Fans everywhere have been asking the same question since season one of Jack Ryan: What happened to Dr. Cathy Mueller?
All throughout seasons two and three, no explanation was given for her sudden absence. But based on season four's casting, Abbie Cornish, who plays Cathy, is officially making a comeback, which suggests that Jack (John Krasinski) and Cathy will finally be together—this time for good.
In case you need a refresher, Jack and Cathy first met at her father's birthday party in season one. They hit it off initially, but then they hit a road bump because of Jack's failure to be completely honest with her about his job. Fortunately, it didn't destroy their relationship. But by the end of season one, their future together felt uncertain—especially since Greer (Wendell Pierce) saved her life towards the end and not Ryan.
Even so, we expected to see Cathy return and further explore this new romance with the analyst-turned-action hero. But we got the biggest surprise when, in the very first episode of season two, Jack morphed into James Bond 2.0, claimed to be single and slept with Harriett (Noomi Rapace) the first chance he got. Mind you, there was zero mention of Cathy, let alone how her relationship with Jack supposedly ended.
But after two seasons of Cathy mysteriously being MIA and Jack cementing his role as the ultimate action hero, it looks like these two could finally get another chance to rekindle their old flame. This theory seems especially likely since they originally walk down the aisle and start a family in the books.
As for why the writers would intentionally keep Cathy out of the picture for two entire seasons, one fan explained on Reddit that it made more sense to keep them apart for the sake of Jack's character arc. They said, "From a screenwriting standpoint, spy movies/TV shows are designed to appeal to the male fantasy. Almost every guy wants to be James Bond—you get to bang hot women constantly, you shoot bad guys and you get to do something that matters to protect your country." Yikes.
They continued, "Cathy’s presence disrupts this because he’s either required to cheat on her to get information, canonically become a shitty boyfriend who gets dumped or a segment of the audience resents her for preventing Jack from getting to bang hot broads while in the field." Double yikes.
Unfortunately for Jack, he'll be embarking on his most dangerous mission yet—one that involves fighting a foreign enemy and investigating corruption within the CIA. But even in the midst of the chaos, we look forward to seeing what's in store for Jack and Cathy (and we're seriously hoping it's wedding bells).
Want Prime Video's top shows sent right to your inbox? Click here.
