Jack Ryan season-three finale spoilers follow.
After spending seven episodes running around Europe trying to stop a potential World War III, CIA agent Jack Ryan (John Krasinski) and his team finally closed in on the bad guys in the last episode of the season.
Having discovered that a Russian nuclear missile project from decades ago wasn't quite as dormant as everyone thought, it was up to Jack to figure out just who wanted to use the missile and why.
With the help of senior Russian intelligence officer Luka Gocharov (James Cosmo), who was doing a bit of atoning for killing off a load of nuclear scientists in his younger days, Jack figured out that Russian defence minister Alexei Petrov (Alexej Manvelov) was planning a coup against his president that involved putting Russian and American ships on a deadly course towards each other.
It was down to Jack and Gocharov, along with CIA agent James Greer (Wendell Pierce), gun-for-hire Mike November (Michael Kelly) and Czech Republic president Alena Kovac (Nina Hoss) – whose own father was involved in Petrov's plot – to stop any missiles being fired that would start a war between the East and West. How did it play out? Like this…
Jack Ryan season-three ending explained
The episode opens with Jack running through the forest and dodging soldiers at the Russian/Estonian border before being picked up by a US helicopter (quite how the Russians don't spot the chopper flying around is anyone's guess).
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Jack wants to be dropped onto the US naval ship USS Roosevelt that is patrolling the Baltic Sea, so he can warn the captain of the coup and try and convince him not to fire on any Russian war ships that might be floating past.
However, the Roosevelt's captain refuses to allow the unauthorised helicopter to land – so one of the chopper's crew just tosses Jack out into the sea, knowing that the Roosevelt will be duty-bound to pick him up.
Meanwhile, in the port of Kronsdadt in Russia, Gocharov makes his way to Fearless, the Russian ship armed with weapons that is part of Petrov's plot. Once aboard, Gocharov is thrown in the brig by Captain Antonov (Derek de Lint), who – surprise, surprise – is a supporter of Petrov, so is more than happy to fire weapons at just about anyone if it means returning Russia to the mighty, scary force he believes it once was.
In Moscow, plans are afoot all over the place. President Surikov (Mikhail Safronov) is furious to discover that Petrov has gone rogue and ordered Fearless to set sail in the Baltic, Petrov is in a room getting fellow ministers to vote to remove his boss from office, and in the tunnels beneath the Kremlin, Greer, Mike and Czech president Kovac are on a secret mission.
Mike and Kovac – who is looking pretty good when you consider she watched her father die and escaped bad guys by plunging into a freezing lake just a few days ago – are hoping to get close to Surikov to let him know a coup is under way by sneaking into the building unofficially, while Greer's plan is to buy them and Jack some time by getting caught in the tunnels and then asking to speak to Petrov. (Or at least we think he meant to get caught – otherwise he's not as covert as he thinks he is).
A rather damp Jack – who, bless him, doesn't seem to have stopped for a snack or toilet break in weeks – certainly needs some time as the USS Roosevelt and Russian ship Fearless are on a collision course and will fire on each other if he can't convince Roosevelt's captain to ignore protocol and not return fire if attacked.
And Gocharov needs time, too, to convince his guard, XO Kagansky (Charlie Field) to let him out of Fearless's brig so he can confront Captain Antonov. Unfortunately Antonov has already fired once – his missile intercepted by Roosevelt's defence systems – but it is unlikely they will be that lucky a second time.
While Greer has a chat with Petrov, Mike and Czech President Kovac do get in to see President Surikov, and they play him a tape that proves Petrov was plotting against him. Surikov sends for Petrov, but when the traitor realises he may be in big trouble, he looks for an escape route before being shot dead by Surikov's men.
So that's one bad guy down, and one to go. While Surikov reveals he knows about the coup to his ministers – and that he knows some of them voted for him to be ousted, leaving all of them looking sheepish and in need of a change of underwear – Gocharov is released from the Fearless's brig and heads with Kagansky to the control room to confront Antonov.
"No one needs to die today," he tells Antonov, before Kagansky relieves the conniving captain of his duties and takes over, ordering the crew to turn the ship back towards Russia. Phew.
Greer is released from the Kremlin, and meets Mike and Kovac outside. It looks like the crisis has been averted and everyone is going to get a happy ending… or will they?
A week later, we see that Jack's ally in the CIA, Elizabeth Wright (Betty Gabriel) is now a Director, and she awards both Jack and Greer medals of honour for their service (they've just averted nuclear war, so let's hope they get a fancy car and some financial reward, too).
Mike, meanwhile, is sunning himself somewhere in the world waiting for his next off-the-books job, and president Kovac is safely back at home in the Czech Republic.
Unfortunately, things aren't looking so lovely for Gocharov.
There is a knock at his door, and from the expression on his face it is clear it is a visitor that Gocharov has been expecting. "Do not worry, I will not make this difficult," he calmly says to the nervous-looking man on the other side of the door.
The pair leave together, and the last we see of the former Russian intelligence officer is him being led to a car.
As Jack and Greer exit the CIA building with their shiny new medals and the end credits roll, we can only wonder whether Gocharov has been driven to his death and ask why the CIA didn't get him out of Russia and to safety as thanks for all he did in saving the day.
Or maybe we will get answers to that question next season…
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan seasons 1-3 are available on Prime Video now.
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Freelance film & TV writer, Digital Spy
Critic and writer Jo Berry has been writing about TV and movies since she began her career at Time Out aged 18. A regular on BBC Radio, Jo has written for titles including Empire, Maxim, Radio Times, OK!, The Guardian and Grazia, is the author of books including Chick Flicks and The Parents’ Guide to Kids’ Movies.
She is also the editor of website Movies4Kids. In her career, Jo has interviewed well-known names including Beyonce, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Cruise and all the Avengers, spent many an hour crushed in the press areas of award show red carpets. Jo is also a self-proclaimed expert on Outlander and Brassic, and completely agrees that Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
