''The Terminal List'' is an American

action thriller Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

television series based on Jack Carr's 2018 novel of the same name. The series tells the story of a Navy SEAL who seeks to avenge the murder of his family. It stars

Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series '' Everwood'' (2002–2006) ...

(who also serves as an executive producer),

Constance Wu Constance Wu (born March 22, 1982) is an American actress. Wu was included on ''Time'' magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2017. She has earned several accolades, including nominations for a Golden Globe Award, f ...

Taylor Kitsch Taylor Kitsch (born April 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor and model who has portrayed Tim Riggins in the NBC television series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011). He has also worked in films such as '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' (2009), '' Battl ...

Riley Keough Danielle Riley Keough ( ; born May 29, 1989) is an American actress, notable for being the daughter of musicians Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough, and granddaughter of actress Priscilla Presley and singer Elvis Presley, and starting a succes ...

, Arlo Mertz, and

Jeanne Tripplehorn Jeanne Marie Tripplehorn (born June 10, 1963) is an American actress. She began her career on stage, acting in several plays throughout the early 1990s, including Anton Chekhov's '' Three Sisters'' on Broadway. Her film career began with the rol ...

. ''The Terminal List'' was released on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service p ...

on July 1, 2022, to mixed reviews.

Premise

The series follows

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

James Reece after his platoon of

Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting s ...

is ambushed while on a covert mission. Reece returns home to his family with conflicting memories of the event and questions about his culpability. As new evidence emerges, Reece discovers dark forces working against him, endangering not only his life but also the lives of those he loves.

Cast

Main

James Reece, a

US Navy SEAL The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with eight combat deployments, and the Commander of Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7, and Task Force Odin's Sword. *

as Katie Buranek, a seasoned war correspondent for Voltstreem News *

as Ben Edwards, a CIA Ground Branch operative, who is a former Navy SEAL and James Reece's former teammate and BUD/S classmate. *

as Lauren Reece, James Reece's wife * Arlo Mertz as Lucy Reece, James Reece's daughter *

as Lorraine Hartley, Secretary of Defense

Recurring

Nick Chinlund Zareh Nicholas Chinlund (born November 18, 1961) is an American actor. Early life and education Chinlund was born in New York City. He attended the Friends Seminary in Lower Manhattan, later moving to Albany, New York in order to participate in ...

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

Gerald Pillar, Commander of WARCOM * Matthew Rauch as

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Leonard Howard, Judge Advocate General of WARCOM *

LaMonica Garrett LaMonica Garrett (born May 23, 1975) is an American actor and former professional Slamball player. He is best known for Deputy Sheriff Cane in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2011–2014), Mike Ritter in ''Designated Survivor (TV series), Designated Survivo ...

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

Bill Cox, Commander of SEAL Team 7 * Patrick Schwarzenegger as Special Warfare Operator Second Class Donald "Donny" Mitchell, Alpha Platoon's youngest member * Jared Shaw as Special Warfare Operator First Class Ernest "Boozer" Vickers, a member of Alpha Platoon * Tyner Rushing as Liz Riley, a private airline pilot and former U.S. Army Aviation Branch

Warrant Officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mo ...

, who was rescued in 2007 by Reece's team when her

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th a ...

was shot down in Iraq and was Lucy's God-Mother. * Arturo Castro as Jordan Groff, Katie's editor at Voltstream News *

Jai Courtney Jai Courtney (; born 15 March 1986) is an Australian actor. He started his career with small roles in films and television series before being cast as Charlie in the action film ''Jack Reacher'' (2012). He has gone on to star in '' A Good Day to ...

as Steve Horn, CEO and President of Capstone Industries *

Paul McCrane Paul David McCrane (born January 19, 1961) is an American film, television and theatre actor, as well as a television director and singer. He is known for his portrayal of Montgomery MacNeil in the 1980 film '' Fame'', Frank Berry in the 1984 fil ...

as Dr. Mike Tedesco, CEO of Nubellum, a pharmaceutical subsidiary of Capstone Industries * Stephen Bishop as Richard Fontana, a

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

official and Hartley's underling *

J. D. Pardo Jorge Daniel Pardo (born September 7, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Jack Toretto in '' F9'' (2021), as well as the lead role of Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes in the television series ''Mayans M.C.'' (2018–present). Early life ...

