Welcome to episode four of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, titled “Wukong.” So much to get through, as usual, so let’s go:
Chao Fah (Louis Ozawa) and newly-revealed big bad Zeyara Lemos (Zuleikha Robinson) arrive in Myanmar, where Tin Tun’s (Jim Lau) waiting for them. Zeyara makes a call to Alejandro Marquez (Diego Wallraff) of the Marquez cartel; remember that guy? Zeyara says they need to “expedite the shipment.” Marquez says he needs “destinations” for the packages.
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Zeyara says to just get them across the border and when Marquez objects, she says perhaps she’ll just detonate the packages while they’re still there on his docks. Depending on the prevailing winds, it would probably kill every member of his family. Yikes.
Meanwhile, Jack (John Krasinski), Mike November (Michael Kelly) and Ding Chavez (Michael Peña) also arrive in Myanmar. A deal’s been made with Chao for Mike to head to the casino and act like a high roller. Ding warns the guys they’re in Chao’s world now, so be careful.
There’s a cool little easter egg here: when the guys get their passports scanned, the fake names that come up are all characters from one of the greatest flicks of all time, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974), which is all about spying, surveillance and paranoia. Fitting, no?
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Chao orders his security guys to be ready for an infiltrator. He’s updated the security system and hands out new keycards to everyone. He heads for the security tech suite and the guards tell him they’ve increased surveillance. Chao looks at an angle on the airfield, where a private jet’s just landed.
The jet belongs to the WHO (World Health Organization), and who should be disembarking but Cathy (Abbie Cornish). Zeyara meets Cathy on the tarmac, thanking her for coming. Cathy gushes about Zeyara’s “miraculous” influence on her foundation. Yeah, well, she won’t find it so miraculous when she gets kidnapped, which, let’s face it, is the whole reason why Cathy’s there.
Anyway, Mike arrives at the casino and sends Chao a text saying, “Hit me.” Chao looks out from his office and spots Mike at the bar. He sends a message back with $500,000 in casino credit. Woo hoo! So Mike heads to the Blackjack table and starts spending huge, which of course, prompts the pit boss to call Chao.
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Chao heads to the table and congratulates Mike, offering him a security escort. Mike ends up leaving the casino with a briefcase and heads to the hotel room where Jack and Ding are waiting. He gives Jack one of the keycards saying Chao will meet them in an hour.
Back in Bethesda, Greer’s (Wendell Pierce) recovering from that nasty stab wound. He gets a call from awkward Patrick (Adam Bernett), who tells him they’ve got a hit from the blood on the tanto knife. The guy who stabbed Greer – who we knew as the mysterious Mr. Walters – is actually named Bill Tuttle (Michael McElhatton). Greer tells Patrick to get him all the info as he texts his sulky son (Anthony J. Abraham), asking for a ride. He tells Patrick he’s checking himself out of the hospital, like now.
At Chao’s compound, Kyi Fah (Jacelyn Parry) and little Bennu (Ryn Greenwell) get a surprise visit from Tin Tun. He asks about her stuffed bunny and she says her dad gave it to her. Tin Tun asks whether Bennu got it when she was “sick,” as he casts a suspicious look at Kyi, who’s unable to hide her anxiousness.
Meanwhile, Chao meets with the guys. Jack shows him the trigger, saying there were five. Chao says, “Five … for America.” Oof. So there are way more of them, and Chao says that Olafsky’s just one of many buyers lined up. When Jack asks who else, Chao’s like, look, dude. Americans look at everyone as either good or bad. But the rest of the world is “full of hurt,” and some people will go to any lengths to make things “right.”
Chao then hands out keycards and lays out the plan to retrieve the rest of the triggers, which are being stored in the casino vault. Chao also has a carload of weapons and other goodies for them to use, which Mike and Ding are pretty psyched about. Then Chao lets Jack in on the news – Cathy’s in Myanmar. And Zeyara Lemos is the real enemy, who lured Cathy there to use her as bait. Like we didn’t already know that. As Jack throws Chao against the wall, Mike and Ding rush in to break them up. Chao says that Zeyara expects Jack to go after Cathy instead of destroying the triggers – and he mustn’t fall for it.
