In the previous episode of Jack Ryan Season 3, Jack and Luka uncovered that the real endgame of the Sokol project was not a nuke, but starting a war, whilst also planning a coup in their own country. Having discovered this, Jack heads to the Baltic sea and Luka heads straight for the Russian ship called the Fearless that Captain Rolan Antonov who was a part of Sokol is on. Meanwhile Kovac is headed to Russia to meet the president and warn him about Petrov.
Read the recap of Season 3 Episode 7 here.
The official synopsis for this episode reads, “Jack, Greer, Wright, Alena and Luka all work in concert to prevent the start of a third world war.”
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR JACK RYAN SEASON 3 EPISODE 8
It has been a long season, and Jack has gone from being a CIA case officer, to a Rogue Agent, to a diplomatic agent to a decorated agent. So much has happened over the couture of just 8 episodes, it really feels like more. Jack and his team have stopped nukes, coups and all out wars. In the season finale we see everyone heading in different directions, to take on their final challenges.
We start with Jack who is trying to make it across the Russian border from Estonia. Luka is getting ready to board the Fearless, what he called “the most lethal weapon in Russias’s fleet” in the previous episode where his soldier now captain Antonov is in charge. Greer, November and President Kovac are entering the Kremlin Tunnels.
Jack soon gets onto a helicopter that is headed for the U.S.S Roosevelt, the ship that Antonov had blueprints of, but Elizabeth is having trouble granting him access to get onboard from the White House. At the same time Luka has boarded the Russian warship the Fearless, where Antonov has placed him in custody in the brigg.
Minister Popov’s body guard for 20 years who is still loyal to his family escorts Greer, November and Kovak halfway through the tunnels, when he leaves he hands them map, then Greer goes on a seperate path to November and Kovac.
Meanwhile above ground, the Russian president Surikov is just finding out about Fearless being launched and Petrov having authorized it, he immediately speaks to him and asks him to call the Fearless back, which of course as you can guess, he does not do.
Something important to take note of, while Luka is being kept in the brigg, an executive officer is watching over him, Luka starts talking to him, partly to get into his head so he will let him out, but Aldo so that this young boy does not make the same mistakes he did.
Defense Minister Petrov is already moving things into place, he has called the Kremlin war council together to call a vote to remove President Surikov. His coup is in place.
Back to Jack who his desperate to get onto the U.S.S Roosevelt. The ship still won’t let him board so one of the navy pilots on the helicopter comes up with a more creative solution, when one of them asks him “Dr Ryan, how bad do you need to get on that ship?”, Jack replies with “life or death”, which results in him being thrown out of the helicopter. This give the US Navy Ship no choice but to pull him onboard, and the captain really does not like him.
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It should be noted that the cast members do all their own stunts on the show and this particular stunt was a favorite for John Krasinski.
“I didn’t know that I was going to be thrown out of a Blackhawk helicopter into the ocean,” said Krasinski. “They shot it with the stunt team all morning and then one of the Navy SEALs who was actually in the scene with us said, ‘are you going to do it?’ And I said ‘no’, and he said, ‘it’d be a lot cooler if you did it.’ Then I said ‘how would that look?’ And he says, ‘it would look like me unbuckling your seatbelt and throwing you out of this helicopter.’ And that’s what he did. Luckily, there was a camera guy to get it.”
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Jack continues to tell the ship’s commander about why exactly he’s there, and brings him up to speed on what exactly he’s facing. He tell the Commander this fight has nothing to do with Russia at all. He informs the captain about the coup and about the hostilities coming their way, and just as he does an officer tells the captain a Russian ship is headed their way. Jack warns him it’s the Fearless and warns him about Antonov. Things are about to get bumpy now, as The Fearless starts targeting the Roosevelt and both ships start preparing for war. Jack mentions that he has a man on the Fearless,Luka, but the captain is ready to engage.
Meanwhile November and President Kovac have entered the castle through a back entrance and are taken to meet
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the Russian President Sorikov. Greer puts the wrong passcode into a security door intentionally which signals the Kremlin officers and he asks to see Petrov. All this is a coordinated effort to stop the “crossbow” the takeover of power in Russia. Greer is in holding at the Kremlin, his part was to keep Petrov occupied whilst Kovac and November told the the Russian President the truth about everything and played him the recording of Petrov talking about having Popov assassinated. What happens next causes, well let’s face it, some great satisfaction for viewers, as Petrov is killed by a Kremlin agent, and the traitors in the government are weeded out.
On the Fearless, Luka is let out by the Executive Officer he was speaking to earlier, when they head to the control room, Antonov is trying to fire on the United States warship by lying to his crew saying he has presidential authority. Antonov fires one missle but Bennet fires another to block it by. Now things are getting really tense for both sides as they ask was that an act of war? And they are preparing to fire on each other, but just as they are Antonov is taken into custody and Luka’s voice appears over the radio on the Roosevelt, informing Jack of the situation and that Antonov has been arrested. Ryan makes sure to ask Luka, directly “Are we at war?”, he replies, “That is upto you.” After speaking to the president, Captain Bennet deliberates that there is no further attack from the Fearless.
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In the ending parts of the season, we see Elizabeth become Director of the CIA. Alena finally relax by her Boathouse, Mike take a well deserved break somewhere around the world. In a sad but, expected turn of events, Luka is killed, either by Russian Intelligence or another faction. In what seems to be a letter he has written Jack, he says the following, “Jack, we have done our jobs, and done them well. This fight was passed on to us, and will continue on, with or without us. But we will always be better than the institutions we serve, and that is what matters, when it
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matters most. There are no heroes, in our profession, but occasionally, there are good men. Men who act on what is right, not simply doing what they are told. I’ve not always lived my life with honor, but perhaps I have done enough to die with it. I hope the same for you.” In the last scene of the season, we see Elizabeth award Jack and Greer a plaque for the courageous acts, the season is made even more final as Lukas words echo in the background as Jack and Greer walk out the front door of Langley.
This would have made one hell of a series finale. As we get to see each character get clorure, but who doesn’t love more Jack Ryan. The series is confirmed for a 4th and final season. John Krasinski shared an update about season 4 saying, “We already finished, we actually shot three and four back to back. So that was the whole idea, knowing that the fans would go so long in between two and three, we decided to do three and four back to back so that they wouldn’t have to wait that long again.”
Jack Ryan Season 3 definitely delivers in every aspect. Drama, action, characters, story and emotion, and the season finale perfectly wraps everything up together. Although you may have a few questions left, you can leave that to your imagination. John Krasinski, Wendell Pierce, Michael Kelly, Betty Gabriel, Tar’s Nina Hoss and the rest of the amazing cast behind Jack Ryan season 3 have done such amazing work with these characters. This was a perfect ending to such an intense season, and Luka’s letter just gave it that extra bit of emotion that it needed.
Fangirl and Writer with a huge passion for entertainment.
