‘Reacher’ Season 2 Non-Spoiler Review – Reacher is Back with a Bang
Reacher is back with a bang. Season Two is upon us, featuring a great story, good writing, amazing action, and a very fun cast. While Reacher Season One was more of a city setting with light travel, this season, based on Lee Child’s 11th book Bad Luck and Trouble, has more ground to cover. Bringing back Maria Stern as Frances Neagley and of course Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher, Season Two makes you want more with each episode.
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The second season of Reacher takes the titular character from his normal drifter thing back to his old army mates from the 110th. Whereas in the first season he was investigating the murder of his brother, he’s now investigating the death of a former mate from his unit, Calvin Franz (Luke Bilyk). He teams back up with Neagley, and they join old mates Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan) and David O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) to investigate the murder. They end up finding that this is deeper than any conspiracy, and more. While reminiscing on the old days and rekindling romances, they must deal with a bit of an old demon coming back to haunt them, joined by a new one.
Reacher Season Two takes our small town drifting Special Investigator and creates a lot of world building. While we do see some old faces from season one, we see a ton of new ones. We also see some special guests that are quite fun. This writers room stacked with Cait Duffy, Michael J. Gutierrez, Lillian Wang, Scott Sullivan, Penny Cox, and creator Nick Santora delivers on every episode. There are callbacks to season one to help this one feel more grounded, while raising the stakes.
Ritchson and Stern’s chemistry never died, and adding Dixon and O’Donnell only raised that. Dixon’s character is amazing, but O’Donnell’s comic relief at times is insanely on point. I think my favorite thing about this season is that they really focus on how smart and intelligent Reacher is. He could be all brute force, and sometimes he is, but for the most part, they key in on brains over brawn this season. Additionally, the heavy outside actors they brought in for this season are great, and I enjoyed every single one. While one was hired for a pretty normal role you’d expect him in, the other two don’t play their normal role and it’s refreshing.
There’s a lot to say about Reacher, and none of it is bad from me. This season is paced perfectly. The score may be one of my favorite things, it’s still a mixture of funk/jazz/blues like it was in the first season. Lee Child is a British man, but everything about Reacher so far has been the American South, even when they’re on the East Coast. Nick Santora leaves his stamp on this, it feels different from Fubar and Scorpion in many ways, but he hasn’t missed a beat.
Reacher Season Two is nothing short of amazing. We are treated to a great story full of twists and turns. The pacing is great, it’s never truly slow and when it is, it’s because there’s a focus on something important. Reacher is violent, funny, and has actual heart, something that’s been missing. It’s about family, friendship, bonds, and working together to figure it out. A more than satisfying second season that hopefully ensures we get more Reacher. – Rascal F. Kennedy
Rating – 9.5/10
Reacher premieres on Prime Video December 15th!