Is ‘The Terminal List’ Season 2 a True Story? Jack Carr Reveals Real-Life Inspiration

The Terminal List Season 2 doesn’t shy away from international intrigue, with a storyline involving American weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, covert CIA operations, and a conspiracy to install a new Russian leader. But how much of the season’s geopolitical drama is actually rooted in reality? Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Terminal List Season 2.

TV Insider asked author and executive producer Jack Carr whether the story was inspired by real-world intelligence operations and historical events, and he revealed that while some elements were pulled from reality, others required a little crystal-ball gazing.

“Well, with the book, which I started writing in 2016 before I even had a publishing deal, a lot of it was inspired by geopolitical events or by me projecting into the future, knowing it wouldn’t be coming out for a few years,” Carr told TV Insider. “I try to do that with a lot of my books, especially when it comes to technology. The pace at which technology is being adapted to warfare is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, so you really have to project much further into the future now than I did four or five books ago.”

“We’re doing that with the TV shows as well. I think that’s one of the main things we take from the books: drawing from real-world events while also projecting a little into the future,” explained Carr. “And, of course, since the book came out, Russia actually invaded Ukraine, so that’s something we had to change from the book to the screen.”

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Another storyline that feels ripped from the headlines involves journalist Katie Buranek (Constance Wu), whose legitimate reporting is manipulated and used as part of a larger disinformation campaign. Unlike the season’s geopolitical conflicts, though, that particular twist wasn’t inspired by a specific real-world incident. Instead, showrunner David DiGilio explained that it came from the writers’ love of dramatic irony.

“I don’t think we had a specific world event for that,” DiGilio said. “That was probably more generated from something that we love, which is dramatic irony. We love to combine all of this great action, these great characters, and use dramatic irony in our storytelling. Katie is the warrior of truth in our show, and for her to be on this path, working with Raife Hastings (Tom Hopper) to chase down this Kestrel conspiracy, and then have her words used by that conspiracy — that’s the ultimate fire we needed to motivate the climax in the season finale.”

The Terminal List, Season 2, Now Streaming, Prime Video