Below is my ranking of the Season One episodes of the Amazon Prime series, "JACK RYAN". Based upon characters created by Tom Clancy and created by Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland, the series stars John Krasinski in the title role:RANKING OF "JACK RYAN" SEASON ONE (2018) EPISODES
1. (1.06) "Sources and Methods" - CIA Analyst Jack Ryan's moral compass is tested when he and new his section boss James Greer use a Turkish criminal to track down Hanin Ali, the wife of terrorist Mousa Bin Suleiman, who has fled from the latter.
2. (1.04) "The Wolf" - Suleiman starts an insurrection within ISIS by imprisoning its leader, consolidating control of the organization and taking control of 12 hostage physicians from Doctors Without Borders. Meanwhile; Ryan, Greer and French intelligence officer Sandrine Arnaud track Suleiman's brother Ali to a remote gas station near the French Alps.
3. (1.01) "Pilot" - In the series premiere, Ryan uncovers a series of suspicious transactions surrounding Suleiman that take him and Greer out from behind their desks and into the field to hunt down the terrorist in Yemen.
4. (1.08) "Inshallah" - In this season finale, Ryan and Greer discovers that Suleiman's next attack could be on U.S. soil. They must figure out how to stop him starting a viral outbreak in Washington D.C.
5. (1.02) "French Connection" - A fresh piece of intelligence takes Ryan and Greer to Paris and one step closer to the elusive Suleiman. Suleiman returns home with a renewed fervor for his secretive mission, leaving Hanin unsure of their family's future.
6. (1.03) "Black 22" - Lieutenant Victor Polizzi, a U.S. Air Force drone officer, struggles with the moral consequences of his job. Hanin is forced to make a dangerous decision for the sake of her children. And Ryan and Greer join French Intelligence officers on a mission to track down Ali.
7. (1.05) "End of Honor" - Hanin requests political asylum for herself and her daughters in a refugee camp in Turkey, naming Suleiman as her husband and attracting the attention of the CIA. Following the viral terrorist attack in a Parisian church, Ryan manages to make contact with Suleiman, using the messaging board on a video game and posing as Ali.
8. (1.07) "The Boy" - Dr. Cathy Mueller, Ryan's new girlfriend, is questioned about her Ebola report and is furious to discover that he works for the CIA. Meanwhile, Ryan and Greer try to convince CIA officials to use a covert ground assault on Suleiman's headquarters in order to extract the latter's son Samir on behalf of Hanin.
Below is a list of my favorite television productions (so far) that are set in the 1950s:
TOP TEN FAVORITE TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS SET IN THE 1950s
1. "A Nero Wolfe Mystery" (2000-2002) - Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin starred in this adaptation of novels and short stories about the New York City based private detective from Montenegro, Nero Wolfe. 
2. "The Company" (2007) - Robert Littell produced this three-part miniseries adaptation of his 2002 novel about the Cold War during the mid and late 20th century. Half of the series is set during the 1950s. Chris O'Donnell, Rory Cochrane, Alessandro Nivola, Alfred Molina and Michael Keaton starred.
3. "Miss Marple" (1984-1992) - Joan Hickson starred in this adaptation of Agatha Christie murder mysteries featuring the elderly sleuth, Miss Jane Marple. The series was produced by George Gallaccio.
4. "M*A*S*H" (1972-1983) - Larry Gelbert developed this Award winning adaptation of the 1970 movie and Richard Hooker's 1968 novel, "M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors" about a U.S. Army field hospital during the Korean War. Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers and Mike Farrell starred.
5. "Agatha Christie's Marple" (2004-2013) - Both Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie portrayed Miss Jane Marple in this adaptation of Agatha Christie's novels about the elderly sleuth.
6. "The Hour" (2011-2012) - Romola Garai, Dominic West and Ben Whishaw starred in this series about a BBC news show set in the mid-to-late 1950s. The series was created by Abi Morgan.
7. "Magic City" (2012-2013) - Mitch Glazer created this STARZ series about a Miami hotel owner during the late 1950s. The series starred Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Olga Kurylenko.
