Original caricature by Jeff York of Alan Ritchson in REACHER (copyright 2023).
Dirty Harry. John Rambo. Jack Bauer. Jason Bourne. John Wick. Jack Reacher.
There’s something almost ridiculous about how the aforementioned action heroes act in their big or small screen adventures. They leave all kinds of carnage in their wake, yet barely bat an eye in the aftermath, let alone when they’re taking out the ‘trash.’ These righteous, macho do-gooders see the murky world in black and white and their solutions are all executed – emphasis on the word executed – with extreme prejudice every time.
Which brings us to the sophomore season of REACHER, the Amazon Prime series that became a big hit for the streaming service back in February of 2022. In the first season, ex-military cop Jack Reacher walks into a small town and discovers a vein of corruption that he feels compelled to eviscerate and does so as local authorities observe him do so with their jaws on the floor. Reacher took out scores of baddies in the first season, an unfair fight if there ever was one, as no villain could compete with this special-forces-trained 6′ 2″, 240 lb. behemoth, a lethal combination of brute strength and sheer will.
The playing field is a bit more even this go-round in its second season starting December 15th, as this time Reacher isn’t quite the one-man wrecking crew he was before. Here, he must reassemble his old military police squad to figure out who’s behind the murders of two of their former members. Of course, the baddies are an almost-cliched cabal of military types and greedy suits, but there are still plenty of terrific twists and surprises in the material. And the show does put forth a generous amount of clever detective work done by Reacher and his fellow investigators, not to mention plenty of chiding, macho banter between the cop crew. But make no mistake, this series is a rollicking success with its gonzo action, tight storytelling, and game cast. On almost all production levels too, from the art direction to editing, the series comes up aces.
Reacher is played to perfection by Alan Ritchson, an actor who knows how to throw a punch as well as throw away a gag line. He’s big and burly, with intense blue eyes and a casually confident walk bordering on a strut. Ritchson knows he’s playing a larger-than-life character and shrewdly never pushes his performance to try and match it. If anything, he quietly underplays every instance, letting his bulk and actions speak the loudest. (Indeed, Ritchson’s chest expanse is so big, I swear it enters the scene a good second before his jut-jawed chin does.)
Ritchson is also fun to watch when he’s just standing still, watching his prey, assessing how bad his cat is going to batter about a mousy opponent. And when Reacher springs into action, it’s fast, furious, and done so quickly that one can’t help but guffaw. Whether he’s thwarting a carjacker in seconds or nullifying a three-man hit squad, Reacher barely breaks a sweat showing them they messed with the wrong dude. His prowess reminds me of that cartoon opening for the ’60s western THE WILD WILD WEST where an animated James West took out four panels of scoundrels in seconds. Reacher is that efficient and that funny.
What also gives the show such humor is how eccentric Reacher is shown to be at every turn. Not only does he constantly look like the elephant in the room – at one point an opponent assesses the “G.I. Joe” as being more of a “Mighty Joe Young” – but he inexplicably travels across the USA without a single possession except the clothes on his back. He’s so streamlined and efficient even there, that the character becomes almost a savant. Still, Ritchson makes him entirely likable throughout simply by being so zen and measured. His Reacher is great with kids, dogs, and this time out, even a comely female compatriot. The show is tasteful enough to not exploit the trysts, but for his partner’s sake, I hope he wasn’t on top.
The show occasionally weaves in some welcome gravitas about duty and country, and it also wags a clear finger at the Trump types who might think they’re above the law, but make no mistake, this show is escapism done as well as any TV show does these days. Some may qualify such a program as a guilty pleasure, but I have no hesitation in telling you to give in to this exhilarating romp and enjoy every droll quip and over-the-top kill in it.
