It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Chris Pratt’s The Terminal List has been hugely popular for Amazon. The show is in a similar vein to some of the other network’s shows like Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher and it most definitely landed its lead another #1 hit on the streamer during opening weekend. But this week Pratt and those involved with the series had even more to celebrate and he took the opportunity to share posts about the viewership and the critics who slammed the drama.
In a series of posts on Instagram Stories, Chris Pratt got candid about making The Terminal List and how it wasn’t done for the critics, who have been much less kind to the Amazon Prime Video series than the fans have. In fact, a quick perusal on Rotten Tomatoes has the critics giving Pratt’s new series a rotten 40% overall score. When the audiences weighed in, their scores have averaged to 94%. So there’s certainly a dichotomy there, and it’s one that series author Jack Carr touched on and that Chris Pratt shared in a repost. The sentiment?
We didn’t make THE TERMINAL LIST for critics. We made it for those in the arena.
Pratt also shared his own take in a second image of Dr. Evil from Mike Myers’ popular Austin Powers films touching his pinky to his lips, sharing the famous image alongside text that read “one point six billlllllllion minutes.”
One point six billion minutes just so happens to be the amount of time Amazon users streamed the series during the week of July 4-11, otherwise known as its first week available on the platform. The news broke via the DailyMail and later went viral, prompting the responses from Carr and Pratt.
Meanwhile, this isn’t the first time that someone involved with The Terminal List has spoken out about the polarizing response to the show. Previously, showrunner David DiGilio said that people will really enjoy The Terminal List if they “don't come in trying to politicize” the Amazon Prime Video show. Jack Carr has previously spoken out about The Terminal List criticisms as well, noting he feels the response fits in with the “the current culture and climate in America right now.” He also noted it’s a show that seems to have “triggered” the critics.
A lot of The Terminal List critics have focused on on the plot of the series, which is based on the first of Jack Carr’s novels about James Reece. Those critics have used phrasings like “lukewarm and dilated story” or simply words like “nonsensical” to describe the series. Plot even seems to be the focal point of positive reviews, with one critic from the Times of India noting, “This show is for you if you enjoy high-octane action, don't care too much about the plot and can overlook the loopholes.”
For his part, Chris Pratt has focused his efforts on how the series strove to get the action right and how The Terminal List worked to "avoid Hollywood bs."
Regardless of whether or not the plot is the show's strong suit, and regardless of all of the naysayers in the critical sphere out there, the action series seems to have captured the attention of audiences worldwide. So far, Amazon Prime has yet to announced a Season 2 renewal for The Terminal List, but a second season would likely follow Jack Carr’s second book True Believer, which picks up after the events in the Season 1 finale.