8. "I'll Fly Away" (1991-1993) - Regina Taylor and Sam Waterston starred in this series about a Southern black housekeeper and her complicated relationship with her employer, a white attorney in the late 1950s and early 1960s American South. The series was created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey.
9. "Grantchester" (2014-Present) - James Norton and Robson Greene starred in this adaptation of "The Grantchester Mysteries", James Runcie's series of mystery stories that feature an unlikely partnership between a Church of England vicar and a police detective during the 1950s. 
8. "Ordeal of Innocence" (2018) - Sarah Phelps wrote and produced this third adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1958 novel. The three-part miniseries starred Bill Nighy, Anna Chancellor and Anthony Boyle.
"THE GOOD SHEPHERD" (2006) Review
As far as I know, Academy Award winning actor Robert De Niro has directed at least two movies during his long career. One of them was the 1992 movie, "A BRONX'S TALE", which I have yet to see. The other was the 2006 espionage epic called "THE GOOD SHEPHERD".
Starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, "THE GOOD SHEPHERD" told the fictionalized story about the birth of the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) and counter-intelligence through the eyes of one man named Edward Wilson. Edward, the product of an East Coast aristocratic family and a C.I.A. official, has received an anonymous package during the spring of 1961. The famous C.I.A operation, the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba had just failed. Inside the package is a reel-to-reel tape that reveals two unidentifiable people engaged in sex. Suspecting that the tape might reveal leads to the failure behind the Cuban operation, Edward has the tape investigated. The results lead to a possibility that the operation's failure may have originated very close to home. During Edward's investigation of the reel tape and the failure behind the Bay of Pigs, the movie reveals the history of his personal life and his career in both the C.I.A. and the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) during World War II.
Many film critics and historians believe that the Edward Wilson character in "THE GOOD SHEPHERD" is loosely based upon the lives and careers of American intelligence officers, James Jesus Angelton andRichard M. Bissell, Jr.. And there might be some truth in this observation. But if I must be frank, I was never really concerned if the movie was a loose biography of anyone associated with the C.I.A. My concerns mainly focused on whether "THE GOOD SHEPHERD" is a good movie. Mind you, I had a few quibbles with it, but in the end I thought it was an above-average movie that gave moviegoers a peek into the operations of the C.I.A. and this country's history between 1939 and 1961.
It is a pity that "THE GOOD SHEPHERD" was marred by a handful of prominent flaws. It really had the potential to be a well-made and memorable film. One of the problems I had were most of the characters' emotional repression. Are we really supposed to believe that nearly every member of the upper-class in the country's Northeast region are incapable of expressing overt emotion? I am not claiming that the performances were bad. Frankly, I was very impress by the performances featured in the movie. But the idea of nearly every major character - especially those born with a silver spoon - barely speaking above an audible whisper, due to his or her priviledged background, strikes me as more of a cliché than interesting and/or original characterization. I never understood what led Edward to finally realize that the man he believed was the genuine KGB defector Valentin Mironov, was actually a double agent. He should have realized this when the real Mironov had arrived several years earlier. The circumstances that led Edward to seek evidence inside one of the fake defector's struck me as rather vague and far-reaching on screenwriter Eric Roth's part. My main problem with "THE GOOD SHEPHERD" was its pacing. It was simply TOO DAMN SLOW. The movie has an interesting story, but De Niro's snail-like pacing made it difficult for me to maintain my interest in one sitting. Thank goodness for DVDs. I feel that the only way to truly appreciate "THE GOOD SHEPHERD" without falling asleep is to watch a DVD copy in installments.
However, thanks to Eric Roth's screenplay and Robert De Niro's direction, "THE GOOD SHEPHERD"offered plenty of scenes and moments to enjoy. The moment of seduction at a Skull and Bones gathering that led Edward into a loveless marriage with Margaret 'Clover' Russell struck me as fascinating. It was a moment filled with passion and sex. Yet, the circumstances - namely Margaret's pregnancy - forced Edward to give up a college love and marry a woman he did not truly love. I also enjoyed how De Niro and Roth used flashbacks to reveal the incidents in Edward's post-college life and C.I.A. career, while he persisted into his investigation of the mysterious tape in the movie's present day (1961). I was especially impressed by De Niro's smooth ability to handle the transition from the present, to the past and back without missing a beat.