Zeyara brings Cathy out to the site of some old prison used by the British and reveals that she’s not there to look at a hospital site because there is no hospital site. Zeyara tells Cathy to get on her cell and call Jack.
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On his way out the door, Chao gives Ding the trigger as a token of his promise. Then Jack gets the call from Cathy, but Chao warns him not to answer or “they’ll all be dead within minutes.” So, Jack reluctantly doesn’t answer, and Zeyara has Cathy brought to the prison.
Wright (Betty Gabriel) calls Greer after finding out he’s left the hospital. Greer tells her about Tuttle and tells her they have to get to him before someone else does. Greer says they need her help. Jack’s out risking his life to protect hers. He says he thought she was a leader. She says she thought he was a friend. Ouch. Then she hangs up and asks for her assistant to get her all the info on Dominic Sanderson.
The guys head back to the casino, Mike and Jack through the front entrance while Ding goes in through the garage. Security notifies Chao about the vehicle in restricted parking. Chao plays his part and calls Zeyara to tell her Jack’s there. As Cathy gets shoved into a chair and tied up, Zeyara says, wow, he’s actually not gonna come for you.
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Mike heads for the electrical room and plants some devices, telling Jack and Ding to get in position. Ding leaves the vehicle and moves through the garage. Jack dives through one of the cashier’s windows when the devices go off and the power goes out.
Chao manages to do some quick programming and locks all the security guys out of the system while he heads to the vault. Security guys spot Jack in the bar and start shooting. He manages to get clear of the guards who get locked out and heads for the vault. Meanwhile, Mike gets up to the roof, where a couple of choppers sit ready, and he takes off in one of them.
Needless to say, Zeyara’s not happy with the unfolding situation, calling Chao and demanding to know how the guys got access and why they’re not already dead. Chao’s like, “I’m handling it,” and hangs up. The security guys with Chao are suspicious, saying Zeyara’s orders were that no one enter the vault. Chao says they’re about to get hit with a crap-ton of artillery and the only place they’ll be able to get cover is the vault.
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Back in Bethesda, Greer and Junior arrive at Biz Hub. Greer goes in and talks to the receptionist guy (Grant Harvey). Greer mentions “Bill” and the receptionist guy’s like, “Oh, you know him?” Greer’s like, “Yeah, sure. Is he here?” The receptionist guy’s like, “Nope, haven’t seen him in a while.” Greer’s like, “Are you lying?” As the receptionist guy stutters, Greer shows him his gun and demands an address. The receptionist guy quickly goes from “protecting client information” to “Sure, whatever you want.”
Jack and Ding arrive at the vault, and Chao shoots the security guys. They plant a bunch more devices and then video call Zeyara. Jack pretends to have Chao hostage and says she’d better deliver Cathy. Zeyara’s like, or what? Ding grabs the phone and shows her the devices, all planted by the remaining triggers. He says, “Or everything I built for you … dies.”
Just as Zeyara, Cathy and the security posse get in the cars, Mike shows up in the chopper and blows the lead vehicle to bits. Yeah! Then he flies around behind them and blows the rear vehicle to bits. Double yeah! In the chaos to get Zeyara back inside, the security guys kinda forget about Cathy and all she has to do is grab the gun off one security dude and shoot him and make a run for it. Mike calls Jack to let him know he’s got Cathy and she’s okay.
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Kyi Fah, however, is not, as she calls Chao to let him know that Tin Tun has them trapped inside the compound. As the guys drive off, Ding notices they’re not heading for the airfield. Chao says he’s gotta get his family. Jack warns him they’ll have an entire army on them. Chao says all the data Jack wants is with his family. Can you guess where?
