‘The Terminal List’ review: Sublime Chris Pratt anchors a middling action series

If not for Pratt’s pitch-perfect portrayal of a well-written protagonist and some great action choreography, this series might have ended up being an exhausting watch

(Originally published in The Hindu on July 05, 2022)

“It’s a mistake to push a man to violence when violence is what he has dedicated his life to perfecting.” This popular anonymous quote paints a picture of a broken, wronged soldier who is pushed to the edge in Chris Pratt em The Terminal List.

Pratt embodies a character called James Reece, and he utters the above quote at a crucial moment. For someone who comes across as a breathing testament of a methodical war machine, whose emotions are supplemented by logic, this line comes across as a moment of vulnerability, encapsulating what The Terminal List is about.

The soul of the show is Reece, the Commander of SEAL Team 7, who loses everything near and dear. During a covert underground mission in Syria, Reece’s SEAL team is unexpectedly ambushed by enemy forces and 12 of his men perish. The wounded, confused, and grieving Reece heads back home, only to suffer more personal tragedies; days after his friend and fellow team member dies suspiciously, people closest to Reece are assassinated by a mysterious gang. The show doesn’t even give him a breather to process the shock. The authorities begin to suspect Reece, who we now realise is suffering from PTSD and a tumour in his brain from the failed mission. Did a mentally-unstable soldier kill his own? Is he hallucinating these assassins? Or is there a bigger conspiracy at play?

Read the full review here: ‘The Terminal List’ series review