TL;DR – Bookended by two fantastic action sequences, it shows that Reacher is peak-Dad Show Energy, but also more than that.

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

Reacher Review –

Last week, we dived into the first half of Reacher’s Second Season, and it was fantastic. It hit the same energy of the first season, with the added bonus of getting the team back together. With all of that energy behind it, I wondered if its central premise could hold up to the end because righteous Reacher might need to get dirty.

So to set the scene, Reacher (Alan Ritchson) has stayed behind in New York with O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) to help his family bug out and move to safety as they turn their focus on New Age Technologies. This company seems to be having a bad case of wanting to kill them all. Meanwhile, Neagley (Maria Sten) and Dixson (Serinda Swan) have made it to Denver, Colorado, to see just what is going on in the software division of this new missile company when bullets start flying. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

If there was ever a case of just how important casting is for a show, it is Reacher. Alan Ritchson has to be a mountain of a man, so you feel he can conveniently set off airbags with a kick or Kool-Aid Man through walls. Something the films failed to do. But also, he has to bring a performance where, if I could use a Star Trek analogy for a moment, he needs to be as stoic as a Vulcan, as passionate as an Andorian, and have the aggression of a Klingon when required. That is a complicated emotional basket, but Alan Ritchson pulls it off.

This episode sort of works as a turning point for the series because we get the first honest look at one of Reacher’s past teammates being dirty and complicit in the deaths of his friends. Or is it? I have not read the novel, but from what I can tell, it follows pretty close to the original narrative, so I am interested to see where it goes from here. What I do like is how the show makes sure to add these moral anchors to a world that is primarily gloomy and shady. For instance, NYPD Detective Guy Russo (Domenick Lombardozzi) feels 100% earnest in everything he does. Look, do I think he could take Reacher in a fistfight? No. Would I bet against him? Probably not. What is also interesting is how this is clearly positioned as a very Dad-energy show, but that it is also written with the female audience in mind.

This episode is bookended by two different action scenes that I liked. The first was Neagley and Dixson finding themselves in the middle of a hijacking, having to do some clever positioning in the car to stop being gunned down. Then, in the end, we get a situation that I must have seen before, indeed, but for the life of me, I can’t think of any examples. The gang is at the funeral of their fallen teammate, and like a sniper in Fortnite, Reacher sees the light reflecting off the scope before they are gunned down. Thus starts a run and gun where we use the headstones as cover. This was a fantastic execution of a novel situation and helped nail down just how in over their heads they are.

In the end, do we recommend Reacher: Burial? Absolutely. This is a show that knows absolutely just what it wants to be and nails the delivery. Bring on the rest of Season Two because it has been a wild ride so far.           

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 – Carol Banker
Written by – Scott Sullivan
Created by – Nick Santora
Based on – Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child
Production/Distribution Companies – Amazon MGM Studios, Skydance Television, Paramount Television Studios, Blackjack Films & Amazon Prime
Starring – Alan Ritchson, Maria Sten, Serinda Swan, Shaun Sipos, Ferdinand Kingsley & Robert Patrick with Domenick Lombardozzi and Andres Collantes, Edsson Morales, Luke Bilyk, Shannon Kook, Noam Jenkins, Tea Helena Carini, Kyle Mac, Sean Baek, Sprague Grayden, Nolan Gahan, Cru Levey, Taj Levey, Andréa Grant, Antonio Ortega & Abraham Asto