Awesome Art: The UK editions, starting from Patriot Games, up until Debt of Honor, featured detailed, yet gorgeous artwork by David Scutt. Just look◊ at some of them.◊
In the opening chapters of Command Authority, a Russian operative says that the Russian President Volodin will order the Russian military to invade Ukraine and annex the Crimean peninsula. The novel was published in December of 2013. Three months later, Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea, using similar methodology to the book invasion (imported "protesters" used as a casus belli).
A big one here: Clancy was going to write how terrorists hijack planes and fly them into buildings, but his editor rejected it for being too farfetched. Clancy was actually interviewed immediately after the 9/11 attacks where he brought the idea up with one of his general friends. When asked if the idea had ever been considered the general thought and basically said, "No Tom, I don't think it had, but at our next meeting it will be."
Jerkass Woobie: J. Robert Fowler isn't a particularly likeable character but it's hard not to feel sorry for him when you take into account what happens to him.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: In "Black 22," depressed drone operator Victor, AKA "Tombstone" gets rich and drunk in Vegas and goes back to is home with shady couple Stanley and Blanche. Stanley encourages Tombstone to have sex with Blanche, then beats him with his belt for no obvious reason. Blanche and Stanley leave, refusing to take Tombstone's money. They are never heard from again and other than making Tombstone feel even more pathetic than usual, prompting him to disobey orders later, the pair have zero impact on the plot and their actions and motives are never explained at all. Stanley is played by the recognizable actor Lee Tergesen, which hints the character is going to play a bigger role, but it's not the case.
Tombstone's entire storyline is this, as his only point of contact with the rest of the season 1 storyline is him saving Hanin. But then his story goes on, and on, never connecting back to the main storyline aside from having him in the vicinity of Ryan and Greer briefly in Turkey.
Complete Monster: Season 2: Mateo Bastos is President Nicolas Reyes's head of security, but manages to surpass Reyes in cruelty. Participating in the bombing that led to the deaths of Senator Jim Moreno and countless others, Bastos would murder the family of a bodyguard whom his associates bribed, children included, before attempting to kill the bodyguard himself. He also captures a group of rebels and tortures them into making false confessions, and murders US soldier Matice before having his men defile Matice's corpse. He later kidnaps James Greer and tortures him at his prison camp, where he holds numerous Venezuelan political prisoners to torture and kill, including the husband of Gloria Bonalde, Reyes' main political rival. Bastos takes Greer to Reyes' mansion for further interrogation while ordering his men to execute his remaining 41 prisoners. When Greer frees himself and tries to shoot Bastos, he uses one of his own men as a Human Shield. A ruthless servant of a dictator, Mateo Bastos represents the worst of the Venezuelan regime.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Despite only appearing in two episodes of Season 1, Sandrine remains one of the show's most endearingly popular supporting characters for her competence at her job, self-assured personality, snarky lines, and surprisingly good chemistry with Jack. More than several fans were pissed off by her death.
Genius Bonus: Mike November has an incredibly non-descript name, as it's made up of the NATO phonetic designations for "M" and "N".
Memetic Mutation: "I can't go to Yemen, I'm an analyst!". Followed by: "Get on the fucking plane!"note Sometimes edited as "Get on the damn plane!" or just "Get on the plane!" The ubiquity of a specific advertisement featuring these lines, first during the 2018 World Cup and later on Twitch, lead to it becoming a popular copypasta.
Jack's repeated insistence early on in the first season that he's just an analyst has led fans to blow it out of proportion, treating it as if it were his Catchphrase or joking that no matter how many promotions Jack gets, he will still refuse to do anything because he's "just an analyst".
Season 1 Big Bad Suleiman murdering a church full of innocent people with the sarin gas, an excruciatingly painful death, is the moment it becomes clear what kind of a person he really is.
In Season 2, the Big Bad Nicolas Reyes already establishes himself as an evil dictator, but he crosses the line when he personally murders General Ubarri, his best friend and the Token Good Teammate of his inner circle.
Mateo Bastos, The Dragon to Reyes, killing the family of a bodyguard his associates bribed, and going after his children as well, serves to show just how ruthless he will be in destroying opponents of Reyes.
Narm: Season 2 is based around the threat of Venezuela being led by a right-wing dictator who wants to become a nuclear power and immediately destroy America. To anyone with the slightest idea of the country’s true geopolitical situation, this is insanely laughable. In real life Venezuela is run by the far-left President Maduro and has been suffering from American lead sanctions and coup attempts with an economy badly hurt by oil price fluctuations. Having a plot revolving around a resurgent Venezuela that wants to destroy North America with nuclear weapons is plain audacious to the audience.
The initial assumption above is mercifully dropped very quickly in exchange for more believable international intrigue dealing with the Venezuelan President’s corruption. When Ryan and company Storm the Castle of the Venezuelan capital like its an 1980’s action movie, the narm comes back.
◊ at some of them.
