Game Of Thrones: S2E4

Life is not simple. Sometimes you have horrible people in life. Sometimes your fate is just bad. Sometimes it's the combination of many unfortunate events that throw curve balls at you. What this episode of Game Of Thrones teaches is how to learn from your previous mistakes and adopt to your current circumstances to make the best out of available resources. Some of the major players are learning from maliable aquatic plants who survive even the worst of storms and floods because of their 'agility'. Because if you are stubborn and not ready to get adjusted to the surroundings then the chances of survival are pretty thin.
Okay. Enough of our free dose of life lesson parallels drawn out from the episode.

'Garden Of Bones' starts with Robb Stark winning yet another battle. He rejects Roose Bolton's advise of flaying the Lannister captors. He also meets a nurse who gives him a lecture on the cons of wars which was pretty convincing but Robb has totally forgotten about his bethrowed Frey girl and starts falling for this nurse girl.

In King's Landing, Joffrey has arranged for another one of his torturing sessions. He is making Sansa's life more miserable who gets saved by Tyrion just in time before Sansa was going to get badly beaten. Listening to Bronn's council, Tyrion sends two who*es to calm down Joffrey's raging hormones. But Joff being Joff; does unspeakable things to them and sends his uncle Tyrion a message. What a waste!

Littlefinger arrives at King Renly's camp. He meets Renly, Queen Margaery and they talk. But the main thing is when he talks to Cat. He lies to her face and offers her daughters back in exchange of Jaime. Yes he offers her both of her daughters. He also delivers Ned's last remains as a token of good faith. Meanwhile, King Stannis also arrives there. Cat tries to get the two brothers to be peaceful with each other and not go to war against each other but in vain!

At Harrenhal, Arya, Gendry and other prisoners are being tortured. Tywin Lannister arrives to stop this and recognizes Arya is not a boy but a girl posing as a boy. Smartness overloaded!

For Danny, there is a lot of Drama at the gates of Qarth. But after a considerable give and take with the 'Thirteen', the gates of Qarth are finally opened. At this point we understand the difference inside the gates and outside the gates and why the episode is named Garden Of Bones.

Back to King's Landing, Lancel Lannister (who is now doing Cersei because Jaime is unavailable) meets Tyrion to demand Grand Master Pycell's release from the jail. Tyrion agrees to Cersei's demand but he also makes Lancel to agree to secretly help Tyrion by giving him updates on Cersei moves (while he is moving it with Cersei; if you know what I mean!)

Finally, we again meet King Stannis who asks his man Ser Davos to take his woman Melissandre somewhere discreet. The episode ends on a horrific note when The Red Woman delivers an evil shadow like baby and even Ser Davos loses his sh*t after witnessing this incident first hand.

Breath.

Game Of Thrones: S2E3

It may have been a ride of adventures since we began our Game Of Thrones journey but wait... Have you started losing who's who and where are they now? Why dont we give you a quick revision of the locations and the important people?

So Jon, Sam etc are at Craster's Keep beyond the wall. Bran is currently running the show in Winterfell. Robb is at war. Cat is visiting King Renly Baratheon. Theon Greyjoy is in Iron Island with La Familia. Lord Tywin is making sure Robb doesn't win the war. Tyrion Lannister is Hand Of the King in King's Landing along with Queen Regent Cersei, King Joffrey Baratheon, Sansa, Pycell, Varys, Shae etc. Arya has escaped with Gendry. Jaime is Robb's prisoner. Stannis Baratheon is at Dragonstone with Melissandre making her pregnant and ignoring the Onion Knight. Robert's dead with his headless friend Ned. Drogo's dead. Viserys Targaryen is not a real dragon. And the mother of Dragons is toiling in the red waste.

Phewww! I guess that was needed, isn't it?

So season 2 episode 3 begins with Craster bringing Jon to his house and asking the men of the Night's Watch to get out. Cat meets Renly and his Queen Margaery Tyrell (sister of Ser Loras Tyrell who regularly fu*ks Margery's husband Renly) Crazy World I tell you!
Renly promises Cat revenge for Ned's murder. We also see Renly accepting Brienne of Tarth as a member of his Kingsguard. Balon and Yara are still treating Theon like sh*t so there's that.

Moving on, Shae finds her a new job as Handmaiden to Sansa. Tyrion pulls an amazing trick to figure out Cersei's spy by proposing Princess Myrcella 's wedding as a political move.
Maester Pycell is the one found guilty and Cersei is enraged again!