Back in D.C., Wright goes to a Boys and Girls Club and asks about the scholarship in Dominic Sanderson’s name. The receptionist chick says the donor was anonymous but there’s a tribute in one of the trophy cases. Wright checks it out, and who do you think she finds posing in one of the photos with Dominic Sanderson? None other than Ade Osoji (Okieriete Onaodowan). She takes a photo of the photo and just says, “Sh*t.”
The guys race back to Chao’s house, but it doesn’t look like anyone’s there. But then Bennu and Kyi come running out from the trees and as Chao’s getting them back inside, bam! He gets shot – by a sniper shot coming from a half-mile away, courtesy of Tin Tun.
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The guys get Chao back inside and he covers up his wound as he hugs Bennu and gives her back her bunny. He tells Kyi and Bennu he loves them and sends them off with Jack. He apologizes to Ding, who says, “You made everything right.” Then he gives Chao back the trigger and says they’ll make sure they get Kyi and Bennu out.
Wright calls Greer and tells him that it was Ade Osoji who owned the shell companies. So he was the one telling Miller (John Schwab) what to do. Greer says he’s headed for Tuttle’s place and Wright says to give her the address. She won’t let him go in alone.
Tin Tun goes back to the compound and tells Chao his family won’t escape. Then he says he takes great pleasure in being “the last face you see.” Then Chao holds up the trigger and is like, feeling’s mutual, bub. And … BOOM! The whole compound goes up in a fireball, and so does the vault at the casino, destroying all the triggers. A furious Zeyara orders all her muscle to the airfield. Then she calls Ade Osoji in the middle of doing his lobbying thing at a business lunch and tells him to call Tuttle right away.
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Jack and Ding get to the airstrip and Jack hugs Cathy. But then they see the armada of vehicles headed their way and Jack tells Cathy to get on the plane. He has to stay and hold them off. They say their “I love you’s” and then she gets on the plane with Kyi and Bennu.
Mike shows off his awesomeness yet again by jumping back in the chopper and taking out a few vehicles, ensuring the plane with Cathy, Kyi and Bennu gets safely away. But then there are like a dozen more vehicles coming, so Jack and Ding jump in the chopper and take off.
As Greer arrives at Tuttle’s house, Jack calls from Thailand, he thinks. He tells Greer to make sure to meet the plane when it arrives. He also says that even though they destroyed the triggers, the original five packages still got out. But all the intel they need is with Kyi and Bennu. Then, as they’re heading back to the chopper, Mike gets shot by a sniper. The guys start taking fire from shooters in the hills above them.
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D.C. SWAT arrives to back up Greer. They bust in and grab Tuttle’s wife, who screams out to warn him before they rush her out. Tuttle locks himself in the office and shoots through the door. But then SWAT shoots their way through and Tuttle’s down. Greer rushes in and gets a few choice punches in before realizing that Tuttle’s got surveillance on Jack, Mike and Ding.
And then suddenly, all the guys firing at Jack, Mike and Ding just disappear. Jack sees an empty boat parked nearby, right before someone snatches him and throws a hood over his head, which leads us right back to where the season started.
***
One of the best things about this season is the choice they made to make the big bad a woman. For as much as we all might like to think we’re so progressive, the stereotype of the bad guy is still what we always expect: a guy. So killing that assumption was a really smart move. And Zuleikha Robinson plays it incredibly cool and smooth, so kudos to her as well.
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On the other hand, Cathy’s abduction was just … ugh. Lame. I know they only had six episodes, but to have Cathy snatched and rescued in the same half-hour was just stupid. We knew she was going to be rescued. She was never in any real peril. So it turned Cathy into unnecessary baggage that just wasted screen time, which is a total waste of the character. Given that this is the final season, it’s really disappointing to know that that’s pretty much all we’re going to get.
But of course, there’s always Mike November to make things awesome. Having him zipping around in that chopper blowing things to smithereens was terrific. I’ll keep saying it until it happens: I want the Mike November Show. And bravo to Louis Ozawa, who definitely carried much of this episode on his capable shoulders. It’s sad that his character didn’t survive, but what a way to go out.
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is currently streaming on Prime Video.
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