''The Terminal List'' is an American

action thriller The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

television series created by David DiGilio, 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. His films as a leading actor have grossed over $14.1billion worldwide, making him the fifth-highest-grossing film star of all time. Pratt was named by ''Time'' as one of t ...

Constance Wu Constance Wu (; born March 22, 1982) is an American actress. Wu's breakthrough role came with the ABC sitcom '' Fresh Off the Boat'' (2015–2020), which earned her four nominations at the Critics' Choice Television Awards. For leading the roma ...

Taylor Kitsch Taylor Kitsch (born April 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He is known for portraying 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), ''Bat ...

Riley Keough Danielle Riley Keough ( ; born May 29, 1989) is an American actress. Born into the Presley family, she is the oldest daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and the eldest grandchild of Elvis Presley. She initially started her career as a model from 200 ...

, 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 ro ...

. ''The Terminal List'' was released on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on July 1, 2022. In February 2023, the series was renewed for a second season.

Premise

After his platoon of

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

is ambushed while on a covert mission, Lieutenant Commander 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 and characters

Main

as Lieutenant Commander James Reece, a US Navy SEAL with eight combat deployments, and the Troop Commander of Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7, and Task Force Odin's Sword. *

as Katie Buranek, a seasoned

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

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 The average member of the United States Navy's Sea, Air, Land Teams (SEALs) spends over a year in a series of formal training environments before being awarded the Special Warfare Operator Naval Rating and the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC ...

classmate. *

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

as Lorraine Hartley,

US Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high-ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclos ...

Recurring

Nick Chinlund Zareh Nicholas Chinlund (born November 18) is an American actor and voice actor in television, film, and video games. Personal life Zareh Nicholas Chinlund was born in New York City on November 18. Career Chinlund performed on ''General Hospit ...

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

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 or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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 his roles as Deputy Sheriff Cane in the FX series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2011–2014), Mike Ritter in the ABC/Netflix series ...

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Bill Cox, Commander of SEAL Team 7 *

Patrick Schwarzenegger Patrick Arnold Shriver Schwarzenegger (born September 18, 1993) is an American actor. He is the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. He began his career playing minor roles in the early 2000s, and has since starred in the television s ...

as Donald "Donny" Mitchell, Alpha Platoon's youngest member * Jared Shaw as Ernest "Boozer" Vickers, a member of Alpha Platoon *

Tyner Rushing Tyner Rushing an American actress, is known for her role portraying Emma Smith in FX on Hulu's '' Under the Banner of Heaven''. Other notable roles include Liz Riley in '' The Terminal List'' and Virginia Creel in ''Stranger Things''. Rushing ...

as Liz Riley, a private airline pilot and former U.S. Army Aviation Branch

Warrant Officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, 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 ...

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

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () 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 Colora ...

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 Stephen Courtney (; born 15 March 1986) is an Australian actor. Born and raised in Sydney, Courtney started his career as a teenager with small roles in film and television, and studied acting at the Western Australian Academy of Performing ...

as Steve Horn, CEO and President of Capstone Industries *

Paul McCrane Paul 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 film '' T ...

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

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

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 the lead role of Ezekiel Reyes, Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes in the television series ''Mayans M.C.'' (2018–2023), as well as a young Jack Toretto in ''F9 (fil ...

as Tony Layun, an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

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'' & on '' Taina'', Gina Perrello on '' Code Black'', & Detective Valeria Cha ...

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 Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the U.S. federal judiciary. It is an agency of the U.S. Department of Jus ...

and Layun's partner on the Fugitive Task Force * Drew Starkey as Junior Alba, a SDPD detective and Layun's subordinate on the Fugitive Task Force * Alexis Louder as Nicole Deptula, 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 *

Gabriel Luna Gabriel Luna is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider on the ABC action superhero series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2016–2017), Tony Bravo on the El Rey Network drama series ''Matador'' (20 ...

as Freddy Strain (season 2), a former SEAL Team 6 Senior Chief and CIA Ground Branch officer * Martin Sensmeier as Sergeant Major Otatkay (season 2) *

Costa Ronin Konstantin "Costa" Ronin (; born 3 February 1979) is a Russian actor and cinematographer, best known for appearances in '' Red Dog'', as Gregorovich on the SBS drama '' East West 101'', as Oleg Igorevich Burov in the FX drama ''The Americans' ...

as Vasili Adrenov (season 2)

Guest

Warren Kole Warren David Blosjo Jr. (born September 23, 1977) known professionally as Warren Kole, is an American actor known for his role as LAPD Detective Wes Mitchell on the USA Network original series ''Common Law''. He also played Roderick on the FOX o ...

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 Thomas 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 ...

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 '' ...

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

Geoff Pierson Geoffrey 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 also guest-starred in dozens of other TV sh ...

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 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 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 warfare, amphibious light infantry warfare. Despite the original intent for Raiders to serve ...

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. * Ajay James as Chief Special Warfare Operator Cortese, Alpha Platoon’s Chief, tactical team leader and advisor to LCDR James Reece.

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 MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

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

would join the cast in early 2021. In June 2021,

, Alexis Louder,

, 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 political action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. Produced by Boal, Bigelow, and Megan Ellison, and independently financed by Ellison's Annapurna Pictures, the film ...

'' 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 the story, and that he had hoped to get

Antoine Fuqua Antoine Fuqua (; born May 30, 1965) is an American film director 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 ...

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. On February 1, 2023,

renewed the series for a second season, which will film between March and fall 2025. In March 2025,

and Martin Sensmeier joined the second season in recurring roles. In May 2025,

was cast in a recurring guest role for the second season.

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 the ...

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.

Prequel series

In February 2023, it was announced that a prequel series focusing on Ben Edwards had been ordered and set to air on

with

reprising the role. In January 2024, it was reported that the prequel series will be titled ''The Terminal List: Dark Wolf'' with Pratt reprising his role as James Reece. The show began filming on March 13, 2024. This series is scheduled to air on August 27, 2025.

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 aggregator, 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 ...

the series has a 40% approval rating based on reviews from 58 critics, with an average rating of 5.7/10. 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 an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

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. It covers various topics including the latest news on television, reviews, latest releases, and more. History In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s ...

'' panned the series, calling it "punishingly grim and hopelessly boneheaded." He criticized the series’ 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 Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' 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 In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' rated series 7 out of 10, and compared it to other Amazon Prime Video series '' Bosch'', '' Reacher'' and '' Jack Ryan'', 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 American English-language television shows Television series about conspiracy theories Television series about revenge Television series by Amazon MGM Studios Television series by Media Rights Capital Television shows based on American novels Vigilante television series Works about the United States Navy SEALs