Renly couldn't sleep with Margaery. Theon decides to cheat Robb and stay loyal to House Greyjoy. Tyrion calms down angry Littlefinger by sending him on a mission which involves a meeting with Cat. Varys appreciates Tyrion's brains.

Arya learns how to handle emotions from Yoren who is killed by the gold cloaks who attacks the party in search of Gendry. Arya lies to them telling them that they already killed Gendry. Finally, the remaining members including Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie are taken to Harrenhal.

So much happened in so less time. Times are changing. People are getting more fierce. And Westeros is preparing for impending wars to come. Can't wait! Interestingly, we didn't visit Essos even once in this episode. God knows if our baby dragons could survive the heat of the desert? Stay tuned to find out...

Game Of Thrones: S2E2

The second episode of GOT season 2 starts with a bonding between Arya and Gendry. She reveals her true identify to him. She asks Gendry why were he wanted by the men who was looking for him. Gendry doesn't know. But we know that he is an illegitimate child of late King Robert and that's why Joffrey had sent men to catch hold of him.

At King's Landing, Cersei refuses to agree to Robb Stark's terms to end the war. She also rejects Night's Watch's request to send more men. Tyrion is threatened by Varys who finds out the truth about Shae but Tyrion warns Varys to not take any such step against him. Later, Tyrion questions Janos Slynt for his involvement in the mass murders of Robert's bastards and replaces him with Bronn as
Commander of the City Watch. Obviously, Cersei is not okay with this. Tyrion comments about her relations with Jaime. Cersei has a quick response to Tyrion that shuts him up about how their mother had died giving birth to Tyrion. We know that siblings have a love and hate relationship in general. But in Cersei Lannister's case, you either get loved or hated. There is no middle ground. Talking about people who like incestuous relationships and sex out of wedlocks, let's move to Dragonstone.

Ser Davos recruits Salladhor Saan and his fleet to Stannis's 'forces'. Meanwhile Stannis 'forces' himself inside Melissandre after being successfully seduced by the Red Woman who promises him a son. That scene though!

On Iron Islands, Theon is disappointed by his unwelcoming family. His father Balon Greyjoy also questions whether his loyalty lies with House Greyjoy or House Stark. By the way, the girl Theon was hitting on turns out to be his sister! I wonder how many incestuous relationships are yet pending?

Talking about families with incest, Danny's days are not getting any better. One of the bloodriders Rakharo returns but he isn't alive so no good news there. The red waste continues to haunt Danny.

Moving on to the most incestuous family, Sam saves one of Craster's daughters and/or wives; Gilly from Jon's direwolf Ghost. Jon rejects Sam's proposal of taking pregnant Gilly with them to Castle Black.
Remember there was a suspense about Craster's boys? Well, it is revealed; partially. Jon follows Craster who is taking his baby boy in the woods. We are as  shocked as Jon to see Craster leaving the baby to White Walkers. But before Jon could save the baby, he is hit on head and knocked down by a surprise attack from Craster.

Will Jon survive? Will Varys expose Shae's true identify?What will happen to Danny? How will Cersei answer Tyrion's moves? How will Theon pay the iron price? Will Gendry be caught?

Stay tuned to find out...

Game Of Thrones: S2E1

***ANNOUNCEMENT***

TV Series Explained just made its way into Top 50 TV blogs and websites list by feedspot and we are thrilled!
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Clap Clap Clap!!!

Okay...now that's done, let's slip right into yet another season of Game Of Thrones. We were tired of Danny always keeping her eggs warm and finally we ended last season with three live screeching dragons...well baby dragons but still Hurrah!

So season 2 episode 1 begins with King Joffrey celebrating his birthday in a really horrible manner. However his celebrations are disturbed with Lord Tyrion Lannister (acting) Hand of the King's arrival. Cersei is also pi*sed off to meet her brother.

