Jack Ryan Stalking His Crush’s Instagram Is The Most Relatable Part Of The Show

Jack Ryan and I have very little in common. I’ve never been in the Marines; I don’t possess the mental acuity needed to become a CIA analyst; I’m not the eponymous lead of a successful Amazon series; and I’d be terrible at tracking down a global terrorist who’s skilled in both mayhem and finance. But in my defense, I’d like to see Jack Ryan text the term “Bosch” to 100 people and write a cogent think piece about the experience. We all have our strengths.

Even though I can’t personally relate to the high-octane action of Jack Ryan, I enjoyed Season 1. John Krasinski and Wendell Pierce are an engaging duo, and after a slow start, co-creators Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland tell a thrilling tale filled with action, humanity, and unpredictable intrigue. The action sequences are visually and emotionally buoyant, but my favorite moment from Jack Ryan — no, not the sex scene — is when Ryan takes a quick time out from hunting terrorists to Instagram stalk his crush.

Turns out that CIA agents are just like us!

The scene takes place in Episode 2. Jack is tasked with cracking his nemesis’ eight-digit cellphone password, which is a statistical and mental nightmare. Exhausted, Jack decides to take a break and attempt to unscramble the only code more vexing than a numerical quagmire: the human heart.

First, Jack takes a clandestine peek around the office to ensure his privacy. This is smart since, you know, he works with a room full of spies.

Very stealthy, J-Ry. Very stealthy.

Next, he logs off his secure server and onto what his computer describes as “the public internet,” you know normal stuff, and then types the words “Cathy Mueller” into a search engine that may as well be called “Similar to but definitely not Google for legal/financial reasons.”

Jack learns that Cathy is a Cancer who’s considered to be a “world expert on Ebola.” Take that, Bumble.

From there, Jack clicks on Cathy’s Instagram page, which, honestly, is completely acceptable behavior. Internet sleuthing is a necessary time-saver in the never-ending boondoggle of romance and frustration that is online dating. Google your dates, folks. Take it from me and literary icon Jack Ryan.

Cathy’s Instagram page is… interesting. Let’s go through the positives and negatives:

Negative: No bio.

Cathy Mueller: Great with ebola bad with bios.

Also, production staff, can we spend the extra five minutes to add Cathy’s number of posts, followers, etc? Come on, team! This isn’t Crackle. You’re on Amazon.

Positive: Realistic Instagram comments!

Ajsoin_H’s “Your friend’s drinking whiskey not wine” comment is the perfect distillation of the internet comments game. I would have changed the “Your to a “You’re” for fun, but still, A+ job on these comments.

Negative: Username inconsistencies 

Is her Instagram name @Mueller_cat or @doctor.cathy?

Not content to just cruise Doc Ebola’s snaps, Jack begins to read an article about Cathy that’s on his second screen. Yowza. If you’re at home, fine, okay, I’ll allow it, but you’re at the office, Jack Ryan! Plus you work for the CIA! You’re not a salesman for some zany paper company in Pennsylvania!

To be fair, the website Ryan’s on is “Science News,” which is both tangentially related to his job and the most unromantic website south of the Wikipedia page for STDs on the entire internet.

You probably can’t relate to Jack Ryan’s globe-trotting quest for justice, but this small moment of awkward realness makes his character so much more likable.

Jack Ryan is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Where to stream Jack Ryan