Jack Ryan – Season 4 Episode 3 “Sacrifices” Recap & Review

Sacrifices

Episode 3 of Jack Ryan begins with Director Wright and Osoji on a charter plane to Lagos. The streets of Lagos are wrecked with violence and bloodshed, all suspected to be incited by Ikon Ame’s men, the warlord who probably got former President Udo killed. In their conversation, it is revealed that Osoji is from a small village in Nigeria and his father was killed in front of his eyes. Mormon missionaries restored his village and sent him to school. The current president, Okoli, wants to continue Udo’s cause of making Nigeria secure. Osoji believes Okoli is practical and receptive to what this trip means.

As suspected, Chao had Miller killed. This is confirmed by the text that Tuttle sent him but the press seems to think Miller committed suicide.

Mike November has landed at Ryan’s Washington DC residence.  Chavez has fallen off the grid. Ryan says he must find Chao since all of this is connected. The objective for the trio now is to find Chao and reach the mastermind who is pulling the strings. Meanwhile, Chavez retrieves money and guns from his uncle’s house in San Luis Obispo in California.

Soe Wai and Chao visit the docks to “inspect” the new shipment, which Dr Tun calls “unscheduled.” It turns out the shipment is a group of girls who have been trafficked to Myanmar. In Washington, Bachler meets with Ryan to discuss the unfolding events. To focus on finding Miller’s contact, Ryan proposes to step down from his post. As a replacement, he suggests Greer’s name and Bachler accepts Ryan’s resignation. We see Greer getting the call while he is watching his estranged son play rugby. When he answers Bachler’s call, we see a disappointed look on his son’s face.

Elizabeth is shocked when she meets President Okoli and sees Ame walk in. The two “sworn enemies” have come together to find out who killed Udo, as Ame claims he wasn’t behind it.

Meanwhile, November tracks down Chavez as he is leaving after seeing the church tattoo on his arm. Ryan reaches the location as well.

Chao reveals to his wife, Fyi, that their plan to escape can’t yet materialize because of the Mexico debacle. Once their position is consolidated, they can make their move. But as of now, Dr Tun suspects Chao and he cannot put the family at risk.

Elizabeth instructs her new deputy, Greer, to trace the phone call made from the burner phone during Udo’s assassination. That leads the CIA to BizHub.

Greer goes to the BizHub office. They are an organisation that hosts several businesses in their office. Anyone trying to reach a business stationed in their office will have to go through the reception. Greer asks for a list of all businesses currently with the organization. As he is leaving, Tuttle watches him and gets instructions from his boss to shakedown Greer to stop.

The next day Ryan and Chavez discuss the former getting to Chao to resolve this case. But Chavez warns him the Triad’s watching Chao’s every move. Getting to him will be almost impossible. To make it happen, Chavez suggests they start burning Chao’s business stations to send him a message.

In new developments, Zeyara and Cathy meet for lunch. The former expresses her intentions to extend help to those suffering in the Palace Casinos in Myanmar. She is referring to victims of human trafficking and the drug business. She asks for Cathy’s help to work with the WHO and help these people. Cathy agrees to take this risky bet in order to secure her relationship with Zeyara’s foundation.

Soe finally confronts Chao about his intentions to leave the Triad. He warns Chao that Fyi and Bannu will stay with him. Chao can leave without repercussions. Chao suggests Soe come along with him too. But Soe rejects the idea, citing his cultural identity and roots in the Triad.

Seeing no way out, Chao shoots Soe dead. He then presents him to Dr Tun as “the mole” in the Triad. Chavez travels to Yucatan and meets with Officer Morales. He gives him money and asks Morales to take him to the port to meet his cousin, Marin, who still runs the Marquez Cartel. November and Ryan are with him too. The Federales raid the port and Marin comes down to confront Morales. It is a trap as Ryan tricks Marin into having a picture taken with him so as to have proof that he is involved with the CIA. In return for keeping quiet, they ask for Chao’s marketplace.

The marketplace is in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and is run by Josip Olafsky, someone November knows. The convergence is formed through the Croatian operation into the Mexico port. Ryan informs Elizabeth of their plan to cut off that path.  She warns him that the CIA would be helpless to aid in the operation due to the high-level scrutiny of the agency.

Tuttle pays a visit to Greer at his house, warning him to stop. If he doesn’t, his family will be the ones suffering.

The Episode Review

Jack Ryan falls back to its conventional formulaic storytelling approach in episode 3. The cross-border run that Ryan embarks on will begin in Croatia. This time, he has a stellar supporting team in Chavez and November. Greer stepped up to become the deputy to Elizabeth, which was sort of coming given Ryan’s proclivities for the field.

Several subplots are brewing quietly beneath the surface thus far. This gives many avenues to the creators for keeping things fresh. But there is also the added headache of balancing the forces so as not to skew the narrative in one direction.

Season 4’s zero-sum game is in full flow. Things will be moving at a great pace in the final three episodes of the show. Buckle up and hope for a bumpy ride!