At Winterfell, Bran is the current Lord who is learning how to rule. He is then taken to Godswood with Hodor and Osha where they notice a red comet in the sky. Osha interpretes this as dragons' arrival. Although Danny's dragons are born, her life is still a struggle. She may have prepared to be a mother but she has no idea how to feed her dragon babies. Also, there is no food or water for her and her Khalasaar so she sends her riders in each directions to look for a place for shelter. Poor Danny!
Another comet transition.
We come to Craster's Keep; beyond the wall. This man takes incest to a new level. He marries his daughters and does something unknown with his sons. Jon doesn't really approve of this, but the brothers of the Night's Watch need Craster's place to stay.
Red comet.
At Dragonstone (historically House Targaryen's ancestral seat, currently ruled by Stannis Baratheon) we see Stannis writing letters to all Lords of Winterfell that he is the true heir after Robert's death. Earlier he has received Ned's letter from last season. We also see magical Lady Melissandre. Her nights are longer and full of terror. Maester at Dragonstone doesn't believe the red woman Melissandre's powers and sacrifices himself to prove his point. Meanwhile, Melissandre is safe and sound right there to help Stannis win the iron throne.
Again. Comet.
Jaime is still Robb Stark's prisoner. Robb sends Theon Greyjoy to his father for help in war against the Lannisters. Robb also sends Cat to make an agreement with Renly Baratheon. By the way, Renly has also started to call himself a King.

Back to King's Landing, Cersei and Littlefinger engages in a display of power play and Cersei clearly wins. Remember, 'Power is Power'. Joffrey has heard of rumors regarding the incestuous relationship between his mother and his uncle Jaime. He is worried that one of Robert's bastards may contend him as a better alternative for ruling the seven kingdoms. So he orders mass murders. All of Robert's bastards are killed. All of them except, Gendry who is now on the beautiful Kingsroad with Arya. The episode ends with both of them traveling towards the Wall as new recruits for the Nights Watch.

So much happened in an hour and yet we feel like we should immediately move to next episode, right? Let me know what do you think in the comments.

Also, do share the blog in your social circles. Now that TV Series Explained has made it's way into Top 50 TV blogs and websites list, we promise to bring more and better content regularly. Promise.

Game Of Thrones: S1E10

While we still can't bear the idea of Game Of Thrones without Lord Eddard 'Ned' Stark, Westerosis have already started to move on. Of course everyone is dealing with this news differently.

Sansa is still a captive. Arya runs away disguised as a boy along with Gendry (one of Robert's bastards) Robb is declared the 'King in the North'. Jon decides to break his oath and run away to help his loved ones but is convinced otherwise by his brothers Sam and Pyp. Tywin sends Tyrion to King's Landing as acting Hand Of The King. While he asks Tyrion to leave his mistress Shae behind, Tyrion does the opposite. Tywin himself plans to gather his remaining troops at Harrenhal.

On the other side of the narrow sea, Danny wakes up and learns that her son was a stillborn. She is curious to see what she gained after sacrificing her child. But another bad news is right around the corner. The Witch; Mirri; has saved Drogo but he is in a vegetative state with no chance of getting better. Furious and grieved by the outcome, Danny decides to punish the witch after giving sympathy death to Khal Drogo.
We will miss you Danny's sun and stars!
Danny orders that Mirri be tied to Drogo's funeral pyre and also puts her dragon eggs on top of it. Everyone including Ser Jorah is convincing her to not go inside the fire but Khaleesi is not in the mood to listen to anyone. There is a newfound fire and some sort of confidence in her eyes. The audience is left in a state of shock when Danny walks inside the fire as if nothing bothers her while Mirri is screaming with pain. The next morning, the remaining members of her Khalasaar and Ser Jorah are shocked to see Danny still alive. She rises; Unburnt; as a true Targaryen along with three screaming baby dragons.

All hail 'The Mother Of Dragons' !!!

Game Of Thrones: S1E9

Robb and Arya Stark are going to marry one of Lord Frey's children each. A condition upon which the Starks will be allowed to cross the river. The prenultimate episode of season 1 of Game Of Thrones starts at The Riverlands. This episode is a setting stone for all the upcoming seasons of Game Of Thrones dictating the second last episodes are going to be epic!

In case you need to refresh your memory, here is the link to all episodes of Game Of Thrones:

TV Series Reviewed: Game Of Thrones

Anyways, so Tywin Lannister who was expecting 20000 Stark men; thanks to Robb's smart plan; only receives 2000. Robb on the other hand wins the battle against Jaime's forces and captures him. Bravo Robb Stark!

Jon Snow is sad about not being able to join the war with Robb. He gets 'Longclaw', ancestral sword of house Mormont; from Jeor Mormont. He also learns a big secret. Maester Aemon is a Targaryen, Mad King (Danny's dad) Aerys's brother. Meanwhile, Danny is abandoned by the dothraki women during her labour pains and Jorah asks the witch(who is doing blood magic to bring Drogo back) for help. Poor Danny... when will she see better days?

