(Spoiler free full season review)
By now, you know what to expect with the Amazon Prime hit show Reacher; a lot of action and some deadpan humor from its increasingly massive star Alan Ritchson (Motor City), bringing to life an adaptation of one of Lee Child’s thrilling novels. The latest season meets those expectations, then masterfully ramps up the brutality of the violence and leans further into the humor to balance it out. Plus, there is enough running this season to make Tom Cruise wish he were still playing the role.
Reacher Season 4 is based on the novel, Gone Tomorrow, and finds Reacher drawn into a complex situation after witnessing a suicide on a train. The FBI, CIA, and other interested parties with questionable motivations all believe he may have been given a flash drive by the deceased, with unknown contents—he wasn’t, but now he’s determined to find it and decide what should be done with it.
Neagley (Maria Sten, Swamp Thing) isn’t around to assist him this time – she’s dealing with her own issues to be seen in the upcoming spinoff Neagley releasing September 16 – but Reacher does have back up. Philadelphia detective, Tamara Green (Sydelle Noel, GLOW) and New Jersey police officer Jacob Merrick (Christopher Marquette, Just Friends), and disgraced reporter Russell Plum (Kevin Weisman, Goliath) who to great comedic effect quickly gets in over his head while tracking CIA activity.
Green is initially miffed, along with her partner Docherty (Kevin Corrigan, The Departed) by Reacher’s sarcasm during police questioning, but eventually she can’t ignore the obvious signs that he’s innocent and on to something bigger. Merrick is the brother of the woman from the train, and never believed his sister to be one to take her own life, especially because she has a son away at college whom she loves dearly. While Marquette is probably best known for his comedic performances (The Girl Next Door) he serves as the season’s emotional center—a good man who becomes increasingly fixated on revenge for his family.
This is the first story that hasn’t had a personal motivation for Reacher to become involved, which makes it interesting. He’s simply set on figuring out why the woman on the train felt she had no choice, and doing the right thing. The more someone presses him, the more resolved he is to seeing things through no matter the personal danger.
There is most certainly danger. Plot armour aside, it’s hard not to feel bad for Reacher at various points in this story because he is not coming away from this one unscathed. You know he’s ultimately going to be ok, but you still feel terrible for him. We’ve seen him take a beating before, but he’s put into some really perilous situations this time. Giving his best impression of John McClane at the end of every Die Hard movie, he spends a good bit of the runtime covered in his own blood, and a lot of everyone else’s.
The blood is the product of long, sustained, and brutal action sequences with some of the most inventive kills we’ve seen so far. The conversation around how Reacher can inflict the most pain with random objects had to be a fun one in the writers room, and they delivered. The camerawork is especially captivating, excellently capturing close quarter fighting like something we have come to expect from a John Wick film or a Daredevil episode, while also being able to showcase the city of Philadelphia in a really fun and elaborate chase sequence.
With no returning characters outside of Reacher, the series again relies on the new cast coming in and getting viewers’ interest right away. Noel is a clear star on the rise, and Marquette delivers on some challenging material. It would be great to see more of Corrigan and Ritchson in a room together. Weisman brings a fun nervous energy that lends itself well to his character’s place in the story.
Marc Blucas (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), plays U.S. Congressman and Presidential hopeful John Sampson and he’s perfect in the role. Sampson is a former member of Delta Force whose past missions play heavily into the season’s greater mystery, and Blucas brings a calm confidence to the portrayal that really stands out. His wife Elspeth has that same calm demeanor and Kathleen Robertson (Beverly Hills 90210) makes you wish the character was given more to do as the story unfolds.
Lila (Agnez Mo, The Voice Indonesia) and Amisha Hoth (Anggun, Raya and The Last Dragon) call Sampson’s integrity into question, but their reasons are far more complicated than originally explained, making it hard for Reacher to know who to trust. The mutual attraction between him and Lila helps make that decision easier for him though.
Each season has had some dark elements, but this one feels especially bleak early on, beginning with the train, and then continuing to spread. When the main antagonists are revealed, they have no empathy, no remorse, just brutality and a complete disregard for human life and the pain they inflict. At the same time, the ultimate motivation behind it all is fairly straightforward, though it’s layered in political intrigue and misdirection. The bad guys are believable as a threat, but the series relies heavily on their dangerous skillset, implied danger and backstory rather than dialogue.
The season’s heavy subject matter is successfully countered with some really memorable humor, mostly in the form of banter from Ritchson. He’s long perfected the physicality of his character, but continues to sharpen the dry sense of humor that makes Reacher so enjoyable. A lot of people use jokes as a defense mechanism, but he uses them to show he’s always in control of the situation. It really works this season, and it’s not just cheesy one-liners; it’s more his demeanor and playing off the other people in the room to throw them off their game.
The main appeal of these stories is seeing Reacher continuously find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, caught up in an unfortunate situation that through his own moral code and attention to detail, he can’t walk away from. Gradually, the scale and consequences of the mystery grow until they reach an absurd level and we get to be along for the ride as he uses his blend of wit and violence to make sure nobody gets away with anything. It’s a simple formula that works, but the series really flexed its muscles this season by removing the only other recurring character from the cast, while also ratcheting up the action. Reacher has the source material and lead actor to keep delivering, and not surprisingly Season 5 is already in production.
The first 3 episodes of Reacher are streaming now on Prime, with new episodes releasing every Wednesday through September 16, when audiences will see him appear again in the new spin-off Neagley, making its debut the same day.
Was there a dull moment in the movie?Sometimes I need a moment to consider the clues! Love this review and the writer. I always have cause, that’s what Mom’s do.