But he could’t know how much time he needs to kill the guards and or if the train has a delay or not at that right time, without looking at a telephone and how can he get that detornator, probably all his possessions were taken from him. It’s so far fetched, after that I couldn’t believe in the rest of the story.
I’m not so sure it is. A busy underground line has trains every couple of minutes, so all Silva would have to do is keep talking until he heard a rumble of an approaching train and the blow it. What is unbelievable is that no one was on it in what seemed to be a busy time at the station… but I’m just fine without a Bond film showing a bloodbath of innocent commuters!
As an actor, I’m against cast being put on a train you’re firing through a wall just to appease people on the internet. I’m willing to do many things for my craft…that’s not one of them…
4 Likes
Ah, true piece of British public services.
4 Likes
Well, at least you bought this 007-guy being a secret agent!
Thanks you guys, for all the explanations!
As not English I realy don’t see or read in a movie stuff like “Out of order” on a train , so I would never know this.
Also I always thought that the explosion and the traincrash was to kill, or at least stop, Bond, I didn’t get the whole picture, I can live with that explanation.
But… are you sure Silva first got the detornator from his men before Bond is almost getting him?
Then I rember this scene wrong, because I thought it was instantly after Bond is chassing him coming from the underground MI6 base.
Ok, thanks. I thought that was later on in the chase.
This is my main criticism of Jack Ryan. I loved the series,but there are so many convenient, ridiculous coincidences and contrivances that suspension of disbelief is completely shattered into little pieces.
Would you care to explain those?
I enjoyed the whole series, mainly due to Krasinski, and I took the contrivances for what they are: essential ways to condense a narrative for thrilling entertainment.
His new girlfriend happening to be the person they turn to because she specialises in the threat Ryan’s facing is no doubt a huge coincidence.
However, it does lead to a very fun moment when Ryan enters the briefing room she’s being briefed in; she realises he’s been lying and he realises he’s been rumbled. It’s a good scene. I think with this kind of daft telly we sometimes have to live with the cheese and contrivance in order to get these scenes.
This series seems to aim at being no more than binge worthy entertainment for the masses which we’re not meant to take too seriously. Im disappointed they didn’t aim higher, but taken on its own terms it’s a fun watch and I’ll certainly tune in again (mainly for Wendell Pierce).
1 Like
Nothing beats the coincidence of the parrot overhearing the villains’ plot!
1 Like
It happens.
3 Likes
Pretty much what odd jobbies said.
SPOILERS FOR JACK RYAN:
Jack’s girlfriend happens to meet him at a party where he’s taken by the helicopter. She happens to be working in a lab that specializes in ebola which happens to be the exact thing that the bad guys Jack learned about happen to be using as their main weapon. The terrorists then happen to include her ebola centre in their scheme to harm the US. She happens to be the person who is in charge of taking care of the president. She then happens to find herself in the elevator with a bad guy, but then Greer happens to come across the opening elevator JUST in time to save her from the bad guy.
Far too many contrivances there to be at all believable. I’m sure there’ll be further contrivances where the gf’s Dad is the guy pulling all the strings for season 1 and 2…
1 Like
Okay, I see. The girlfriend angle does tie a lot together. But I would argue that her involvement is not unrealistic, and narratives have to condense. Find one story in which that kind of coincidence does not happen. Also, I experience life as a series of coincidences - sometimes hard to believe but still true. 
1 Like
One coincidence is excusable, two is carelessness, but three is lazy writing.
When using a coincidence in a plot it needs to be acknowledged by the characters as that and a suitable amount of ‘wow’ given to it.
This is done in the briefing in which they realise one another’s roles. But there’s a whole lot of others that amount to lazy writing.
It’s hard to come up with ways to push the story along that don’t depend upon implausible event and decisions (just look at the movie Prometheus).
That’s why good writers are at a premium. Evidently too high a premium for Ryan. It’s daft lowest common denominator tv (just like Prison Break) and both shows are entertaining if you don’t hope for too much.
Most stories aren’t quite as far fetched as Jack Ryan re: the girlfriend thing. There’s several very unlikely coincidences relating to Jack’s girlfriend that make it practically impossible. It broke my suspension of disbelief and made the show feel like it took place in a world where it was just jack and his boss, his gf and the centre, and the terrorist home base, with a few other locations scattered about.
I loved the season but the gf stuff almost killed the show for me. I’m sure they’ll further ruin the show by having the gf’s dad be the author of all Jack’s struggles. They were already telegraphing it in the first episode or so.
Just for curiosity: how can you stand Bond films then?
I would say Carlton Cuse is premium.
Thunderball using the lucky coincidence always bugs me. The wrote out Flemings one from the book of Goldfinger so why, in the next film, did they leave it in?!?!?!?
Personally, I’d suggest that ‘premium’ writers are the likes of vince gilligan, David milch, David simon, David Mamet, Robert towne etc.
Carlton cuse is someone that sees a good concept and understands his target audience. His skills are as much in marketing as writing; I’m guessing he’s a producer that also writes, rather than visa versa (by the looks of his imdb). As a writer he’s pretty mediocre and would appear happy to have found a niche in mass audience network drivel (drivel that I’m often happy to watch, btw).
That’s no put down - I’d love to get paid that much for being mediocre, good for him.
So I guess semantics is an issue when I use a word like ‘premium’. I meant those writers that tend not to use cliche and coincidence to cut corners.