as Tony Layun, an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

special agent and head of the Fugitive Task Force for the San Diego field office *

Christina Vidal Christina Vidal is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in films such as '' Life with Mikey'', '' Brink!'', '' Freaky Friday'', '' See No Evil'' and for her role in Nickelodeon sitcom '' Taina'', in which she played ...

as Mackenzie 'Mac' Wilson, a deputy

U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...

and Layun's partner on the Fugitive Task Force *

Drew Starkey Drew Starkey is an American actor. He portrays Garrett Laughlin in the Simonverse films ''Love, Simon ''and ''The Hate U Give'', Rafe Cameron in the Netflix teen drama series ''Outer Banks'' and Hawkins in the VH1 series '' Scream: Resurrection ...

as Junior Alba, a SDPD detective and Layun's subordinate on the Fugitive Task Force *

Alexis Louder Alexis Louder is an American actress from Charlotte, North Carolina. She is known for 2021's '' The Tomorrow War'' and ''Copshop''. Career Louder graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's College of Arts + Architecture in 2 ...

as Nicole Deptul, an

special agent and Layun's subordinate on the Fugitive Task Force * Hiram A. Murray as Jackson, a security contractor at Steve Horn's Talos Tactical

Guest

* Warren Kole as

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

Special Agent Josh Holder * Justin Garza as Special Warfare Operator First Class Victor Ramirez, a member of Alpha Platoon *

Tom Amandes Tom Amandes (born March 9, 1959) is an American actor. His best-known role to date is that of Eliot Ness in the 1990s television series ''The Untouchables''; he also played Geena Davis' boyfriend in '' The Long Kiss Goodnight'', and Abraham Linc ...

as Vic Campbell, Lauren Reece’s father * Catherine Dyer as Rachel Campbell, Lauren Reece’s mother * Marco Rodríguez as Marco Del Toro, a Mexican businessman and family friend of the Reeces *

Sean Gunn Sean Gunn (born May 22, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Kirk Gleason on The WB series ''Gilmore Girls'' (2000–2007), and Kraglin Obfonteri in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this role, he has been in the films ''Gua ...

as Saul Agnon, Vice President of Capstone Industries * Carsten Norgaard as Elias Ryberg, a prospective buyer of Nubellum Pharmaceuticals *

Geoff Pierson Geoff Pierson is an American actor known for his starring television roles on ''Dexter'', '' Unhappily Ever After'', ''Grace Under Fire'', '' 24'', ''Ryan's Hope'', and '' Designated Survivor''. He has guest-starred in dozens of other TV shows. ...

as Senator Joe Pryor, member of Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense * Patricia de Leon as Paola Del Toro, Marco’s wife * Renata Friedman as Anne Howard, Captain Howard's wife *

Jack Yang Jack Y. Yang is an American computer scientist and biophysicist. As of 2011, he is the editor-in-chief of the ''International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design''. Education Yang received his Ph.D. and MS degrees from Purdue Uni ...

as Brian Buranek, Katie's brother *

Nicole Steinwedell Nicole Steinwedell (born April 2, 1981) is an American film and television actress. She is the daughter of two Marines and the granddaughter of an Army colonel. She has three sisters and one brother. She is best known for playing Bridget "Red ...

as Deborah Buranek, Katie's sister-in-law *

Nate Boyer Nate Boyer (born January 9, 1981) is a United States Army Green Beret. He is also an occasional actor. After serving six years and multiple tours for the Army in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Boyer played college football as a walk-on at the Univer ...

as Luke Malick, FBI HRT team leader * Remi Adeleke as Terrell "Tee" Daniels, FBI HRT operator * Derek Phillips as FBI Senior Special Agent Stephen Ramsay * Butch Klein as Marcus Boykin, a lawyer and Saul Agnon's associate * Jack Carr as Adrian Gordonis (cameo), a

Marine Raider The Marine Raiders are special operations forces originally established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare. " Edson's" Raiders of 1st Marine Raider Battalion and " Carlson's" Ra ...

veteran and security contractor at Talos Tacticals. Jack Carr is ''The Terminal List'' author and executive producer, as well as a former Navy SEAL officer.

