Dad fiction collides with the anti-dad bod once again in the second season of “Reacher,” which has the gratifying distinction of being every bit as violent, clever, pulpy, and satisfying as the last one. A couple of years removed from the last time audiences saw him folding baddies in half in Margrave, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) finds himself tangled up in a life-and-death conspiracy once again, this time with old friends! A modern 6’ 5’’ 250 lb. take on the wandering gunslinger/samurai trope, Ritchson and “Reacher” are downright delightful in this newest outing, deploying the bone-crunching cockiness that fans of the first season (and book series) have come to expect.
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When Jack Reacher notices a numerical aberration in an ATM receipt during a thrift shop clothes run, it’s enough to get him to contact his Army MP buddy, Neagley (Maria Sten), who brings her old boss up to speed on the mysterious death and disappearance of several old colleagues. The pair discover that someone is targeting members of their former unit for reasons unknown, leading them to reach out to other MP squad mates like O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) and Dixon (Serinda Swan), who join them in the investigation. Their efforts lead to increasing questions and bodies in pretty much equal measure, and it isn’t long before all four are neck-deep in the trouble that got their friends killed.
Luckily for them they have a Hulk…err…a Reacher. With brains to match the brawn, the eponymous character out-thinks as well as out-punches his adversaries, which are led by Robert Patrick this time around (a noticeable upgrade from last season). As Reacher and his investigators move closer to the truth surrounding the conspiracy already in motion, viewers get more background on the wandering wall-o-man, as well as all of the compound fractures, nut stomps, and chokeholds fans of the character could hope for.
Ritchson’s performance throughout both seasons demonstrates not just a comprehensive understanding of the character as written by Lee Childs, but also of what Reacher represents as a mythological archetype. Like the cowboy or ronin, Reacher lives outside of society and embodies the power of freedom combined with righteous justice. Ritchson leans into the classic “Quiet Man” trope to allow the power of what he represents to speak for the character, and the show is better for this.
Jack Reacher is a big guy with combat training and ass-kicking bona fides, yet what makes the man so formidable in the eyes of his adversaries is his almost ethereal nature. He can’t be bought, is near-impossible to intimidate, and is damn tough to attack without any home base or social footprint: contrivances this newest season exploits well. And while the accompaniment of 3 actual, real-deal friends/human connections takes a bit of wind out of the character’s sails, it fits with the man and the story (and is true to the book, minus a locale change).
And while a lot of the fun of “Reacher” is born out of unsuspecting characters encountering and having to deal with this walking/talking haystack, this new season mines considerable thematic wealth out of Reacher grappling with his wandering lifestyle. He’s confronted with old friends that have made lives for themselves in the same world where Reacher tosses clothes and buys a new set instead of washing them. He does this because to wash clothes would mean access to a washing machine, which would naturally lead to an apartment or house that can’t be abandoned at the drop of a hat.
Executive producer Nick Santora and the writing team do a great job weaving these themes into the larger story and the development of Reacher’s arc in Season 2, with the action and narrative development walking hand-in-hand with this exposition and character exploration. Sipos and Swan are also fun additions to the one-time “team” Sten and her Neagley character hinted at last season, and bounce off of Ritchson’s surly performance with no shortage of pop. And besides Robert Patrick’s looming big bad, the new season also deploys a dark horse threat in the form of roving assassin A.M. (Ferdinand Kingsley), whose status as a viable threat to Reacher is something of a vic,ory all to itself.
So, yeah: fans of Jack Reacher in any format should be excited for this one. Sure, it might have been nice to watch a few seasons of the big guy wandering into Nebraska or South Dakota to break up nuclear arms deals or meth rings before dipping this deep into his origin story (the book this season is based on is the 11th in the series), but all the components for a helluva good time are here. Ritchson hasn’t lost a step as America’s 21st century answer to the wandering anti-hero archetype, and the show hasn’t forgotten what made the first iteration so entertaining: lots of satisfying ass-kicking by way of a WWE-sized Sherlock Holmes-type. What’s not to love? [A-]
“Reacher” Season 2 premieres on Amazon Prime Video on December 15
