There’s another content warning for suicide at the start of “One Small Step,” which is the kind of consideration for viewers that some tough guys think isn’t necessary. Considering how much violence takes place in the average episode of Reacher, it’s kind of sweet that here is the one thing that’s considered a little much. The tortured body in the previous episode, the one that had Jacob (season MVP Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette) curled up in shock, was A-OK, as is the knifeless fight scene in the warehouse stairwell in this episode. Reacher (Alan Ritchson) tells Tamara (Sydelle Noel) to listen out for the signal, which is “Screaming.” Even the little kitty cat is shocked at how tactless Reacher can be. But there’s a difference between the violence you mete out to others, and violence you mete out to yourself.
It must be a hoot and a half being a stunt guy on this show. You are guaranteed a serious opponent – Mr. Ritchson is an all-time action man, with such an easy grace despite his size that he’s underappreciated – and a memorable moment that ends with everybody the best of friends! Well, of course not, but reviewers have been asked to keep elements of the fight scenes under wraps. This is only fair, as reviewers shouldn’t spoil what a huge chunk of the viewers are tuning in for, but it also means the excellence of the camera and editing work that goes into making them so fluid and easy to watch even when they get gross is hard to praise. And they do get gross. The looks on Jacob, Tamara and Russell (Kevin Weisman)’s faces when they realise what their new bestie is capable of is a fine little moment: shock, respect, and more than a little disgust, which they try to hide because they all know the violence was necessary. They are alive to be shocked by it.
It’s also necessary for Reacher to go ‘probe’ Lila (Agnez Mo), even though Tamara doesn’t initially understand why the woman respecter needs to go see her alone. This gives Jacob the chance for the best line delivery in the entire season and sets up just how much respecting will happen between Reacher and Lila while they’re on their own. A kinder and gentler Reacher, who is very considerate of a lady’s feelings on a date/interrogation in a bowling alley while inconsiderate of a motel sink? Be still our beating hearts and other parts. Of course by this time Tamara and Reacher’s mutual respect is firmly established – “Who are your white boys?” “My back-up dancers.” – and despite all the mayhem happening here there’s a considerable effort to keep the mood light. There’s an unusual amount of upbeat pop music, a cop with what can only be described as a pornstache, a reference to Philadelphia delicacy Tastykakes, and a shirtless Reacher wincing while Lila dabs at his ouchies.
There is also a genuine anger about war crimes committed by “the most powerful government in the world,” and a seething fury expressed by most of the characters that governments torture their own citizens and/or armies torture civilians. Even with that ‘civilian’ caveat, this lands pretty hard these days! Everyone understands why Jacob is so emotional and beating himself up over his dead sister and missing nephew, even if Reacher worries it makes him a liability. And yet his stone cold willingness to bend the law to get justice for his sister means Jacob is the hardest core of all of them. Jacob is a man with fear – a small-town cop way out of his depth and over his head, and Mr. Rodriguez-Marquette does exceptional work at displaying Jacob’s roiling feelings – but doing it anyway. So is Russell, who wants his reputation as a good reporter back, and so is Tamara, who wants to feel like the good police she knows she is again. They are all afraid, but doing the right thing anyway, even if it’s not the same thing as the legal thing. Tamara even goes toe to toe with her partner Docherty (Kevin Corrigan) over it.
In a world of copaganda all over the televisions in our homes and the horrors of the current American moment outside, this is something new. Sure, we see people with their own codes of morality on television all the time, but they are almost always breaking bad. In examples like Deadwood, The Sopranos, The Wire, or Orange is the New Black, the people inhabiting these grey areas were outside the law in the first place. In Reacher it’s the other way around: the good guys are the ones operating within the legal framework but who are willing to go take responsibility for their own choices if the law isn’t enough. To say this meets the American zeitgeist feels like something of an understatement. It is new, strange and startling, and very, very good. The trouble with past seasons of Reacher is that they got so excited by the violence that they forgot the heroes actually needed to be heroic. No such lines have been blurred his time.
Credit needle drop: “Where Is My Mind” by The Pixies.
Reacher Season 4, Episode 3 is now streaming on Prime Video.
Learn more about the show at the IMDB site for the title.
You might also like…
