Switched up, kept The Boys on hold with Amazon while I binged through The Terminal List based on the discussion in this thread. I'll start by saying I generally like Chris Pratt, and I'll give credit for trying to break type cast of his goofy character in The Office and his goofy Star Lord in the MCU. More points, however, for exec producing something like this and getting it to the screen, as I still struggle to take him 100% serious.
Terminal List is based on a book. I didn't read the book. I have read some similar (huge fan of the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter), but I knew nothing about this story other than a general sense of revenge with an arse kicking central character. The story itself felt a bit too unrealistic (I know, I know, coming from a guy who gorges on made up crap), too much of a stretch but still almost possible in terms of who was evil and why, and the blood path Pratt made along the way. Two closest supporting roles, that of the the reporter who seemed to be an A- or B+ actor for the role (maybe it was the role?) and Ben, his CIA ex-SEAL best buddy, were decent. Like I say, the reporter just felt off, most especially in the final episode when she hands the DefSec a copy of the article with a faked headline only to sit there and try to bust things down logically in a defiant attack. That dialogue moved a bit quick to digest, begs why printing a fake article in the first place, and really has me wondering what she thought the end of that discussion would lead to other than her getting killed? Ben, the bud, was played well, and while his ending in the sequence makes sense it felt cheap like there wasn't any real hints earlier and we just wanted to throw this in at the end. I get it, I do, and the actor played the ending scene very well, it just felt cheap.
I'll be honest, what really gets me, is how well this was made for Amazon as a series. The PTSD and memory mixing Pratt is suffering is very well executed. Early on it really sets the tone for asking 'what is real, what is he imagining' and carries through with the mental struggle he is making and questioning along the way. I would read the book if only to see how that's carried across in printed word, because on screen it worked beautifully. I can't speak to the technical accuracy of what he did, how he operated, etc., but it remained believable - other than falling down mountains, getting shot, sky diving and swimming ashore, swimming lakes for the final attack, and still carrying on like superman. But I'm not going to knock that, it's par for these stories, written or on the screen, so yeah, I'll allow it.
8/10 - mostly for the memory issues and their presentation, the rest could be out of a hundred other action series/films. I don't see how they can make a sequel. I hope they don't. Not out of fear of disappointment, or concern that there is nobody left and no story to tell (the writers ALWAYS come up with another story to tell). I just want Pratt's character to fade away and deal with the issues he still has. Coming back from those is what prevents me from accepting a sequel.