The news that Amazon are now the owners of the James Bond franchise has landed with some surprise amidst this new season of Reacher. It’s not so much the sale but the fact that the Broccoli family, who creatively controlled the series for over fifty years, relinquished those creative rights to a network whose track record, other than with Reacher, is somewhat hit and miss. On the other hand, the last Bond movie ended with a death, and it may well be that the Broccolis felt they had run out of ideas and it was time for some fresh blood to have a go. All of this became public knowledge after I wrote my first four reviews of this series, in which I claimed – and now with even more justification, thank you very much – that Reacher is the current James Bond, the pinnacle of modern masculine romantic fantasy. It will be very, very interesting to see how this Bond news shapes the next season of Reacher.
However, we remain in the current moment. After the flashback-heavy previous episode Dominique, Reacher goes only forward in Smackdown, though reviewers have been cleared to reveal literally none of the action that moves the plot. What can be mentioned is the introduction of another chatty evil henchman named Harley (Brendan Fletcher), who amongst his many crimes against humanity has a man-bun. What can also be mentioned is that Reacher (the brilliant Alan Ritchson) and Duffy (Sonya Cassidy) have a moment of physical closeness that implies some sex stuff might happen in this show after all, though the fact that Reacher picks up Duffy’s badge afterwards becomes an issue in other ways.
On the other hand, there’s a neat little scene where a different mouthy henchman insults the lovely housemaid Annette (Caitlin McNerney) after he refers to Reacher as “princess.” There sure are a lot of loose-lipped bad guys with appalling manners running around up in Maine! One might have a lot of thoughts about Reacher and how he moves through the world but it would be a surprisingly stupid person who voices those thoughts aloud in his presence. But of course this is a show for dads, who live in a world where stupidity abounds. What dads want – allegedly – was voiced very amusingly by O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) in season two: “Hands are for helping, not for hitting.” Brute strength is all well and good but intelligence and kindness also matter, and the way in which Reacher and Annette act towards each other allows Ritchson to demonstrate what a fine actor he is inside that sturdy exterior. It has been said many times before, but the entire show simply would not work if Reacher didn’t have a quicklime intelligence as important as his physical superiority. This may or may not be foreshadowing.
The trouble is that the major plot point of the episode, which should not be spoiled, relies on a character making three mistakes. And not just any three mistakes, but the three precise mistakes needed for the plot to unspool as it does. This annoys. Firstly, it’s unlikely the character would have made any of these mistakes, much less these exact three in this exact way that enables the plot to spin out as it does. Secondly, even if they had, it’s kind of an insult to the intelligence of the viewers that this much plot manipulation was necessary for things to move forward as they do. On the second other hand, as a result of these fatiguing efforts we get to see Reacher flip a car over with his bare hands. There are also several nice little moments when various other characters get to be true to themselves: Richard (Johnny Berchtold) listens to Reacher instead of his father Beck (Anthony Michael Hall); Villanueva (Roberto Montesinos) talks about his paternal feelings for Duffy; Reacher talks about math. All of these things might be foreshadowing, too.
On the other, other hand, the title refers to the moment in which Paulie (Olivier Richters) knocks Reacher to the ground with a single blow. The way in which Reacher reacts makes it clear this is the first time he has been physically humiliated in any way since he was a child. And if this isn’t foreshadowing, there’s a famous saying about bears in the woods the pope could teach you. Has Reacher met his match? The man without fear says no. He was taken by surprise, that’s all, and Richard’s expression of concern is unnecessary. Or so Reacher thinks.
All these events finally make it clear just what nasty business Beck is in, and just how nasty the other players involved in his business are. The link with the drug dealer from the first episode and the reason for this whole megillah suddenly becomes clear. And of course Theresa is still missing. The plot pieces have finally been lined up in their entirety and the final three episodes will knock them down. As Reacher and Beck drive to the confrontation that ends this episode, there’s some discussion about whether they will be walking in and out of the warehouse, but instead of merely in. As with Bond, it’s not so much that we know Reacher will prevail. It’s how he’ll do it, and with what kind of panache. Weaker franchises have gotten bigger on less.
Two final things: The way Sonya Cassidy mispronounced the name of a church, St. Joachim’s, is hard to hear, and it’s surprising such a childish mistake was allowed to pass through. Separately, the strange subplot where Agnes the cook (Helen Taylor) provides Reacher a cup of civet-cat coffee in order to get his thoughts on it feels like an inside joke that somebody decided to film. On the final hand, we know this is a show that tries hard to find moments of levity when it can, and the way in which Ritchson repeatedly says, “A cat’s asshole,” demonstrates his underappreciated knack for comedy.
Credit needle drop: “Plow You Under” by Scott H. Biram, which feels like a very deep cut
Season 3 of Reacher is now streaming on Prime Video.
Learn more about the show, including how to watch, at the official site for the title.
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