Finally, in King's Landing Ned agrees to confess treason and accept Joffrey as one true King out of fear for Sansa's well being. Ned secretely hints Yoren to protect Arya who is watching the confession at the Sept of Baelor. But here comes a big twist. After confessing in front of the crowd, Joffrey changes his mind and cruelty (and stupidity) takes over him. Instead of showing mercy to him as promised earlier, he orders Ned's execution. But even at this point we feel that the other Lords and Cersei will stop this from happening. But we are proved wrong. Ser Illyn Payne swings the sword and a major character who we thought was the hero is dead.

Thoughts?

Jack Ryan: S1E8

Sandrine had described Jack as a wolf hidden in sheep. By sheep she referred to a nerdy analyst sitting behind the desk crunching numbers. By wolf she meant a brave, adventurous and super smart version of Jack who is excellent at getting his hands dirty in actual combat-like, risky operations. The journey that Jack's character arch has been throughout the season is fabulous. By the way the next two seasons have already been announced! But before getting too much ahead, lets focus on the task at hand first. We have reached the season finale of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. This episode starts on a slower pace than usual but then speeds up to an ultimate speed in no time. Its been a ride that's one of a kind.


In case you missed reading my reviews of rest of the episodes, click the link below:
TV Series Reviewed: Jack Ryan
By the way, I also write about Game of Thrones (just putting it out there, no pressure!) which you can read here:
TV Series Reviewed: Game Of Thrones


This episode begins with the news that the US president has been moved to an unidentified, safe location because he may have been infected with Ebola. We see Jack unable to sleep at night because he keeps on seeing the flashbacks of his past. Cathy goes outside the bedroom and Jack who is hesitant in the beginning then decides to tell Cathy about his past. We learn that he was on a mission to rescue a family while he was deployed in Afghanistan. We learn there was an orphan boy who seemed friendly to Jack pleads Jack to take him with him while the family was being rescued. Jack takes the boy with him in the helicopter but the boy takes down the helicopter with a granade. All his fellow marines and the family is killed and Jack is the only survivor in the accident. Cathy thanks Jack for trusting her. Although there are not many give and takes in the scene, we see the bond between Jack and Cathy getting stronger.

Elsewhere, Suleiman and Sameer are seen entering the US with fake identities. In Baltimore, a guy touches the contents leaked out from a vile that had been left behind by Suleiman's men earlier. The guy gets seriously ill and the CIA comes to know that he got in touch with Cesium 137; the same radioactive substance used in Chernobyl event. Everyone is very disturbed that the effects of an attack with such a radioactive weapon could last for generations taking lives of hundreds of thousands of men.

At Washington Memorial Hospital, Cathy examines the president and informs him about his stable health. Jack sees the pictures of the containers in which the radioactive material was brought in. It is confirmed that the quantity of the material is too less to carry out a very big attack. Jack draws parallels between the multi-step attack in Paris with the current plot. James asks him what could be the connection between Ebola and Cesium but Jack is unable to answer it. Suleiman's right hand guy; Ibrahim; demonstrates the plan of spreading Cesium 137 to Suleiman. Sameer secretly watches this demo. Then he also finds two dead bodies and gets afraid. Suleiman calms him down and tells him that once all of this is done, they will find Hanin and his sisters and be a happy family again. Jack meets Hanin and asks her if she knows anything about Suleiman's plan. Having already given all the information, Hanin rebukes Jack and asks him about his promise of returning Sameer to her. He tells her someone must have contacted Suleiman because of which his earlier plan failed but Hanin denies her involvement in contacting Suleiman. Sara secretly watches this and gets scared because earlier she had talked with Sameer using the messaging system in the game. Jack sees the boy who took down the helicopter in Afghanistan in a washroom in the office but is able to control himself as he knows its just his mind playing games with him. James informs Jack about the blast in a pizza grill that Ibrahim caused in Georgetown and they both rush to the crime scene. While on the way, James gets to know that Cesium wasn't used in the bomb. A bunch of ambulances are taking the casualties in the blast to Washington Memorial Hospital and Suleiman joins them. Jack figures out that the bomb blast was the first step of Suleiman's plan and his next step is at the hospital where the president, vice-president, many congressmen and other dignitaries are already present. He informs Cathy about the danger and Jack and James turn back and rush to the hospital.

