(Image credit: Jonny Cournoyer/Prime Video)

“Jack Ryan” returns to Prime Video this week, but not in the way you would expect. Tom Clancy's famous protagonist was the subject of four television seasons on Prime Video. Like many of you, I believed the last episode of season 4 would serve as the series finale. Thankfully, the studio realized the popularity of this intellectual property and greenlit “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War,” a new movie starring John Krasinski as the titular CIA officer.In "Ghost War," Jack and his trusty allies are pulled into a deadly conspiracy involving an unsanctioned black ops unit. Like many of his previous missions, it puts Jack in harm's way with the fate of the country at stake. What more could you want in an espionage thriller?With “Jack Ryan” back in our lives, I took some time to pinpoint seven episodes from the Prime Video series to watch before “Ghost War.” These episodes don’t necessarily set up the movie, but they represent key moments from the series.‘Pilot’ (season 1, episode 1)

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I still believe in pilots. They have certainly lost some of their importance; streaming services typically greenlight an entire season’s worth of episodes instead of making a pilot and then choosing to pick up the show or pass on it. Regardless, it’s still a TV pilot’s job to introduce the themes of the series and set up what’s to come in future episodes.The pilot shows everything you need to know about Jack. He’s a brilliant analyst — he connects millions of financial transactions to the Yemeni terrorist named Suleiman (Ali Suliman). He’s important — the CIA interrupts a party to pick Jack up by helicopter. Jack is charming, as seen in his interactions with Dr. Cathy Mueller (Abbie Cornish). Most importantly, Jack is a reluctant hero who always believes he can find solutions without resorting to violence, a trait that will eventually change as the series progresses.‘The Boy’ (season 1, episode 7)