Episodes

Production

In early April 2020, it was reported that the series, starring

, was in development, and seeking out a distributor. In early May 2020, it was reported that

landed the series and

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed t ...

would be joining the series as production studio and the series was in the process of assembling a writers room.

, and Pratt's brother-in-law Patrick Schwarzenegger would join the cast in early 2021. In June 2021,

, Christina Vidal Mitchell, Jared Shaw, Catherine Dyer, and Remi Adeleke joined the cast in recurring roles, while Arlo Mertz was cast as a series regular. In July 2021,

joined in a recurring role. Pratt had previously portrayed a Navy SEAL in the 2012 film ''

Zero Dark Thirty ''Zero Dark Thirty'' is a 2012 American thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. The film dramatizes the nearly decade-long international manhunt for Osama bin Laden, leader of terrorist network Al-Qaeda, after th ...

'' and had become friends with Navy SEAL Jared Shaw. Shaw knew Jack Carr from their time in the Navy, and shared an early copy of the book with Pratt, who had started a production company and was interested in developing his own projects. Carr said he had Pratt in mind when writing story, and that he had hoped to get

Antoine Fuqua Antoine Fuqua (born May 30, 1965) is an American filmmaker, known for his work in the action and thriller genres. He was originally known as a director of music videos, and made his film debut in 1998 with '' The Replacement Killers''. His critic ...

as the director. Pratt got into a bidding war for the rights, only to discover that he was bidding against Fuqua, so instead they partnered on developing the project.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

for ''The Terminal List'' began on March 9, 2021. Chris Pratt was paid $1.4 million per episode.

Release

The series premiered on July 1, 2022.

Reception

Audience viewership

The series was the number one show on Amazon Prime's "Top 10" list within two weeks of its premiere. The Terminal List came in at No. 3 on the Nielsen chart with 1.1 billion minutes viewed across eight episodes.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the series has a 39% approval rating based on reviews from 56 critics, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "While Chris Pratt fully commits himself to ''The Terminal List''s mission, this thriller's unrelenting gruffness is no meat and all potatoes."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gave it a weighted average score of 40 out of 100 based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". CinemaBlend.com summarized the reviews saying critics agree the series was firmly in the "Shows For Dads" genre. Dave Nemetz of ''

TVLine ''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs. History In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving ''EW'' after nearly two years in their employ to es ...

'' panned the series, calling it "punishingly grim and hopelessly boneheaded." He criticized the series’s plot and direction, writing, "the action is bloody but not exciting, and the story is bewildering but not interesting. In between, we get saccharine family scenes and a paint-by-numbers conspiracy that gets more complicated but not any more compelling." Daniel D'Addario of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "a dour, miserable sit, one that would be tough to take as a two-hour film, and has been inexplicably ‘roided up to eight hours." Dan Fienberg of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' described the series as overcooked, taking "eight hours for a book that easily could have been adapted in two hours". Liam Mathews of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...

'' rated series 7 out of 10, and compared it to other Amazon Prime Video series ''

Bosch Bosch may refer to: People * Bosch (surname) * Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 – 1516), painter * Van den Bosch, a Dutch toponymic surname * Carl Bosch, a German chemical engineer and nephew of Robert Bosch * Robert Bosch, founder of Robert Bosch Gm ...

'', '' Reacher'' and ''

Jack Ryan Jack Ryan may refer to: People Sports Australian rules football *Jack Ryan (footballer, born 1873) (1873–1931), Australian rules footballer for St Kilda *Jack Ryan (footballer, born 1907) (1907–1959), Australian rules footballer for Hawtho ...

'', saying "These shows aren't chasing Emmys, they just want to entertain with a twisty plot, some thrilling action set pieces, and a mildly complex main character. They're also three of the service's most popular and successful shows. Prime Video's latest series, ''The Terminal List'', fits that dad-friendly bill to a T. By the humble standards of the genre, ''The Terminal List'' is a smashing success." Author Jack Carr responded to the negative critical responses, saying "The 95 percent , makes it all worth it. We didn't make it for the critics."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terminal List 2020s American drama television series 2022 American television series debuts Amazon Prime Video original programming American action television series American military television series American thriller television series English-language television shows Television series about conspiracy theories Television series about revenge Television series by Amazon Studios Television series by Media Rights Capital Television shows based on American novels Vigilante television series Works about the United States Navy SEALs