Hey everyone! If you are also a stickler for action, spy thrillers like Nazrin Choudhury’s Jack Ryan, you are in the right place. Listed below are some of my favourite Action Shows Like Jack Ryan. And trust me; it took me a very, very long time to choose!
The Americans
The AmericansThe Americans is a period drama set during the Cold War. It follows the story of Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip Jennings (Matthew Rhys), two Soviet KGB officers posing as an American married couple living in Falls Church, a suburb of Washington, D.C. with their children, Paige (Holly Taylor) and Henry (Keidrich Sellati). The six season-long spy thriller premiered in 2013, who doesn’t want to watch how the hero saves the day, but this refreshing series takes you into the lives of enemy spies.
The dirty secret of “The Americans” is that it’s funny. In nearly every scene, there’s an item of clothing or a turn of phrase to make you smile and remember the nineteen-eighties. That doesn’t make the lives of Elizabeth and Philip any easier though. The show is brutally violent and the characters have to keep on lying and murdering. There is no hope for the Jennings which is portrayed quite shockingly towards the end of the series. This easily made it to our list of top 6 Action Shows Like Jack Ryan!
Now streaming on Amazon Prime
Killing Eve
Killing Eve is a black comedy produced in the United Kingdom by Sid Gentle Films. The April 2018 thriller follows the life of Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a bored British intelligence spy with an obsessive fascination for female murderers. Villanelle with her skills and eccentric wardrobe (OMG feel me people I am in love) manages to snag the attention of Eve and vice versa.
The show features obsession of Eve with a trained assassin Villanelle and their game of cat and mouse which quickly escalates into something else. By the end of season two, we desperately wish for them to kill each other or get together. I can’t really make up my mind what would be worse. This doesn’t remotely close to the number of gunfights in Jack Ryan, but we still think this makes a pretty good addition to our list of Top 6 Action Shows Like Jack Ryan!
Now streaming on: HULU
24
24 is an amazing espionage thriller created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran in 2001. Each season features 24 episodes which cover 24 hours in the protagonist’s life taking place over the course of one hour! Crazy, right? The series stars Kiefer Sutherland as counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer racing against the clock to subvert terrorist plots. The show uses the method of real time narration giving it an extra element of drama.
The main character of the story follows the “end justify the means” approach regardless of the perceived mortality. The eight seasons’ long show is absolutely adored by the fans for its plot twists and continuous ethical dilemmas. The show shadows the lives Bauer, US officials and conspirators simultaneously with split screens and an intimidating digital clock display. This if probably as close to Jack Ryan as it gets, which makes it worthy of being on our list of Top 6 Action Shows Like Jack Ryan!
Now streaming on: Amazon prime
Bodyguard
Bodyguard is a fictional British police drama created and written by Jed Mercurio. The story revolves around David Budd (Richard Madden), a war veteran suffering from PTSD. Though Budd despises politics, he is assigned to protect the ambitious Home Secretarty Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes). Set in and around corridors of power, Budd soon finds himself a pawn in political power struggle. In addition to dealing with PTSD he also has to deal with strained relations with his wife.
The show is intriguing, action-packed and absolutely riveting that leaves you guessing who the villains are until the end. It also focuses on the plight of PTSD soldiers which we love. And as far as season two is concerned, There’s no reason to doubt if it is happening, but more so a matter of when. This is clearly an amazing alternative to Jack Ryan! This one really deserved a mention on our list of Top 6 Action Shows Like Jack Ryan!
Now streaming on: Netflix
Homeland
The American-spy thriller show developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa arrived in 2011. The series stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer with bipolar disorder, and Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a US Marine Corps Scout Sniper. Brody (presumed dead) was held captive by terrorists in Iraq. When Brody is rescued and treated as war hero, Mathison suspects him of being a double agent. Her condition was at once her superpower and her fatal flaw; in her manic phase she spotted connections no other agent could, but she also saw things that weren’t there.
The job she needed to survive was almost certainly going to kill her. It was the tightrope Carrie walked each week. The story resumes the storyline after Brody is dealt with. Carrie goes on to become CIA’s youngest ever station chief. Watch this edge-gripping spy fiction for more thrilling episodes featuring Mathison’s state of the art covert work. Homeland is a no-brainer when it comes to landing a spot on our list of Top 6 Action Shows Like Jack Ryan!
In September 2016, Gansa announced that he would be crafting the eighth season as the series’ last. Eight seasons is an epic innings for a show that could easily have run out of ideas a lot earlier.
Now streaming on: Amazon Prime
Mindhunter
The psychological crime thriller created by Joe Penhall is based on the true-crime book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit written by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Mindhunter revolves around FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), along with psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), who operate the FBI’s behavioral science unit in Quantico. Notorious serial killer Edmund Kemper (Cameron Britton) has a recurring role in this season as he assists Ford and Tench in understanding how a serial killer’s mind works.
A bit on the dark side, Mindhunter is no less addicting than the above-mentioned shows, which easily makes it one of the best amongst our list of Top 6 Action Shows Like Jack Ryan! It gives us insight into how a killer’s mind works and we truly glimpse what our officers in uniform go through to keep us safe. Netflix released this show in 2013 with the second season in 2019. The show is set in the late 1970s and is a complete tour de force in the field of criminal psychology.
Now streaming on: Netflix.
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