Season three of “The Shooter” is a fantastic, action-packed, drama-filled USA Today/Netflix series. In the show, the characters are diverse, multi-dimensional and their story grew every episode. The book to movie script adaptation is perfect-every event that happened since the very first episode tied together with the ending. 

The pacing is perfect; the one-hour-long episode kept my attention the whole way through. Furthermore, the action scenes were spectacular and intense. Also, the show explores serious topics like the war crimes committed in Vietnam, corruption issues in the U.S. and the world, divorce and losing close friends and family. 

The acting and the characters steal the show.

The protagonists are Bob Lee Swagger (Ryan Phillippe) an ex-marine scout sniper, Nadine Memphis (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) an ex-FBI agent, Isaac Johnson (Omar Epps) a Secret Service Agent and ex-marine captain, and Harris Downey (Jesse Bradford) a D.C. staffer. Their mission is to investigate and destroy Atlas, a shadowy secret organization controlling the world, and Red Bama Sr. (Gerald McRaney) a high ranking Atlas member. 

Season 3, compared to seasons 1 and 2, developed the characters and revealed their backstory, like Issac’s ruthlessness, Swagger’s love for action, and Nadine’s merciful side. In season 1– spoiler alert–the story was all about Swagger being framed for the assassination of a Ukrainian president. In season 2, we were introduced to Swagger’s backstory. We learned more about Swagger’s military unit and nemesis Solotov. Also, as the series went on, a conspiracy and complexity about who was behind Swagger’s framing grew into this gigantic puzzle that fans can try and solve.

By setting the show in both rural Texas and urban Washington D.C., viewers get modern style heists and kidnappings and old fashioned bank robberies. The quick switches between settings are remarkably smooth.

The show does have its fair share of problems with plot-holes and lack of realism found in all action movies. For example, twenty agents won’t run at you from a distance if they’re unarmed. What makes up for it is that there is never any relaxation time. There is always a pressing event like shootouts, kidnappings, fights and clues to what Atlas is planning.

The brilliance of this series is found within the complexity of Swagger. He loves his family, but he often finds himself loving being the hero more. The problem is that he chooses to play hero over staying with his family and because of that, his family suffers. With a little help from a fantastic storyline and cast, “The Shooter” became a show I couldn’t stop watching.