as a main villain, as opposed to a wanted terrorist, restored that Jack-against-the-world magic, while the scripts worked hard to make season 2’s mission a more personal affair by including the death of Jack’s close friend. Jack Ryan season 2 was, of course, also responsible for introducing Michael Kelly’s Mike November in a genius piece of casting that elevated the entire show until the very end.

Jack Ryan‘s episodic season format hurt its second run. In a jarring shift, the premiere began with Jack in a new job, not mentioning Cathy, and mourning a supposed close friend that didn’t appear whatsoever during season 1. The connection between Jack and the audience suffered as a result, and only recovered thanks to him and Greer picking up right where they left off. Jack Ryan season 2 also found itself bogged down in subplots. Nobody cared about the ex-lover assassins, and while the Special Activities team subplot fared better, it was like watching a totally separate show until Jack himself joined in.

Jack Ryan season 2 still brought more to the table than the troubled season 4, however. The jungle mission, and the major death that came from that, gripped tightly before tugging at the heartstrings, while the embassy escape ranks among Jack Ryan‘s very best action sequences. The sneering President Reyes, played by Jordi Mollà, took no effort to detest, and being an out-and-out baddie stood Reyes apart from the more humanized Suleiman from season 1. Despite being yet another side story, Gloria Bonalde’s presidential campaign and missing husband then injected Jack Ryan season 2 with an uplifting warmth even the hardest heart couldn’t help but be affected by.

Jack Ryan Season 3

Jack Ryan’s Most Bond-Like Season

With its secret Russian bases, deep-cover agents, and CIA corruption, Jack Ryan season 3 was easily the most espionage-y installment in Amazon’s adaptation, and that’s no bad thing. Sticking with the political track, Jack Ryan season 3’s tale of hard-line rebels attempting to overthrow the Russian government facilitated a twisty narrative full of shocks, but made enough sense for the audience to actually follow along. On the run from his own employers, Krasinski reverted to his infinitely more interesting underdog role, working against his own government for Uncle Sam’s greater good.

The most surprising success, however, was Jack Ryan season 3’s new characters – James Cosmo’s Luka Gocharov, Peter Guinness’ Petr Kovac, and Nina Hoss’ President Kovac. Their stories merged perfectly with the Jack-Greer-Mike unit that had finally solidified. President Kovac ably drew sympathy as season 3’s auxiliary protagonist, while Guinness hit every single, sinister note of his Bond villain assignment. Even so, it was Cosmo’s Gocharov – an enigmatic, shades-of-gray, old-school Russian spy – that ultimately proved to be one of Jack Ryan‘s most fascinating characters across all four seasons.

The action heated up nicely for Jack Ryan‘s third outing. The threat of a nuclear explosion – eventually prevented by a ground-and-air pincer and a brilliantly inventive tunnel run – gave Jack his highest stakes yet, and the set pieces rose to meet that increased scale and danger. The Cold War climax, in which US and Russian vessels faced each other in a tense standoff, carried a strong moral message and tension aplenty, bringing proceedings to a suitably epic finish. In hindsight, stopping World War III in such impressive fashion was a near-impossible act for Jack Ryan‘s future to follow, partly explaining why season 4 struggled.

Jack Ryan Season 1

Jack Ryan’s Original Job Made Season 1 Better

Bearing the quintessential elements that make Tom Clancy’s creation so popular as a concept, a character, and a hero, it is impossible to look beyond season 1 as the best example of Amazon’s Jack Ryan. Crucially, season 1 represents the only time Jack Ryan was a financial analyst desk-jockey dragged semi-unwillingly into bigger situations. That premise carried infinitely more appeal than the “spy does the job he’s paid for” setup of later seasons. Jack Ryan season 1 also placed the most emphasis on Jack as a former soldier struggling with PTSD, and that human element proved invaluable in making him a relatable figure. By the end of season 4, he was a bulletproof superhero.

Watching Jack pick apart Suleiman’s scheme in Holmesian fashion immediately put Krasinski’s performance among the very best onscreen Jack Ryan portrayals. Imagining “Jim from The Office” as Tom Clancy’s hero seemed a tall order when it was first announced, but Krasinski made the action franchise leading man gig look far easier than he had any right to. He maintained that high level of performance across all seasons, but season 1, where Jack dealt with the most inner conflict, afforded Krasinski more highlight reel moments than the other three combined.

Suleiman himself was never topped as a villain. Far from the one-dimensional caricatures western media typically opts for, Suleiman received proper characterization. No amount of tragic backstory justified his violent schemes, but Ali Suliman’s character would remain Jack Ryan‘s most nuanced and balanced enemy until the very end. Action sequences in Jack Ryan‘s first season, meanwhile, found the sweet spot between gratifying and grounded – among the more realistic depictions of military and CIA operations, but still exciting to watch through Hollywood’s dramatic lens, and largely faithful to Clancy’s source material.

The most obvious flaw in Jack Ryan‘s first and best season is a now-familiar one – its side stories. The escape of Hanin, Suleiman’s wife, alongside her children, thrived as a harrowing subplot that dovetailed neatly with Jack’s own arc, but the “military drone pilot grows conscience” narrative faltered. A powerful political message is in there somewhere, but it had little to do with Jack Ryan season 1’s main story, and too often distracted from more pressing matters. That misstep aside, Amazon never bettered Jack Ryan season 1. Subsequent efforts ramped up the stakes, but seasons 2, 3, and 4 were always playing catch-up.