Suleiman takes the two dead bodies to the Morgue where a hospital guy is killed. Suleiman's men opens the bodies of the corpses and takes out the Cesium vile to set it up for use. Secret Service agent Crawfferd lets Jack and James in the hospital and asks them to help coordinate the search operation. Suleiman and his men now goes to upper floors where they set up their weapon which can be detonated by a call from a cell phone which Suleiman has. Cathy who has been busy earlier gets Jack's messages and gets terrified. She asks Crawfferd about the happenings who tells her that POTUS will be rescued first and then the rest of the people. Unsatisfied with Crawfferd's response, Cathy pulls the trigger for emergency exit and then there is a complete chaos in the hospital. Jack finds the dead man in Morgue and the rush begins. A police car stops in front of the car in which Suleiman's man and Sameer is sitting because the policeman gets suspicious. James who is heading upstairs catches one of Suleiman's guy going in the opposite direction than everyone else and follows him. The man gets into the same elevator as that of Cathy. But James catches him on another floor and shoots him thus saving Cathy. Jack who is now headed upstairs hears gunshots and rushes down.Suleiman and his guy are out of the hospital and approaching their car when Sameer jumps out. The police shoots the man with Sameer and Suleiman hints Sameer to stay silent. Jack catches Sameer looking in the direction in which Suleiman and his man went and Jack goes to hunt them. Jack shoots a bullet but no one gets hurt. The chase continues at a metro station. Meanwhile a frightened Ibrahim successfully gets out of the hospital.

Jack gets hit with a bullet and then he fires shots which ends up killing Suleiman's guy by a running metro but Suleiman escapes. Jack takes a short cut and reaches the next metro station. Suleiman tries making a call to blast the weapon but he doesn't get the signal. Jack reaches there only to find a big crowd. He makes a smart move and shouts "I have your son". Suleiman looks back. Jack fires a shot; this time without hesitation. Suleiman falls down. Jack takes his phone and before the call could get through, Jack turns it off thus preventing a major attack. James praises wounded Jack for his work with a snarky comment that for an analyst, it was very good! Both of them return Sameer to Hanin, Sara and Rama. The expressions in Hanin's eyes are so fulfilling when she looks at Jack who kept his promise after all. James tells Jack that he saved Sameer's life. Sameer looks back at Jack with an expression which we could not figure out and Jack says, "We'll see".

Four months into the future, Ibrahim is killed with a headshot by Mattice in Morocco and that is the last thread of the Suleiman's plot line tied up. At Langley, Jack brings a good buy gift for James who is promoted as a Deputy Chief of Station in Moscow. Instead of accepting the gift, James tells him a lesson he learnt the other day while praying to which Jack is not sure how to react. Jack gets offered a promotion at the office as the head of TFAD but we do not see any satisfaction on the sheep's face. He then gets handed over a file from James in which there is a note from him which says that he has booked tickets for Jack to Moscow. Jack says thank you and we finally see a big smile of satisfaction on the wolf's face!

Oh what a wonderful end of the season. Jack Ryan Season 1 is only 8-episodes and by the end of it we can't help but search on the internet how long before the next season?(!)

Jack Ryan: S1E7

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Season 1 Episode 7 opens with Jack coming back to work at Langley. He and James are praised for the work that they did. The location given by Hanin is confirmed. And everybody is preparing for the finale. This episode is one of the fastest episode of the season and is definitely one of the best second last episodes that a TV show could have.

At a training complex in Virginia, a ground operation KILO team is practicing breaking into the compound where Suleiman resides. Jack brings Hanin there for Intel such as on which side of the bed Suleiman sleeps, which weapons does he keep nearby etc.
At Al Mnajeer, Suleiman tells Sameer that his sisters are coming home but his mother was killed. It seemed that Suleiman was trying to brainwash Sameer. In a meeting with the senior officers, Jack advocates the ground operation by deploying american units to grab Suleiman but only air strike gets sanctioned only if Suleiman was confirmed to be there at the identified location.
Suleiman meets Dr. Nadler; one of the people he has in captivity; and gives him all the medicines he has asked for. Jack and James comes to know that Suleiman and Ali had taken a dead body with them 6 months back and then they suspect that this might be the body of Ebola infected person that Cathy had informed previously. Cathy who was taken in for questioning is surprised to see Jack there. She confirms that Ebola can be weaponised. But outside the questioning hall, she condemns Jack for lying to her.

