'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Season 2 Episode 5 review: 'Blue Gold' may be low on action, but scores brownie points for that epic plot twist
Warning: Spoiler alert
After four episodes that balance high-octane action and a dense plot, 'Blue Gold' brings the action element a rung lower, but scores brownie points as it twists the plot that is sure to leave the viewers reeling. The episode still sheds much light on the relationship between Max Schenkel (Tom Wlaschiha) and Noomi Rapace's Harriet Bauman. Of course, the chapter is layered with multiple plotlines, however, this particular act trumps the rest.
It is revealed that Schenkel and Harry were working together before the former went rogue. He also has a daughter, Anabelle (Áine Rose Daly) in London that only Harry knew about. When Schenkel realizes that she and Ryan (John Krasinski) are working together, he goes on the offensive to take Ryan out.
Ryan and Harry use Anabelle as bait to flush Schenkel out and learn the truth behind Senator Moreno's (Benito Martinez) death, however, the attempt goes awry resulting in the assassin's death. However, he dies after revealing that it wasn't President Reyes (Jordi Molla ) who tasked him with killing Moreno. Greer (Wendell Pierce), in the meantime, is still investigating the connection between Reyes and the disappearance of Gloria Bonalde's (Cristina Umaña) husband, Sergio (Gonzalo Vivanco).
If the Max-Ryan encounter takes up a majority of the storyline, the political landscape takes over the rest. Umaña shines as a formidable opponent with her speeches string enough to stir up the crowd wherever she campaigns and it is heartening to see that her character strongly believes in restoring Venezuela's lost glory.
Coming back to Schenkel's sudden death, 'Blue Gold' manages to up the intrigue factor by introducing this twist. Not only does this mean hard work for Ryan again, but it also gets the viewers to think of multiple people and parties as prime suspects. Perhaps, that is the intention and the move works brilliantly. Maybe this was one of the lessons the series creators learned from its pilot season where the villain and his agenda were firmly established in the first couple of episodes and the only challenge for Ryan was to neutralize any threat that loomed. Except now, he is back to a square one.
Meanwhile, Matice (John Hoogenakker) and his men is still trudging in the jungle searching for Marcus (Jovan Adepo) and Mike November (Michael Kelly) finds an unlikely ally in Reyes' general, Miguel Ubari (Francisco Denis as Ubarri).
That said, it's back to the drawing board for Ryan.
'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan' Season 2 is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.