“Blue Gold” and “Persona Non Grata” provide a turning point in the Second Season of Jack Ryan with the deaths of a couple of key figures and Reyes (Jordi Mollà) taking advantage of the CIA’s investigation to paint Greer (Wendell Pierce) and others as agents of the United States Government attempting to steal the election for Gloria Bonalde (Cristina Umaña). Before returning to Caracas, Jack Ryan (John Krasinski) concludes his business in London ending in the death of Max Schenkel (Tom Wlaschiha) at the hands of Harriet Baumann (Noomi Rapace) who manages to survive multiple face-to-face confrontations with Max (although he did leave several holes in her body in their final encounter). The following episode doesn’t deal with the fallout of Ryan’s actions as he has plenty of new problems to deal with once leaving London.
Ryan returns to Venezuela without the answer of who was behind the hit on the senator. Although Reyes appears to be the most obvious culprit, Max suggested someone else was behind the contract. The mixed success in London is short-lived, however, as Reyes paints the CIA as attempting to fix the election (in part helped by the capture and death of one of the covert agents in the jungle) and fueled by the riots of the angry populace forces the Americans to abandon the embassy and leave the country. The the others leave, but Ryan, Greer, and November (Michael Kelly) agree to stay in the country and continue the investigation into the senator’s death, the secret mining of an expensive mineral in the jungle, and the various political maneuverings and machinations leading into the country’s upcoming election.