Then we see Suleiman's men in Baltimore taking 7 bottles of blue liquid with them. The 8th bottle which is leaking is left there unattended. James calls Jack at 3 in the night and asks him to attend an emergency brief with him. He plays a prank with him by asking him to wear a tie. When Jack gets there all suited up, he sees that he is the most well dressed person there and everybody is looking at him in a weird way and this makes James Greer enjoy himself. The briefing is actually a call with the US president where it is decided that instead of an air inflirtation, a ground strike will be done because Dr. Nadler and Mr. President knows each other very well. Jack also asks Mr. President for permission to bring Sameer back with the 12 hostages.
At Al Mnajeer, Suleiman is preaching his men when Sameer decides to join him. At a safehouse in the US, Hanin and her daughters are making themselves at home. Sara gets a video game she had asked for which she uses to play a game and chat with Sameer. Without Sameer's knowledge, Suleiman reads their messages. I wonder in today's times, why does Suleiman's family members use the messaging systems in games to chat with each other but anyhoo!

The most thrilling sequence of the episode begins when the KILO ground forces are deployed in Suleiman's compound only to find the hostages. No sign of Suleiman, Sameer or his men. But since bringing the hostages home is the priority, everyone but Jack is happy. James goes to the bar where a brooding Jack is sulking by himself and tries to cheer him but Jack is not ready to forget about the fact that Suleiman is still out there and the threat still exists.
Somewhere near the Turkish border, Suleiman, Sameer and his men are provided with passports and are ready to make their way out of Syria and possibly into the US. Meanwhile, Cathy decides to meet Jack who explains to her his situation and why he had to lie. Cathy forgives him and they patch up. And this makes me Happy!
James is given some shredded documents recovered from Al Mnajeer. The CIA officers suspects the medicines provided to the hostages by Suleiman may be not out of care and sympathy. And Jack figures out that since Suleiman knew that the US President knew Dr. Nadler, he used him and rest of the hostages as biological weapons. Well played Suleiman!

In case you want to read reviews of all the episodes of Jack Ryan Season 1, here is the link:

Jack Ryan Season 1 reviews

Jack Ryan: S1E6

So much happened in season 1 episode 6 of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan! Let's begin.

We see two men are digging the ground in Liberia where Ebola patient's dead bodies are burried in a flashback scene that happened 6 months ago. After securely getting hold of the body, they take off their costumes and we are shocked to see Suleiman and Ali.

Cut to present time where Hanin and her daughters Sara and Rama are traveling in a truck in which people are gathered like cattle. We feel bad for them. Then we see Jack and James arrive in an airport in Adana who are greeted by Lance. Remember him who Hanin had met earlier? They get in a car to go and meet a local guy who can help them find Hanin. Coincidentally, Victor is also there at the airport who hires a cab to go to Syria. He is here to make amends with the family of the guy that was innocent but Victor had killed because he was misidentified.
At Washington Memorial Hospital, Cathy is very busy after finding signs of Ebola in a recent death case. Her friend advices her to go behind her boss's back (who had ignored Cathy's concerns) and consult with another senior doctor working in Liberia.
We see Yazid; Suleiman's guy; arrive where the truck in which Hanin, Sara and Rama were traveling has stopped. He pays a local guy to find out about Hanin and her daughters but Hanin catches him and silently attacks him. He falls in a shi* pile and Hanin, Sara and Rama runs away. I wonder how did Yazid came back after he was presumably dead with Victor's drone shot. Anyways.
After learning about the incident that we saw in the flashback scene at the beginning of the episode, Dr. Cathy Mueller gets super nervous and writes an email raising a red flag related to Ebola.
Lance introduces Jack and James to the local guy inside a brothel and Jack is very uncomfortable working with the shady guy. He affirms there must be another way to find Hanin but James Greer shuts him down. James speaks with experience because he knows this needs to be done and tells Jack to watch and learn. While they are on the road, they learn about the incident that happened with Hanin and her daughters. When they come to know that Suleiman's guy tried to get hold of Hanin and her daughters, they rush to the beach from where the human smuggling takes place. Hanin, Sara and Rama are on foot when the daughters requests Hanin to take a halt for taking rest. However, Hanin is in no mood to listen to her daughters's wussing and shouts at them to suck it up.
Jack and James's car is halted because of a new wall. The local guy deals with the situation by killing the security guards and Jack loses his sh*t and starts beating him up. Greer intervenes and finally they are back on the road.

