Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Terminal List season 1
The Terminal List episode 6 feels like a loose remake of First Blood, which introduced Rambo to movie audiences. The Terminal List is an Amazon action-thriller fronted by Chris Pratt, who plays Navy SEAL James Reece. After his team is killed in an ambush and his family is later murdered as part of a cover-up, Reece writes a kill list and sets out for vengeance. The show is based on a series of novels by author Jack Carr, who is a former SEAL himself.
The Terminal List may sound like any number of revenge movies, but it takes itself and the premise very seriously. This works for the show in some ways, though its dour tone can make it hard to engage with. That’s one reason it has attracted mixed to negative reviews, though it also found plenty of viewers who are looking forward to a potential Terminal List season 2. While another series hasn’t been confirmed, the ending laid breadcrumbs suggesting the story would follow second Reece novel True Believer.
The Terminal List also saw Chris Pratt shed his tendency to make quips or gags, as he does in many of his other action roles. That makes sense for the character, who is grieving the loss of his wife, daughter and best friends, not to mention being betrayed by people he trusted. In some parts, his performance is reminiscent of Sylvester Stallone in the original Rambo movie First Blood. It’s fitting, then, that The Terminal List episode 6 “Transience” appears heavily inspired by that 1982 action favorite.
The Terminal List Episode 6 Speedruns First Blood’s Plot
The Terminal List’s “Transience” opens with Reece – who is still working through his list – in a car chase with the FBI following the events of episode 5. Reece is soon wounded during a firefight and flees into the woods. A manhunt is mounted, and the wounded protagonist has to escape his pursuers while combating the effects of his brain tumor. “Transience’s” structure makes it one of the more standalone outings of The Terminal List, with the overarching conspiracy plot sidelined as the FBI and Navy SEALs relentlessly pursue Reece. The structure also bears many comparisons with First Blood, from the hero fleeing into the woods to escape the police, refusing to kill his pursuers and performing some self-surgery for his many injuries.
He even wounds himself climbing down a mountain – just like Sly Stallone’s Rambo – and has a radio conversation with his main pursuer. In both First Blood and The Terminal List, this scene is a highlight for its lead actors, with Pratt’s Reece getting to express his grief and rage to JD Pardo’s FBI agent. Episode 6 does add some more modern tweaks to First Blood’s chase like the use of a drone, but the parallels between the two narratives feel very intentional. The Terminal List author Carr is also a major fan of First Blood author David Morrell, so the homages in “Transience” are not a total coincidence.
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