There were two scenes really stood out for me. One involved the Agency's interrogation of the real Soviet defector, Valentin Mironov. I found it brutal, somewhat bloody and rather tragic in a perverse way. The other scene featured a loud and emotional quarrel between Edward and Margaret over the latter's demand that Edward should convince his son not to join the C.I.A. What made this quarrel interesting is that after twenty years of a quiet and repressive marriage, the two finally revealed their true feelings for each other. But the best aspect of "THE GOOD SHEPHERD" was its depiction of how a decent, yet flawed allowed his work in intelligence and his position of power within the intelligence community warp his character. The higher Edward rose within the ranks of the C.I.A., the more he distanced himself from his family with his lies and secrets, and the more he was willing to corrupt himself in the name of national security . . . even to the extent of disrupting his son's chance for happiness.
"THE GOOD SHEPHERD" must be one of the few large-scale movie productions, whose photography and production designs failed to give the impression of an epic. I found Robert Richardson's photography rather limited, despite the numerous settings featured in the plot. So much of the movie's scenes featured an interior setting. Yet, even most of the exterior scenes seemed to reflect a limited view. In the end, it was up to the movie's 167 minute running time and 22 years time span that gave "THE GOOD SHEPHERD" an epic feel to it.
Robert De Niro and the casting team did a pretty good job in their selection of the cast. The only one I had a problem with was actor Lee Pace, who portrayed a fictionalized version of C.I.A. director Richard Helms named . . . Richard Hayes. I have always viewed Pace as an outstanding actor, but he spent most of his scenes smirking on the sidelines or making slightly insidious comments to the Edward Wilson character. I believe Roth's screenplay had failed to give substance to his role. But there were plenty of other good supporting performances. I was especially impressed by Oleg Shtefanko's subtle, yet insidious portryal of Edward's KGB counterpart, Stas Siyanko aka Ulysses. Director Robert De Niro, John Sessions, Alec Baldwin, William Hurt, Billy Crudup, Joe Pesci and Tammy Blanchard all gave solid performances. Eddie Redmayne held his own with both Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie as the Wilsons' intimidated and resentful son, Edward Wilson, Jr. Michael Gambon was his usual competent self as an MI-6 spymaster named Dr. Fredricks. Gambon was also lucky to give one of the best lines in the movie.
At least three performances impressed me. John Tuturro was very memorable as Edward's tough and ruthless deputy, Ray Brocco. For once, De Niro's insistence upon minimilist acting worked very well in Tuturro's favor. The actor did an excellent job in portraying Brocco's aggression with a very subtle performance, producing an interesting contrast in the character's personality. I realize that Angelina Jolie had won her Oscar for "GIRL, INTERRUPTED", a movie that had been released at least seven years before "THE GOOD SHEPHERD". But I sincerely believe that her portryal of Edward's long suffering wife, Margaret, was the first role in which she truly impressed me. She tossed away her usual habits and little tricks in order to give a very mature and subtle performance as a woman slowly sinking under the weight of a loveless and repressive marriage. And I believe that Jolie has not looked back, since. The task of carrying the 167-minute film fell upon the shoulders of Matt Damon and as usual, he was more than up to the job. And while there were times when his performance seemed a bit too subtle, I cannot deny that he did a superb job of developing the Edward Wilson character from a priviledge, yet inexperienced college student to a mature and emotionally repressed man who was willing to live with the negative aspects of his profession.
I do not believe that "THE GOOD SHEPHERD" will ever be considered as a great film. It has a small number of flaws, but those flaws were not as minor as they should have been - especially the slow pacing that threatened to put me to sleep. But I cannot deny it is damn good movie, thanks to Robert De Niro's direction, Eric Roth's screenplay and a talented cast led by Matt Damon. Five years have passed since its release. It seems a pity that De Niro has not directed a movie since.