In Syria, Victor makes peace by giving away a lot of money to the family members of the innocent guy he had killed. No one understands each other. Yet the whole sequence is played out brilliantly. If anyone is going to sleep like a baby tonight, it's Victor!
Hanin and the girls finally arrive at the beach but guess what? Yazid is already waiting for them. He calls Suleiman who asks him to bring the girls back home but kill Hanin. Woah! Just in time when Hanin and her daughters are yelling for help, Jack and James points guns at Yazid. Yazid has Hanin at his gunpoint and the local guys point their guns at Jack and James. The guy with Jack and James talks to Yazid's men and James asks Jack to put down the weapon. Knowing that Yazid is returning Hanin and not the girls, Jack is reluctant but finally gives up. But as soon as Hanin is safely returned, James kills Yazid with a sharp and quick headshot. That's the experience that Jack still lacks! And the local guys point their guns with a lot of confusion on their faces. Finally the situation gets diffused and Jack and James takes Hanin and her daughters with them. Jack takes Hanin under confidence and learns about Suleiman's location but James is not thrilled to hear that. When Jack sits down next to a brooding James, James opens up about what happened in Karachi. He was trying to secure a high level asset from Pakistani Army but the guy turned on him and James had to stab him and flee. The reason James told Jack about this was so that he could learn from his experience but Jack being Jack is still stubborn about only making the righteous choices. James has a look on his face that tells us that Jack may be hesitant to adopt to the ways in which the real world operates but will eventually have to accept it the hard way!

There are so many things that stays with us when we think about this episode. But the most important thing is the realization that we are just 2 more episodes away from the end and the Jack v/s Suleiman face-off is just around the corner! Are you all with me yet?

Jack Ryan: S1E5

The episode begins with a scene in the church where the terrorists had killed more than 300 innocent people. By killing a priest earlier, the terrorists ensured that there will be a lot of people and dignitaries at his funeral. It is revealed through a series of videos that Suleiman was behind these mass casulties. Jack is not dealing with the aftermath of the destruction very well and James is there to explain to Jack how he should not react to this emotionally but with his brains.

There are some episodes which are fast paced and high in action and then there are some episodes like this one. These are the episodes that helps the audience get up to the speed while placing its characters at the right places in order to build a strong story in the upcoming weeks. When you have a series like Jack Ryan with many characters and parallel storylines, it's required to take a breather episode so that we can gain our strength back and be ready to race again!

We see the strange reality of present time through Hanin's story arch. Hanin arrives at a Turkish refugee camp. She seeks political asylum but an undercover CIA officer is not quite open to believe her. When Jack learns about this, he feels that this can be a major step while dealing with Suleiman and wants to verify if this is really true.

We see Suleiman remembering his past. We see how he was denied any opportunity to have a civil future because the French people judged him based on his religion and not by his knowledge. We also see Ali carrying a gun in his younger age when Suleiman risks himself by assaulting a policeman only to save Ali. After spending spending months in prison , Ali pays Suleiman a visit. We also see how Suleiman was brainwashed in the prison by extreme religious propaganda. Clearly, the realities of the world in the past were not better than the present times.

Suleiman meets the leader of the 12 hostages and promises him that all of the needs of the hostages such as fresh water, medicines etc will be fulfilled. Looks like there is still some remains of humanity left inside Suleiman after all!

At Nevada, Victor learns that the man he had killed in Syria who had a son was misidentified. The guilt and shame of killing an innocent person breaks him. He tells Ava that their CO has ordered him to take a 10 days mandatory leave. He also reveals to Ava how he wanted to be a Pilot and not control the drones like he does. To this Ava explains why the work he does is not any less than actually fighting in a war. She tells Victor to get piece of mind by doing whatever he requires to do before he comes back.

At Langley, the CIA is planning to catch hold of Suleiman by contacting him through the messaging system inside the video game that Ali used to use to communicate to his brother. Suleiman initially believes him and sends his men at the location where the CIA has set the trap. Later he identifies Jack because he is unable to reply to a trick sentence by Suleiman. Suleiman tells Jack that he will find him but Jack brings up the topic of Hanin only to successfully confirm that she has left Suleiman. Meanwhile, Hanin gets on a truck with her daughters after she has given all her jewellery to a local human smuggler to help them flee. Suleiman's man is there in Turkey at the camp from where Hanin had just ran away. How the hell did he survive the drone attack I wonder! Elsewhere Jack and James are seen getting into a plane for Turkey so that they can get hold of Hanin.

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