TV Review: Reacher Season 3 (2025)

Reacher Season 3 (2025) adapted for television by Nick Santora based on the novel Persuader by Lee Child

Reacher (Alan Ritchson) gets involved in an attempted kidnapping in a small Maine town he's wandering through. Local teen Richard Beck (Johnny Berchtold) is almost snatched off the streets. Beck is the son of Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall), who is a very rich rug merchant. His son was kidnapped once before for ransom, so it is plausible that Beck Senior wants to hire Reacher as security for his son, even though they live in a highly secured seaside estate. Viewers find out pretty quickly that Reacher is really trying to infiltrate the home because Beck is involved in blackmarket shipments, using his international rug trade as a front. DEA officer Susan Duffy (Sonia Cassidy) has recruited Reacher because she wants to bring down what she assumes is drug trade and to find a young woman, Teresa (Storm Steenson), who was an inside informant working at the estate. Reacher signs on because he sees a guy he thought he had killed in the past. Reacher wants to finish the job. As part of the new security, Reacher has an ongoing feud with the even larger security guy Paulie (Olivier Richters), who usually mans the front gate (which includes a very large, tri-pod-mounted machine gun). This situation gets more complicated and violent as the story plays out.

The story has an interesting, well-crafted plot that slowly builds up the tension and excitement. Reacher has something of a fatherly relationship with Richard, as much as Reacher ever could. Ritchson does a good job as Reacher. He has the physical menace and enough smarts to make a good action/thriller hero. The rest of the cast is good too, especially Cassidy as the DEA agent trying to keep her investigation going with all the chaos that Reacher introduces. Some moments are a bit preposterous, including the typical Reacher sex scene that takes a surprisingly long while to happen. But this season is not as preposterous as the previous season, which had too many over-the-top moments for my taste. This show isn't perfect but it is very entertaining.

Recommended, highly for Reacher fans.

As of this writing (September 2025), the show is only available streaming on Amazon Prime. 

TV Review: Reacher Season 2 (2024)

Reacher Season 2 (2024) adapted for television by Nick Santora based on the novel Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child

Before Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) was a wandering do-gooder, he was in the US military heading an investigative unit. Some of his buddies from the unit have been found dead. Their bodies were discovered in the middle of a New York State forest with injuries that indicate they had been tortured and then thrown out of a helicopter. A member of the unit finds out and alerts everyone else to come to New York City for one last investigation. A third member of their team is also missing but no body has turned up. Their investigation leads them to a shady military technology company whose security is headed by Shane Langston (Robert Patrick). Viewers discover immediately that Langston is the mastermind behind the killings. He's trying to cover up some pending deal he's got going. The conflict gets hot and heavy as the conspiracy gets bigger.

This series has a much bigger supporting cast for Reacher. A lot of flashbacks to the military unit fill in the characters' relationships (and pad out the eight-episode series). Viewers see some of the bad guy's plans but not enough to fill in all the gaps that Reacher's team struggles to discover. Reacher has a testy relationship with a New York City cop, Guy Russo (Domenick Lombardozzi). Russo is caught between corrupt cops (including his higher ups) and Reacher's outside-the-law shenanigans. Russo is the most interesting and most sympathetic character in the show. Sure, Reacher is fun to watch but he has plot armor and his physique, while amazing to look at, seems like it would be a hinderance to running, jumping, being stealthy, and other action hero attributes. The show throws in some sex scenes for him just because that's expected though they are more implausible than usual and unnecessary to even minor subplots. 

The main plot moves along at a good pace though it is impossible for viewers to guess where it is going because the answers are a bit improbable. The action scenes get over the top, especially in the final episode, where he does some things that don't seem likely for even the most capable normal human being. The show feels a bit like a mild version of Fast and Furious, with its Road-Runner-like action sequences that are enjoyable but also laughable (interesting trivia from wikipedia--the first Road Runner cartoon was called Fast and Furry-ous). The show is enjoyable but it is eye-candy not soul-nourishing. The show has too many unbelievable moments to be taken seriously like it wants to.

Mildly recommended.

TV Review: Reacher (2022)

Reacher (2022) adapted for television by Nick Santora from the novels by Lee Child

Retired military cop Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is a lone wanderer in America with one ID, some cash, and the clothes on his back. He arrives at the small southern town of Margrave, Georgia. Ostensibly, he's searching out a blues musician. He quickly discovers that his brother has been killed in the town. The investigation by the local cops is not going well because they are corrupt. The town is dominated by a fairly new company that has some shady dealings both in town and out of town. The local mayor is on the side of the corrupt. Reacher meets two uncorrupt cops: long-time Margrave resident Roscoe Conklin (Willa Fitzgerald) and transplant-from-Boston Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin). The trio work to solve the eventual pile of murders as people keep on getting killed through the eight-episode story arc.

