Jack Ryan episode 5 review: Suleiman’s journey
The church attack
When first responders arrive at the church, it’s too late and everyone inside is dead – over 300 people! So was Suleiman behind this? He was and he claimed responsibility for it publically with a video stating that Paris is only the beginning of this wave of attacks.
We had another chance to dive into Suleiman’s past as a younger man as we saw him take a job interview with a bank. While his ideas were progressive and very smart (now that we are in 2018 they turned out to be right), the bank was very much stuck in their ways and didn’t offer him the job. It gave us another glimpse of just how forward thinking he is and it’s not going to be great for Jack and Greer trying to catch him. So far Suleiman has always been thinking 3 or 4 steps ahead making Jack and Greer always too late.
The other thing that this look back at Suleiman’s life as a young man showed us was how promising his future looked, but because of his forward way of thinking and bigotry towards his race his opportunities dried up fast and he had to find himself work as a server. While Suleiman was earning an honest wage, Ali’s spirit was broken and he fell in with a bad crowd. When 2 officers find Ali with pot and a gun, Suleiman gives him a chance to escape and takes the fall for his brother (resulting in his time spent in prison). This was a major turning point in Suleiman’s life, because while he was in prison he connected with a group of people that helped him dive deeper into his connection with god and religion.
Hanin
For a moment we were relieved when we saw Hanin and her daughters make it to a refugee camp in Turkey, but after what happened in Paris, they are turning her (and all Muslims) away telling her that she will be sent back to Syria when possible. She briefly thinks about giving up her husband in exchange for visas for her and her daughters, but once she is pressed for his whereabouts she realizes that she cannot give up Suleiman without endangering her son. Instead she finds someone in the camp that may be able to get her what she wants, but she will have to give up all of the gold she brought with her leaving her completely broke.
Will a video game be Suleiman’s undoing?
During a meeting at CIA headquarters, Jack comes up with the plan to use the same video game Ali used to get in touch with Suleiman and smoke him out. He knows that Ali is Suleiman’s only blood family and since he doesn’t know that Ali is dead, they are banking on Suleiman coming to get him (or at least sending someone they can use to get to him).
Suleiman is so worried about his brother that he takes the bait and believes that Jack is Ali. There’s a brief moment that it’s suspected that maybe he isn’t talking to Ali, but after checking the IP address (and some careful planning on the part of the CIA) he sends men to go to the address Jack provided them with. As the conversation continues Suleiman throws out something that only he and his brother would know and Jack messes up.
Suleiman calls him out saying that this is not Ali and has his men abort the mission, but Jack doesn’t think it’s over yet and has another card to play. Jack identifies himself and Suleiman asks if Ali is dead. Jack tells him yes and Suleiman threatens to find him to which Jack says “not if I find Hanin first”. This causes Suleiman to end the conversation and it confirms to Jack that the woman they’ve heard about in the Turkish refugee camp is his wife. Unfortunately, they are too late as Hanin has bought her way out of Turkey.
Related: Check out our Jack Ryan episode 6 review
CarterMatt Verdict
For a show called Jack Ryan we have barely gotten to know him, but we have spent 5 episodes diving deeply into the life of Suleiman. We’ve learned about his family, his loyalty, what motivates him, his beliefs, how he grew up, what he was like as a young man and what broke him down over time to get him to his way of thinking as an adult… we feel like we really know this character and he’s been developed beautifully. On the other hand we have Jack who we have a little bit of background on his time in the military, that he has a love interest only wants something casual with him and he’s shirtless almost every episode. Why isn’t there more about Jack?
What did you think of the fifth episode of Jack Ryan and are you enjoying where the story is going so far? Leave us a comment in the box below with your thoughts. If you want more reviews or scoop on Jack Ryan then be sure to join our official CarterMatt Facebook page to make sure you don’t miss any of our news. (Photo: Amazon)