TL;DR – What we get here is a solid action series that hits all the beats it needs to do, not revolutionary, but still solid.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

Reacher Review –

When I first heard there would be a new Reacher series, my first impressions were ‘meh’. I had watched the films starring Tom Cruise, and while Jack Reacher: Never Go Back was okay, it was never more than okay. But then that trailer dropped, and I went from ‘meh’ to ‘hmmm’, and now that I have seen it, I have gone from ‘hmmm’ to ‘nice’.

So to set the scene, one fine morning Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) or just Reacher got off the bus from Tampa at the small town of Margrave, Georgia. As he walks into town, his first stop is the local diner for coffee and a slice of peach pie. The only problem is before he can even touch his pie, multiple police cars pull up and take him into custardy. For you see, there was a murder in the town, and someone matching his description was seen at the crime scene. The only problem is that Reacher did not do it, and the person who did confess to the crime also clearly didn’t do it. So the question is ‘what is going on in Margrave, Georgia’? Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

The first thing you notice in this show is Reacher’s physicality. Now I don’t just mean because he is big this time around, though Alan Ritchson is an absolute unit in how they use his strength. When we first meet Reacher, he stares down a guy into backing off without saying a word, and you ultimately buy it. There is a point when he rips the zip ties off with his own strength, and you kind of believe he did that for real without tricking the zip ties. Because you buy his physicality entirely from the film’s opening moments, every action scene from that point onwards does not have to set up anything regarding if Reacher could do it because you know he can. Takedown six goons in a prison bathroom, check, hand-to-hand knife fight, check, outrun a car in a chase, check.

Now, I have not read the novel this is based on, but from a quick check, it looks like overall, it hit all the same beats across the season. There are a lot of coincidences that you just must put aside, but other than that, I think the narrative flows well throughout the season. The eight-episode season was just the right amount because it allowed you time for action, discovery, and to breathe between the moments. However, conversely, because it is only eight episodes, it never felt bloated, okay maybe one or two product placements that were a bit on the nose, but other than that. But when those moments hit, they hit hard. I think the highlight of the season is when Reacher sets up a trap and rips apart a hit squad he had lured to a house. So many broken bones.  

The subject matter itself is a bit hit-and-miss at times. You can feel these very modern elements, but those parts feel very connected to the time when the novel was written. There is also a bit of a disconnect between the jokey banter and then crucifying a dude on a wall with nails in a way that would have drawn every cop in the state down on the town. Thankfully none of these become serious issues because the cast is here for it. Alan Ritchson gives us a character full of charm and shoots people in the back, which is a tricky balance to get right. Bruce McGill and Chris Webster are perfect bad guys, revelling in their roles. Throughout the series, Willa Fitzgerald & Malcolm Goodwin also work well as (reluctant) partners for Reacher.

In the end, do we recommend Reacher? Yes, yes, we do. I am not sure that it does anything genuinely revolutionary, but it is completely solid. If nothing else, I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish.        

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen Reacher yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Reacher
Directed by – Thomas Vincent, Sam Hill, Stephen Surjik, Christine Moore, Norberto Barba, Omar Madha, Lin Oeding & MJ Bassett
Written by – Nick Santora, Scott Sullivan, Aadrita Mukerji, Cait Duffy & Aadrita Mukerji
Created by – Nick Santora
Based on – Killing Floor by Lee Child
Production/Distribution Companies – Skydance Television, Paramount Television Studios,     Blackjack Films & Amazon Studios
Starring – Alan Ritchson, Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald, Chris Webster, Bruce McGill, Maria Sten & Maxwell Jenkins with Marc Bendavid, Kristin Kreuk, Currie Graham, Willie C. Carpenter, Hugh Thompson, Harvey Guillén, Gavin White, Leslie Fray, Jonathan Koensgen, Matthew Marsden, Martin Roach, A.J. Simmons, Patrick Garrow, Ava Louise Murchison, Ava Cheung, Erniel Baez, Christopher Russell & Blaze    
Episodes Covered – Welcome to Margrave, First Dance, Spoonful, In a Tree, No Apologies, Papier, Reacher Said Nothing & Pie