Reacher (Season 2) Series Review: Amazon Prime Video needs a new cash cow. For streaming services, a cash cow entails a long-running book series or IP that could be adapted into a streaming show. It shouldn’t require much of an investment beyond the mark of quality that is necessary for the current era of streaming services, but the return on investment needs to be high. For Prime Video, one of their most successful ones was Bosch, whose spinoff show is still currently running on Freevee. And now it’s Reacher, after having scored critical appreciation due to its major differences from the movie adaptations (especially its faithfulness to the source) and the casting of its lead.
To a certain extent, Richtson carries this show on his broad shoulders. But showrunner Nick Sartora, perhaps realizing that streaming show metrics require character development in sophomore seasons, adapts the 11th book of the Jack Reacher series rather than its second. The gamble was taken almost in the first season itself, with the introduction of Maria Sten’s character, Neagley. Now in Season 2, the deeds of the past pull Reacher back along with his old team of Special Investigators upon learning that one of the members of the Special Investigators team had been found murdered and thrown off a helicopter.
The gamble of Season 2 is almost hilariously resembling the studio mentality of sequelitis: “What if Reacher, but four of them?” To the credit of the showrunners as well as the novel, while all four new characters are very accomplished and capable in their own right, some of them are fleshed out enough that they don’t feel like hogging the limelight or taking the spotlight away from the big dog. Fans of the show who wanted a solo “Reacher” vehicle might have had trepidations here, but the character dynamics are so fun and unique that you enjoy Reacher’s back and forth with them and with each other.
The Neagley-Reacher relationship as a mentor-mentee is given more space here. At the same time, Shawn Sipos (after his stint in Krypton as Adam Strange) as O’Donnell plays off the titular cocky member of the squad, who nonetheless is tempered as he has grown older and is a family man. But the camaraderie of Reacher with O’Donnell is fun to watch because of the antagonistic and brotherly relationship the two of them share.
This is not something I can say about the relationship between Reacher and Dixon (Serinda Swan). Ostensibly the love interest of Reacher this season, her relationship has added legitimacy because of the past they share and the chemistry as a result. However, that chemistry doesn’t translate on-screen very well, not nearly as well as the chemistry between Roscoe (Willa Fitzgerald) and Reacher in the first season. The relationship dynamics of the first season would always be a stark reminder here as well because of the easygoing chemistry Reacher had with the much pared-down cast of Findlay (Malcolm Goodwin) and Roscoe.
Thankfully, the first season cast does get referenced, though speaking about it in detail would be a spoiler. However, the show also wanted to recreate the dynamic of Reacher and an uptight cop and bring in Dominick Lombardezzi’s Russo, a no-nonsense “New York” cop with an exaggerated accent and a trigger-finger temper. But Lombardezzi is a veteran television actor, and he knows how to bring flourishes and nuances to extremely trope-heavy characters, so the relationship between Reacher, the investigators, and Russo slowly blossoms and becomes enjoyable.
It must be noticeable by this point that the conflict of this season isn’t being touched upon. One can argue that conflict points in stories like the ones in Reacher are mostly in service of watching Reacher do cool action sequences or just be a bruiser but also be analytic. The show wisely doesn’t forego Reacher’s bruising capabilities and even manages to mine comic elements from his brusque attitude and his largesse. But the antagonists, led by Robert Patrick as Langston and also starring Ferdinand Kingsley as the mysterious AM, are the most disappointing.
Particularly Kingsley’s role as the mysterious AM is the most disappointing because, even if his introduction evokes a sense of a compelling foil for Reacher, he is mostly relegated to the sidelines until the final episode. As for Patrick Langston, he is the representative of the private security organization in charge of a nefarious scheme that could lead to wanton destruction in the wrong hands. A role like that doesn’t ask for much, if any, nuances, and Patrick is good at playing mustache-twirling villains if nothing else.
The far more compelling subplot (at least it should have been) is the flashback sequences, with the full cast of the Special Investigators being given focus as their origin story comes to light with the case they would be entrusted with solving. That flashback subplot is compelling not just because it provides backstory for all the new characters but also because it reinforces Reacher’s conviction in his teammates. This throughline is maintained and questioned throughout the season as the question of one of the members’ allegiance is brought into the discussion.
It did, however, deserve more screen time to flesh out the characters as well as the plot of the flashback sequence rather than the present-day case. There is also a curious case of lackadaisical complacency in some episodes of the show, even though the plot by design should be executed as one with a strict timeline. There is never the feeling of a breakneck pace in the proceedings, even though some of the action sequences, especially the car chases, look extremely cinematic.
Reacher Season 2 should be a welcome addition to the fans of the first season as well as the fans of the book. Though comparing it in terms of quality would see this one come up slightly short, it does manage to pay its gamble of introducing a myriad of characters and fleshing them out in interesting ways. But asking for anything more in terms of the themes or politics of the show would be a fool’s errand. It is still consistent enough that the third season renewal before the streaming of this season becomes a welcome sign. “Reacher” is here to stay.
