Bullet Points: Reacher (S2 Ep1) “ATM”

Christmas has come early for action fans because Season 2 of Reacher has dropped on Prime Video! Well, at least the first three episodes of Season 2. The remaining six episodes will premiere weekly beginning next week, with the Season 2 finale dropping on January 19, 2024.

In this special edition of Bullet Points, I will recap the Reacher Season 2 premiere, titled “ATM”…

• Drop Zone: After a quick recap of Season 1 highlights, the action begins in the dark of night in The Catskill Mountains of New York. A helicopter flies above the wilderness and a body is dropped some 3000 feet to the snowy ground below. The title screen pops up and we then catch up with Reacher (Alan Ritchson) who is in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.
• Hit the Road Jack: Reacher is at a local Murfreesboro thrift store to buy a change of clothes. When the cashier does not honor the 50% off sale, Reacher finds himself short on cash. So he takes a stroll across the street to get more money out of the ATM… it is there he quickly realizes that the woman in front of him at the ATM is in trouble… she has been carjacked, and the carjacker is nearby with a gun and the woman’s son in the backseat waiting for her to return with the money he demanded she withdraw. Reacher tells her not to worry, he can help her out… that’s when he proceeds to walk towards the woman’s nearby minivan and beat the shit out of the carjacker. Reacher then saunters back to the ATM machine, withdraws his money and notices some code on his receipt… code that tells him he needs to call his friend Frances Neagley (Maria Sten). Neagley has some bad news for Reacher, the body of their friend Calvin Franz was found in the Catskills.
• Flashbacks: Calvin (or Franzy for those in the know) was a member of the Special Investigators unit that was led by Reacher years earlier and also included Neagley. Through flashbacks we get to see the day that Franzy was recruited to the Special Investigators unit (aka the 110th) and the bar fight at the officer’s club that would serve as a team building exercise (while also abiding by the action hero bar fight rule). We even get to see the first time the team’s mantra is said… “You do not mess with the Special Investigators!”

• If You Can Make It There: Reacher arrives in New York and meets up with Neagley at a diner in Brooklyn. Reacher learns that Franzy got married, had a kid and was working as a private investigator. Neagley tells Reacher that Franzy had left a few messages for her looking for her help on a case he was working on, but she was so busy that by the time she got back to him it was too late and instead of talking to Franzy, she talked to his widow Angela, who told her what happened to Franzy. Neagley also mentions that she has attempted to reach out to the other members of the 110th, but at this point only Reacher has responded. And so begins the investigation that soon finds Neagley and Reacher on a PO Box hunt, Reacher waging his own war on drugs in order to get a gun and the arrival of a third member of the Special Investigators unit, David O’ Donnell (Shaun Sipos). We also learn that Franzy was investigating a man named A.M. based on all of the aliases he uses having those initials… A.M. is introduced in the episode too, arriving in Los Angeles, where he burns his fake passport once he makes it through customs, then we see him pick up a new set of fake ID using the name Andrew McBride and killing the forgers who made it.
• The Hook: The episode wraps up with Reacher, Neagley and O’Donnell at the home of another former special investigator, Swan. O’Donnell knew Swan was living in Queens now and when they arrive at his home, nobody answers, so they bust in and the stench of death is in the air. O’Donnell finds Swan’s dog dead in the bathroom… Reacher knows that there’s no way Swan would not come home to his dog unless he couldn’t come home to his dog… Swan is dead and Reacher comes to the realization that someone is hellbent on taking out the Special Investigators!!

Bravo Reacher… that is how you do a season premiere! “ATM” laid the groundwork for what was to come, establishing the importance of the 110th to Reacher, introducing the main villain and giving Reacher the opportunity to kick some ass along the way, all while leaving plenty of mystery as to why the Special Investigators are on someone’s hitlist.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to watch Episodes 2 and 3 because I need more Reacher! And if you need more, here are some Bonus Bullet Points…

• Familiar Face: I should point out that while Neagley and Reacher were out and about in New York they were being followed. And the guys doing the following reported in to Shane Langston played by the one and only Robert Patrick of T2 and Zero Tolerance fame. Are Langston and company the ones targeting the special investigators? Or are they after A.M. too?
• Timeline: We find out that the events of Reacher Season 1 happened two years earlier.
• Soundtraxx: Among the songs featured in “ATM” were Supertramp’s “Goodbye Stranger” and Electric Light Orchestra’s “Showdown”.
• Reading Rainbow: Season 2 of Reacher is based on Lee Child’s Bad Luck and Trouble.