# Shooter (2016)

> An exiled expert marksman is coaxed back into action to stop a plot to assassinate the president.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/58875

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 31
- Episode runtime: 42 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: action, thriller
- Created by: John Hlavin
- Network: USA Network
- Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Shantel VanSanten, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Omar Epps, Josh Stewart, Eddie McClintock, Jesse Bradford, Lexy Kolker
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4181172/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: tense, gritty, relentless, paranoid

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series as a positive, reliable action thriller with a consistent lead performance and steady conspiracy plotting.

## Synopsis

Shooter (2016-2018) is an American action thriller series created by John Hlavin for USA Network. Ryan Phillippe plays Bob Lee Swagger, an expert marksman living in exile who is pulled back into the field after learning of a plot to kill the president. Shantel VanSanten plays Julie Swagger, whose family ties keep him tethered to danger, while Omar Epps plays Isaac Johnson and Cynthia Addai-Robinson plays Nadine Memphis, both drawn into the investigation. Across three seasons and thirty-one episodes, the engine is simple and relentless: a skilled loner must track down shadowy conspirators while the government he once served grows suspicious of him. Each episode builds around a precise mission, a surveillance trail, and a clash between old military discipline and modern institutional politics. The tone is taut and grim, with tense stalking sequences, sharp gunfire, and a steady undercurrent of betrayal and paranoia. Set in contemporary America, the series carries the post 9/11 security anxieties of its era. Fans of 24, Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher will find resonance in its blend of lone-hero action, political conspiracy, and a veteran forced back into a war nobody wants to acknowledge openly.

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