TV-18+ | 7 episodes | Thriller | 2025
It takes a lot to become a Navy SEAL. Only 20 percent of those trying out successfully earn their trident insignia. Yet, more than their arduous training, a SEAL’s “bird” represents their brotherhood. Unfortunately, they must often take orders from those who don’t share their sense of honor.
In the case of the CIA, agency leaders also seem to work at cross-purposes. Ironically, Chief Special Warfare Operator Ben Edwards (Taylor Kitsch) accepts an offer from the CIA’s chief Iranian strategist to pursue a regime-connected terrorist, after the local Iraqi station chief blocked Edwards’ operation against the same terror network.
Working for the Agency involves different rules of engagement. But culturally, Edwards will always identify as a SEAL in showrunner and co-creator David DiGilio’s seven-episode “The Terminal List: Dark Wolf.”
As viewers might guess from the title, “Dark Wolf” is a prequel to “The Terminal List,” one of Prime Video’s biggest hits in 2022. Logically, it features author Jack Carr’s returning characters, but it does not adapt any specific novel. Instead, the new series serves as a prequel.
Prequel
The series shifts its focus from Lt. Cmdr. James Reece (Chris Pratt) to his best friend and comrade-in-arms, Edwards. Some viewers might remember that he regretted many of his post-service decisions at the end of the original series. “Dark Wolf” doesn’t fully explain his strange fate, but it chronicles his initial steps into a world of murkier morality.
What happened in Iraq was complicated, but it’s safe to say that Edwards’s Charlie Platoon took issue when CIA Officer Aaron Fuller (Chris Diamantopoulos, who often voices Mickey Mouse) interceded on behalf of Hamid Al-Jabouri (Joseph Makkar), because the Iranian-backed Syrian terrorist was supposedly an informer.
Al-Jabouri couldn’t wage his campaign of terror so effectively without the boutique explosive devices designed and supplied by Massoud Danawi (Farshad Farahat). Subsequently, maverick CIA Officer Jed Haverford (Robert Wisdom) recruits Edwards to take down Al-Jabouri’s source as part of a joint operation with the Mossad.
Haverford also enlists Lt. Raife Hastings (Tom Hopper), a retired SEAL whom Edwards trusts without reservation, and Jules Landry (Luke Hemsworth), a former CIA contractor whom Edwards distrusts almost as much as he dislikes. However, everyone agrees that Mossad agents Eliza Perash (Rona-Lee Shimon) and Tal Varon (Shiraz Tzarfati), as well as Iraqi Special Ops Officer Mohammed Farooq (Dar Salim), are solid.
The Mission
Edwards appreciates having a good team around him (mostly), when their mission targeting Danawi uncovers a much bigger operation producing and smuggling material to circumvent the so-called Iranian Nuclear Deal. Frankly, nobody takes that agreement seriously in “Dark Wolf,” especially the Iranians.
In fact, the Iranian military and its various terrorist proxies make up the majority of villains in the prequel series. As a result, it will probably require a successful revolution before “Dark Wolf” is allowed to legally stream in Iran.
Indeed, the geopolitics of “Dark Wolf” are depressingly realistic. The series is also authentic in the ways it depicts military process, procedures, and protocol. That realism drives rather than detracts from the high-powered action sequences that ignite at a regular frequency during each episode.
DiGilio and author-co-creator Jack Carr display great confidence in the SEALs and the Mossad, but they have little faith in the CIA, or really anyone else in the civilian defense bureaucracy, perhaps with good reason.
Chris Pratt always inspires confidence in military roles. Despite his name in the opening titles as a producer, his character—Reese (the primary protagonist of “The Terminal List”)—has significant screen time only in the first and last installments. However, his impact is keenly felt both times.
Powerful Characters
Kitsch remains front-and-center throughout the entire season, brooding hard and fuming with righteous fury. Despite embracing Edwards’s roguish rough edges, Kitsch pairs up with Shimon (who matches his action credentials with her work on the hit Israeli spy series “Fauda”), as a partner for some spectacular firefights and as potential for romantic interests.
Kitsch is joined by a colorful cast, including the towering Hopper, who dominates scenes as Hastings simply through his imposing physical presence. Hemsworth takes the initially sleazy Landry in an intriguing direction that aptly reflects the show’s themes. However, Wisdom puts a stamp on the series in portraying the archly sly and devilishly smooth-talking Haverford. Right from the start, his character embodies the best and worst of CIA spymasters.
The villains in “Dark Wolf” are very real. They include the current Iranian regime and the terrorist clients they sponsor. However, the most dangerous bad guys might be those within our own government protecting Iranian interests for their own misguided reasons. The prequel series resonates in ways that awkwardly reflect recent history.
DiGilio and the trio of directors (Frederick E.O. Toye, Liz Friedlander, and Paul Cameron) keep the pacing brisk and the combat brutally grounded. Yet throughout the entire season, the cast and crew show great sensitivity toward American military servicemen and the challenges they face.
Highly recommended for fans of military-spy thrillers.
“The Terminal List: Dark Wolf” is streaming on Prime Video.
‘The Terminal List: Dark Wolf’
Directors: Frederick E.O. Toye, Liz Friedlander, Paul Cameron
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Chris Pratt, Tom Hopper, Robert Wisdom, Rona-Lee Shimon
Rating: TV-18+
Running Time: 7 episodes (approx. 55 minutes each)
Release Date: Aug. 27, 2025
Rated: 4 stars out of 5
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