‘The Terminal List’ – ‘Encoding’ – Review
Prime Video’s adaptation of Jack Carr’s all-action military thriller The Terminal List got off to a roaring start in Episode One, ‘The Engram’, and now the intensity picks up after a shocking ending to the first episode….and Navy SEAL operator James Reece (Chris Pratt) is out for blood.
Navy SEAL James Reece (Chris Pratt) locks onto his first potential target, enlisting Ben’s (Taylor Kitsch) help. With his mental health in question, investigative journalist Katie Burnack (Candace Wu) and Reece strike up an uneasy but mutually beneficial partnership to find answers.
The final moments of Episode One of The Terminal List, ‘The Engram’, delivered a massive shock that hit Chris Pratt’s Navy SEAL operator James Reece personally, completely devastating his character and laying the foundation for how this series will move forward. And there will be blood. Director Ellen Kuras picks up the reigns from Antoine Fuqua and moves forward at pace as Reece is questioned by NCIS and begins to notice that things just aren’t adding up. And it’s in this setting that we begin to see the beginning of a conspiracy at work.
The adaptation of Jack Carr’s story for Prime Video has stuck to the core of Carr’s novel, and in Episode Two we meet more characters who will become central to this story. They include former Army helicopter pilot Liz Riley (Tyner Rushing), to who Reece has a personal connection, having befriended her while he served in Iraq and who served as the godmother to his daughter Lucy. Rushing brings a strong stance to this Southern girl, who’s tough as nails and is a very real part of the Reece lore. Then there’s Marco Del Toro (Marco Rodríguez), a long-time friend of Reece’s father Thomas, who also has a shared history with the younger Reece, and Rodríguez brings a statesman-like quality to his performance, along with a guiding hand to the younger Reece’s grief.
But while there is time for Reece to mourn, this Frogman soon senses that not all is as it seems and his need for answers, and vengeance, drives the narrative forward. The action moves quickly and this isn’t Reece going in guns blazing, instead, he’s all about the stealth mission and his search for answers leads to some very interesting revelations, as he adds a name to his infamous ‘terminal list’. ‘Encoding’ is also of critical importance as Reece strikes up a bargain with investigative journalist Katie Buranek, a woman he still does not completely trust, but it’s in their interaction that we begin to see the first moments of a sense of comradeship form, along with Pratt showing off Reece’s tier-one mindset and skills at intelligence gathering and evasion.
Along with delivering on the intensity that The Terminal List demands, Kuras and showrunner David DiGillio continue to keep the audiences on their toes thanks to the presence of Chris Pratt’s James Reece and his stance as an unreliable narrator. Suffering from a unique sense of trauma his mind is awash with many conflicting memories and this makes for a very creative approach to the presentation of the narrative and Pratt’s portrayal of Reece. This conflict between the past and the present and what is truthful and what is imagined is realized in the episode’s brutal showdown at the end of the third act and it’s clear that audiences are going to be kept guessing as Reece traces his path to vengeance.
We’re just at the start of The Terminal List, but names are being added and James Reece is on the hunt. Audiences had better mount up because the intensity of this new show is only going to build further from here.
The Terminal List is currently streaming on Prime Video.
Image: Prime Video
