The Terminal List S1 (2022) Review

The Terminal List (2022)

The Terminal List follows James Reece, who, after his team is ambushed and killed in a spec ops mission overseas, returns home to find that the danger has followed him back, sending an already fractured mind into a dark, conspiracy laden spiral. 

I’m not normally into the whole oorah, jingoistic military portrayal in media, but every now and then, a project like Amazon’s The Terminal List comes along and flips that idea on it’s head. No, with this, it’s almost a moral experiment in what would happen if someone like Frank Castle was real, working outside the confines of the law; vigilante justice after his government betrayed him, fully crossing into the territory of domestic terrorist where there is no happy ending in sight, even when the dust settles and all the bodies have dropped. That’s exactly what James Reece becomes, and it’s for that reason that I’m so fascinated by this because Reece’s story feels like something, aside from the occasional theatrics, that we read about on the news every day.  

The way, through the first several episodes, where it’s near impossible to distinguish reality from fiction, as Reece seems to be going insane, claiming some wild government conspiracy and losing every waking moment to rampant PTSD, just for him to be right, putting him on a dangerous collision course with those who killed his men and his family—it’s fucking nuts, and it’s executed perfectly. Even with the knowledge of what truly happened, at a certain point, you feel conflicted in rooting for him by seasons end, as he turns into something unrecognizable from the caring, tender father we see in flashbacks, a reality with many soldiers who come back, still believing to be in war. 

The series boasts a really solid cast here, starring Arlo Mertz, Warren Kole, Sean Gunn, Riley Keough, LaMonica Garrett, Jeanne Tripplehorn, JD Pardo, Tyner Rushing, Jai Courtney, Constance Wu, Taylor Kitsch, and Chris Pratt. Pratt darkly embodies Reece’s grey morality to a T, leaving us torn in his quest for revenge as he takes things further and further, whilst always being relatable and clicking with Kitsch (who has always been incredibly underrated) on a more personal level, grounding the series in it’s most tender and heartbreaking moments. 

Based on the book by Jack Carr, The Terminal List, directed by David DiGilio, blurs the lines between revenge thriller and domestic terrorism, giving us an all-too modern story that hits home with its relevance, as you’re left wondering how our world would react to a James Reece of our own—fucked over by his country and left demanding his own form of justice. 

8.9/10