As the strongest season of Reacher wraps up the formula feels in place for the future series. A lady cop, a dweeb and our favourite human kaiju team up against some preposterously evil villains, which can only be defeated through incredible hand-to-hand violence and the knowledge that right is on Reacher’s side. But this time the villains have included the US government, which is not something Reacher has directly addressed before. Bad apples, sure. But the idea that the entire system to which Reacher devoted his early life might have the bad apples baked in is new to this kind of show. Looking at the world around us, though, this is a message which America is suddenly more receptive to than ever. And that means what Reacher is doing here is surprisingly subversive. Yes, even when lightning flashes and thunder strikes as Reacher (the superb Alan Ritchson) announces he’ll pick up his own gun at the gunfight.
When he does, he gives it a little wave towards Jacob (Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette) and Tamara (Sydelle Noel) before doing just about the physically coolest thing we’ve set yet from this show. Yes, even cooler than him snapping a baseball bat in half over his knee. This is immediately followed by eight unbroken minutes of an ultra-violent fight in which construction tools and things lying around the kitchen are used in unspeakable ways. This is very exciting! But right on the edge of being too, too much to watch, well, until it’s followed by the most gruesomely gory death. Like, just the worst. And the guy can see it coming, too.
The use of the thunderstorm outside and the fires burning inside makes the whole thing unusually atmospheric, and once again the level of physical punishment that Reacher endures is past all believability. But the man without fear is not going to let some very serious ouchies stop him from doing the right thing. Well, first there’s a fight that resembles two velociraptors going up against a T-Rex. It’s really impressive how the mood and Tony Morales’ score combines to provide a sense of dread and menace that’s surprisingly strong. We know Reacher will return and yet it’s still scary and very well done.
But for all the mayhem and gore and buckets of fake blood, where things get really interesting is the aftermath. While the sword played its part, the final push is about the might of the pen, aka journalism, in speaking truth to power. Considering what has been happening recently to The Washington Post, which is owned by the same guy who owns the studio that makes this show, this is not a small stand to take. Being ethical and not burying the truth, regardless of the cost, is what some of the people here died for. A show which prides itself on cathartic violence emphasizing this in the current climate and against the current ownership is remarkable. Though of course it shouldn’t be.
What shouldn’t also be as affecting is the small act of kindness that ends the season. A wrong was done that Reacher tried to put right and he did as much as anyone could to help someone in pain and distress. Because, really, this is what Reacher is about – someone who wants to help (albeit only on his own terms) and who is prepared to do what is necessary for that help to be delivered. Sometimes that is through extraordinary, outrageous violence. Sometimes that is through sharing food with somebody. The kitten plays on a bed, two people hold hands, one person makes supportive remarks about another and a few good men get to stay that way. The world has changed for the worse since season three delivered a message about the importance of taking the law into your own hands. And while we are not quite at the season two parenting punchline of “hands are for helping, not for hitting,” it’s clear the show decided it was not going to end as bloodthirsty this time.
The reason James Bond was able to maintain its success for so long is that it always followed the zeitgeist. The concept was the same – there’s a spot of bother which only he can fix – but the settings and the other players were all of the moment. The movies could run from 1962 to 2021 because they were always, always modern art (and with the exception of the big mistake in Die Another Day, all the stunts were done for real). Lee Child’s books and this show have definitely embraced that ethos, too. Not much is faked, endurance and quick thinking is necessary to stay alive, but life is definitely worth living. Even if it’s scary and sad. Even if everything you own can fit in three trashbags and you have no money for food. The opportunity to figure out how to make things better is always worth getting up for. That sense of hope and persistence is what we really, really need right now. It’s very pleasing to see Reacher deliver that catharsis is more ways than one.
Two final things: the book being read towards the end is The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan, a new series of crime novels about a former Air Force special investigator! And I think I am not alone in thinking a poster of Mr. Ritchson with that little cat would sell as many copies as the one of Farrah Fawcett.
Final sequence/credit needle drop: “Sweet Forever” by Mondo Cozmo (who is from Philadelphia, and whose career was permanently changed when another one of his songs finished up season three)
Reacher Season 4, Episode 8 is now streaming on Prime Video.
Learn more about the show at the IMDB site for the title.
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