The Terminal List S2 Episode 3 Review: Shooter Ready

Episode 3 of The Terminal List Season 2, “Shooter Ready,” has everything clicking. The first two episodes laid the groundwork for this season’s characters, and this one sees them finally shift into a higher gear as James Reece returns to his true self.

Having turned himself in at the end of Episode 2, Reece is with the CIA, and he’s reunited with old fellow SEAL Freddy Strain (Gabriel Luna). Freddy takes Reece to the compound and helps him to get back in shape.

It’s my favourite set of scenes in the episode so far as Reece learns to shoot again, fiddling with a range of guns from submachine guns and assault rifles through to handguns and, eventually, a sniper rifle.

It’s a scene that encapsulates what I’ve always loved about The Terminal List — it has Chris Pratt as Reece, and there’s nothing not to love about the way he interacts with the material. He doesn’t just point guns around because that’s what the script says; instead, he inhabits the character so fully that every single movement, from the way he holds the gun to how he takes up position, is informed by a lifetime of the man’s experience.

The sniper rifle proves to be the thing that brings him back to himself. Reece is unsteady at first but then takes a deep breath, steadies himself and, with a little help from Freddy, he nails the shot right in the head.

James Reece is back!

Meanwhile, Katie Buranek and Raife Hastings are investigating the weapons shipments and have begun to find some interesting links to a senator. Raife wants Buranek to “shake the tree” and see what falls out, but following her meeting with the man, it seems like their information leads them to a company called Kestrel rather than directly to the senator.

It turns out the senator was murdered in his car while Raife was following him. Whatever Raife has stumbled into is much bigger than he ever expected, and he’s in over his head.

I find this storyline reminiscent of the first season but set in this season. Here, it’s Raife and Buranek who find themselves in the line of fire as they endeavour to discover what’s going on.

That’s something I really appreciate as The Terminal List: Dark Wolf wraps up. It’s great to see Raife become such a fixture in this universe, and it’s a fantastic way to honour that legacy by giving him a story of his own with Buranek rather than just having him serve as an assistant to Reece.

Jules Landry (Luke Hemsworth) is another familiar face from Dark Wolf who has joined the CIA and is now in charge of finding Mo Farooq. It’s shaping up to be quite the year for Landry as far as this series goes.

With so many characters from Dark Wolf already crossing over into Season 2, it would seem that this story’s legacy will live on through its character involvement in Reece’s adventures this year.

The episode concludes with its best set piece.

The compound is attacked, and suddenly, all the training that Reece has been through in this episode is put to the test. He and Freddy Strain have to spring into action and demonstrate their firearms proficiency and tactical prowess.

It’s everything that The Terminal List does best, and I loved every second of it.

Even more impressively, this set piece serves as a fitting culmination of everything that has occurred in the episode up to this point.

We saw Reece struggle to remember how to shoot a sniper rifle, but he eventually finds his rhythm and becomes the lethal sharpshooter that he was known to be. Having seen him put all that training to use, there is no doubt anymore that he is ready to take on Mo Farooq and his cronies.

Essentially, the first two episodes of The Terminal List Season 2 were setting things up. “Shooter Ready” delivers on the promise, balancing the mystery of what Raife and Buranek discovered with Reece getting back in the saddle.

If the show can keep up this pace, we’re in for a hell of a ride.

James Reece is back, and I can’t wait for Episode 4!

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