Reacher is an interesting combination of tough guy and smart guy. The actor is physically huge and is able to deliver the laconic dialog and reserved attitude of the character from the books. The other actors do a great job too. The main trio play off each other well. Roscoe becomes a love interest for Reacher mostly because that's what's expected (like James Bond or Indiana Jones always getting a girl). Reacher and Finlay have a great dynamic as the two "outsider cops" dealing with local small town life. They both respect each other and can't stand each other. The actors make it work well.

The plot is a little too complicated for its own good and does not quite hang together like it should. The show is more meant as an action thriller, at which it excels. Some of the fights (and some of Ritchson's shirtless scenes) seem gratuitous but they are all exciting. How many low-level thugs are in this town? Don't they ever warn each other not to mess with Reacher? Some of the off-screen violence by the bad guys is very graphic and the aftermath (i.e. the police investigation) gets into some squalid details. Of course, the good guys win at the end in a big battle that lets everyone have their moment. I don't think anyone reads the books for an ingenious plot or scheme; the show follows in those footsteps.  

Recommended for fans of the books who can handle the violence, language, and the one sex scene. This show is not at all kid-friendly.

Streaming on Amazon Prime.

Movie Review: Jack Reacher Never Go Back (2016)

Jack Reacher Never Go Back (2016) co-written and directed by Edward Zwick

Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) heads to Washington, D.C., to meet up with Army Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders). By the time he gets there, she's been arrested for espionage. Reacher doesn't believe she is a traitor so he starts investigating in his no-nonsense style. People start dying and a big conspiracy is revealed. If that wasn't enough trouble, the bad guys found out that Reacher has a daughter (or at least the girl's mom tried to sue for paternity). So she gets mixed up in the action too, which ranges from D.C. to New Orleans.

The story is smart but predictable. Only one of the surprises actually caught me by surprise, the others seemed fairly obvious but at least they made sense. Little plot holes are sprinkled throughout but don't ruin the film. The actors all give solid performances and their characters are well written but not too deep. The action scenes are tense and tough, with Turner holding her own alongside Reacher. There are hints at romantic potential but nothing ever happens. They are more committed to clearing their names and finding out what the bad guys are up to. The movie is a well told and well photographed action film.

Recommended.

Movie Review: Jack Reacher (2012)

Jack Reacher (2012) directed by Christopher McQuarrie

Jack Reacher is based on the novel One Shot by Lee Child. It is part of a series of novels featuring Jack Reacher. They are all stand-alone adventures, not requiring knowledge of previous books for enjoyment. Reacher is an ex-military man drifting around America with the clothes on his back, a tooth brush, and an ATM card. He typically gets involved in some criminal activity when he runs into a victim who appeals to his sense of justice or a criminal who appalls his sense of justice. I've listened to three of the stories as audiobooks and found them exciting and enjoyable. But not One Shot. I was looking forward to a film version of the character, imagining Dwayne Johnson, aka the Rock, in the main role.

What Jack Reacher has is the more controversial casting choice of Tom Cruise. Certainly Cruise is a more bankable star, but Reacher is a taller, younger, and tougher character than the contemporary Cruise tough guy. Most fans of the novels groaned at the casting decision, but Hollywood runs on numbers, not on faithfulness to fan expectations. A related worry for fans was that the rest of the movie would be run by numbers rather than by the delightful craftsmanship found in the novels.

As for Cruise, I can see how people who haven't read the books would be satisfied with his performance. He does have the charisma and the toughness to deliver a great action character. He suggests the physicality through looks and voice quite well. I still wasn't fully satisfied, but Cruise performed well.

The story was interesting though moments of it fell into cliche. The overall conspiracy didn't quite hold together and the finale wound up showing too many recycled bits from 1980s action films. Not the good bits, either. The movie ran too much according to numbers than to good storytelling, resulting in a mediocre action picture. Which would be okay, if I didn't know the source material well enough to know how far short they fell from the mark.

Parental Advisory: Some foul language but not excessive; one thonged female rear end; lots of violence but not a lot of blood and gore; some intense scenes.

Movie Trailer