Developed by Nick Santora – Based on the novels by Lee Child – Starring Alan Ritchson
After witnessing a deadly encounter on a Philadelphia subway, Jack Reacher finds himself pulled into a mystery involving a woman he couldn’t save and several dangerous people who believe he has something they want.
Reacher is the television equivalent of potato chips.
It’s a lot of fun. Just don’t think too hard about what’s happening or you’re going to ruin it for yourself.
Enjoy the action. Enjoy the deadpan humor. Enjoy watching Reacher walk into a situation, decide who the bad guys are, and then proceed to beat the hell out of them.
The show wasn’t all mindless violence. The complex web of events that led to the unraveling of this season’s mystery kept me guessing until the final reveal. There were a few twists and turns, with enough red herrings to keep things interesting.
I liked that they allowed Reacher to be a little less perfect this time around. He gets things wrong. He makes mistakes. He needs a few last-minute saves. But let’s face it, he’s still basically a human wrecking ball for every bad guy with a plan or clandestine criminal organization that crosses his path.
The action did get pushed a little further into superhero territory. And it’s not just Reacher who gets the upgrade. Some of the physical feats from almost everyone on the show were downright ridiculous.
But I was perfectly okay with that. This is Reacher. I’m not looking for grounded fight scenes.
The show also did a good job with the characters around him. Detective Tamara Green (Sydelle Noel), the jaded cop who helps Reacher, and Jacob Merrick (Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette), the small-town cop who gets pulled into something much bigger than he expected, both worked well. The dangerous villains and the government agents tightening the circle helped keep things moving, too. For the most part, the people surrounding Reacher felt like actual characters rather than window dressing for the big guy.
Reacher does struggle to sell the more emotional moments, but that’s usually a victim of all the momentum the show has. When you’re constantly moving from one fight, revelation or chase to the next, it’s hard for the quieter beats to land.
It doesn’t always need those emotional moments to work, though. Reacher knows what kind of show it wants to be, and when it leans into the action, humor and larger-than-life hero at the center of it, that’s when it works best.
If you like classic action movies where the protagonist is basically a giant of a man who makes bad guys pay, Reacher is the show.
TV Verdict: All In