Bullet Points: Reacher (S3 Ep8) “Unfinished Business”
Season 2 of Reacher had its fair share of criticism. While I still enjoyed it, I could understand the point of view of those who felt let down after what was an amazing first season.
It felt like Season 3 was in “silence the critics” mode from the premiere and all the way to one of the most satisfying season finales I have ever seen…
- Previously on Reacher: For those of you who haven’t been keeping up or haven’t seen the finale yet, this is the point of this post where I will thank you for clicking on the link and warn you that there are some spoilers ahead… Season 3 of Reacher found our hero, Reacher (Alan Ritchson) working together with two DEA agents, Duffy (Sonya Cassidy) and Villanueva (Roberto Montesinos) after a ghost from Reacher’s past brings the trio together… That ghost was Quinn (Brian Tee), a man who Reacher thought he killed after Quinn tortured and murdered a member of Reacher’s unit… Just surviving an encounter with Reacher gave him instant villain credibility, but Quinn’s aura grew and grew as Season 3 progressed and we learn more about his arms dealing operation and his manipulation of mid-level baddie Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall) and Beck’s entire family, including his son Richie (Jerry Berchtold)… Quinn also dabbles in human trafficking when he decides to use Teresa, a confidential informant Duffy sent in to gather information about Beck’s business, as a bonus for a big arms deal that he needs to make in order to pay off his debts with the Russian mob… Duffy is torn up about getting Theresa into this predicament, so like Reacher, taking down Quinn is very personal for her.
- Battle of the Behemoths: The Season 3 finale starts off with a bang… actually dozens of them as our penultimate episode cliffhanger is paid off. Quinn sets up his puppet, Zachary Beck (having him leave his own black tie birthday bash at the Beck mansion), not realizing that Beck had some people watching his back. This leads to a big firefight between our heroes and Quinn’s hired guns… But that wasn’t the action I was most looking forward to. Season 3 masterfully built up the final encounter between Reacher, who is a very large man compared to just about everyone… everyone excluding Paulie (Olivier Richters)! As the late, great Gorilla Monsoon would say, it was the irresistible force against the immovable object as Reacher and Paulie beat the shit out of one another all over the grounds of the Beck estate with multiple “false finishes”. This epic encounter also freed up our other heroes to take care of business themselves… Villanueva went to get Richie out of the house, while Duffy went in to rescue Teresa.. oh, and let’s not forget fan favorite, Neagley (Maria Sten), who disguised herself as a member of the catering staff to keep an eye on Quinn and the buyers he is schmoozing at Zachary Beck’s big birthday bash inside the mansion! At one point in the season I thought Neagley may only have a cameo, much like the Oscar Finley character in Season 2… glad I was wrong with that assumption. For those of you who haven’t heard, Maria Sten is getting her own Neagley spin-off series which is currently in production and is expected to be released in 2026.
- Mansion Mayhem: As you might expect, a big swanky black tie affair complete with a band covering some classic 70s hits (did anyone realize the guest of honor was MIA), turns into mansion mayhem when the bullets start flying and Reacher makes his way inside looking for Quinn! We get some revenge, we get some redemption, we get some Russians and we get ourselves one helluva action packed finale… when the dust settles and the smoke clears, all the storylines are tied up in nice little bows and our hero Reacher hits the road on a motorcycle heading straight to the already confirmed Season 4!
The Susan Duffy character said it best in the closing minutes of Season 3, Reacher is “a throwback and a half”… that statement applies to the character, the series and the man himself, Alan Ritchson… who is in fact a throwback to the larger than life action heroes of the 80s and 90s. I am honestly surprised we haven’t had an Alan Ritchson led action movie, especially given Hollywood’s penchant for looking what worked in the past and trying it again. At the same time, Ritchson not being overexposed helps keep Reacher special and more must see.
Now how about some Reacher Season 3 Bonus Bullet Points!?!
- Favorite Moment: If I had to pick one single moment that entertained me most, it had to be when Reacher found Harley’s “off switch”.
- Bastard Check: There was at least one “bastard” dropped in Reacher Season 3, specifically in Episode 7.
- Soundtraxx: Season 3 of Reacher had an eclectic mix of music… I mentioned The Smithereens’ “Blood and Roses” when I covered the premiere. There was also “Dry the Rain” by The Beta Band, “Vehicle” by The Ides of March, and it all wrapped up with Mondo Cosmo’s “Shine”.
