When we first see Alan Ritchson’s Reacher appear on the screen 2 things cross your mind: 1. this is not going to be like the Tom Cruise movie that was released in 2012 and 2. Alan Ritchson’s Reacher is not a guy you want to mess with. In this season of Reacher, we get to know the guy a little better than we did in the 2012 movie, and if you are a fan of Lee Child’s books you are going to enjoy the ride that the show takes you on.
When a six-foot-plus man walks into the town of Margrave and the local police arrive there within minutes to arrest him, you know you are in for a ride. The first episode of Prime Video’s Reacher begins in this manner and Reacher is taken into custody without being told why. The man is a giant and can possibly rip apart the zip-ties his hands are locked in but he plays along.
Jack Reacher is a veteran military police investigator who is as sharp as a knife and at times it feels a little annoying. Ritchson’s plays Reacher in such a monotonous fashion that you begin to wonder if the man has any feelings. While we do find out why Reacher is the way he is throughout the season we get bits and pieces in each episode. I did say that his know-it-all demeanor is annoying, it fits his character, and is great to see how he figures things out.
Now while the storyline seems a bit familiar: multiple murders, everyone is a suspect, corruption in the system, there are some plot twists that you do not see coming. The eight episodes masterfully weave a tale of suspense, dropping little breadcrumbs here and there. The action in each episode is on par with a majority of action movies out now and this is where Reacher shines. Although he is a huge man, Reacher does seem human in the way he is taken down every now and then by his assailants.
Reacher is a great murder mystery that shows when you stay close to the source material you have something that is familiar but also new to the viewers.
Reacher follows Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator who has just recently entered civilian life. Reacher is a drifter, carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served. When Reacher arrives in the small town of Margrave, Georgia, he finds a community grappling with its first homicide in 20 years. The cops immediately arrest him and eyewitnesses claim to place Reacher at the scene of the crime. While he works to prove his innocence, a deep-seated conspiracy begins to emerge, one that will require Reacher’s keen mind and hard-hitting fists to deal with. One thing above all is for sure: They picked the wrong guy to take the fall.
Description: Willa Fitzgerald (Roscoe Conklin), Harvey Guillén (Jasper)
Season One of Reacher is based on Lee Child’s first Jack Reacher novel Killing Floor, and is written for television by Emmy-nominated writer Nick Santora (Scorpion, Prison Break), who also executive produces and serves as showrunner for the series as part of his overall deal with Skydance Television. Further cast includes Malcolm Goodwin (iZombie) as Oscar Finlay, Willa Fitzgerald (The Goldfinch) as Roscoe Conklin, Chris Webster (Most Dangerous Game) as KJ, Hugh Thompson (Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111) as Baker, Maria Sten (Swamp Thing) as Frances Neagley, Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) as Jasper, Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) as Charlie, Currie Graham (Murder in the First) as Kliner Sr., Marc Bendavid (Dark Matter) as Hubble, Willie C. Carpenter (Devious Maids) as Mosley, Maxwell Jenkins (Lost in Space) as Young Reacher, and Bruce McGill (My Cousin Vinny) as Mayor Teale. In addition to Santora, the series is executive produced by Lee Child, Don Granger, and Scott Sullivan, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Bill Bost for Skydance.