Jack Ryan and Family Man, both series from Amazon Prime, are fast paced spy thrillers, edge of the seat dramas. In both protagonists are catapulted into deadly cat and mouse game with terrorists, interesting twists and turns that work most of the time. Focus is not just on action. Both the series takes the time to show various sides of the conflict. Villains are not shown as one-dimensional, invests the time to build a character-based drama. These makes the series standout from other spy thrillers that rely on high octane chases, explosions, and body count. A few notches better than time pass action, thriller series.

I liked Family Man protagonist character better than Jack Ryan’s. Jack Ryan comes out as too smart, always right, and has the right answers. No imperfections. OTOH, Family Man’s Srikant Tiwari is a middle-class man with his imperfections, slips and makes mistakes, misuse his position, lies (a lot), and unable to balance between high pressure / high risk / low paying job and family. Familiarity and nearness with culture and politics also makes Family Man more engaging to watch with its thrills and funny one-liners.

Official Trailer: Family Man

Official Trailer: Jack Ryan