Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Reacher Season 2.
Now at its midway point, Season 2 of Prime Video’sReacheris already off toan exceptional start. Picking upover two-and-a-half years after the first season, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) returns as he seeks to solve the murders of his former teammates of the 110th Special Investigations unit of the Military Police. To get to the bottom of the murders,Reacher is joined by the remaining members of his old unit, including Frances Neagley (Maria Sten), who returns from the first season, forensic accountant Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan), and the silver-tongued legal expert David O’Onnell (Shaun Sipos).
Based onthe eleventh book in authorLee Child’sJack Reacher saga,Bad Luck and Trouble,ReacherSeason 2 shakes up the format of the show to offer a refreshing change of pace. That comes in the form of Reacher reuniting with his old military unit. The new season contrasts with the first season, where Reacher forms a ragtag investigation team with Detective Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin) and Deputy Roscoe Conklin (Willia Fitzgerald) of the Margrave Police Department to solve the murder of Reacher’s older brother, Joe Reacher.Season 2’s decision to adapt the eleventh book in the series to showcase Reacher reforming his old investigation team is a welcome change, and it introduces something that was lacking in Season 1.
When retired Military Police Officer Jack Reacher is arrested for a murder he did not commit, he finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy full of dirty cops, shady businessmen and scheming politicians. With nothing but his wits, he must figure out what is happening in Margrave, Georgia. The first season of Reacher is based on the international bestseller The Killing Floor by Lee Child.
‘Reacher’ Season 2 Reveals More About the “Special Investigators”
Throughout the first season ofReacher, there are many references and stories about Reacher’s time in the military, when he led an elite team of investigators in the Army’s Military Police. However,there are only a few brief flashbacks to Reacher’s days as a soldier, and none show him with his 110th unit.The only frame of reference to offer a deeper look at Reacher’s days as a special investigator are his scenes with Neagley, who appears later in the season to assist her old boss with the investigation of Joe’s murder and the nefarious activities of the Kliner Foundation.
In Episode 6, “Papier,” Reacher reveals to Finlay that “Army let me put together my own special investigations unit. Pentagon thought it would fail, which is why they put me in charge. There were nine of us.” When Finlay presses Reacher about what happened to his old teammates, other than Neagley, Reacher responds that he has “no idea. From the first season,the series sets up the 110th unit as an elite team of special investigators. However, they were only referenced in the show in the past tense through exposition. Viewers never got to see the 110th in action, except for Reacher and Neagley.
From the first episode of Season 2, however,Reachershowcases the very beginning of the 110th in its infancy.Major Reacher handpicks and recruits the unit’s members, and each one brings something unique to the team. While the flashback narrative in Season 1 showcased Reacher’s youth growing up on military bases with his family, Season 2’s flashback narrative showcases Reacher forming the 110th unit and how the team becamea legendary, seasoned group of military police officers.
This is the first time in any type of visual media that the audience sees Reacher’s time as an MP officer.Not even theJack Reacherfilms starringTom Cruiseshowcased any of his military service. Seeing Reacher in thiscrucial period of his lifeadds layers and dimensions to the character as he forges bonds with his new teammates before they embark on a life working together for many years. The flashback scenes also depict Reacher’s behavior and acumen as a leader and superior officer. He has no problem giving his team orders and keeping them in line, and he’s also the first one to back them up in a fight. Reacher leads by example and has no problem earning and maintaining his teammates' trust, but in addition to forming a team of hotshot investigators, he finds a second family.
Reacher Is No Longer a Fish Out of Water in Season 2
In the first season, Reacher is viewed as an outsider and interloper when he arrives in the rural small town of Margrave, Georgia.Reacher quickly comes into conflict with many of the people within the town and law enforcement within moments of his arrival. Reacher’s relationship with Finlay, who transferred to Margrave from the Boston Police Department, was also bumpy at first. Although Reacher does form a makeshift investigation team in the first season with Finlay and Conklin, the officers are not familiar with Reacher and his methods, and they do not have a well-established familiarity with each other or working relationship. Season 2 inverts that aspect withthe reunion of 110th members.
The main plot of Season 2picks up after Neagley and Reacher learn about the murder of their former teammate, Calvin Franz (Luke Bilyk). Eventually, they are found by O’Donnell and Dixon, and the ex-soldiers comprise the main team for Season 2.Reacher reuniting with his former officers, who he is well-acquainted with and spent years working with previously, offers a refreshing change of pace.Reacher has a different dynamic with his 110th teammates than with Finlay and Oscar. The former 110th officers are so close and know each other so well, they are practically family. Upon reuniting with the team, Karla doesn’t even need Reacher to tell her to rent an SUV for their investigation, since she already knows that Reacher “needs the headroom.” Reacher and O’Donnell also like to insult and bust each other’s chops in a goodnatured, comradely way. The dynamic the 110th teammates share is fresh, offering a unique take compared to Season 1.
This is not to say that the buddy cop and odd couple dynamic that Reacher and Finlay shared in the first season was bad. It’s simply a matter of Season 2 shuffling the deck with its characters and format.In depicting Reacher working with people he already knows, the show avoids stagnancy and repetition of the prior season. Other than Neagley, Season 2 presents a whole new setting, a new mystery, anda new set of charactersfor Reacher to work with. The main difference is that his new partners are his best friends from his military days.
‘Reacher’ Season 2 Brings Back a Fan-Favorite Character
Season 2, Episode 4 of Reacher, “A Night at the Symphony,” seesthe welcome return of Oscar Finlayas he assists the 110th members in an operation to blackmail Daniel Boyd (Kyle Mac), the aide of Senator Malcolm Lavoy (Noam Jenkins). The team is trying to get information from Boyd about a secret project called “Little Wing,” after it is mentioned in an email by one of their missing teammates, Tony Swan (Shannon Kook-Chun). Little Wing is a federal defense project that Senator Lavoy and Boyd helped push through Congress, so Boyd is the best source to interrogate as Lavoy’s legislative director.
With help from Finlay, the team learns from Boyd that Little Wing is a type of highly advanced software for surface-to-air missiles, created by defense contractor New Age, rendering all countermeasures useless. Several of Reacher’s teammates were killed while investigating the software, and New Age and its security director, Shane Langston (Robert Patrick), are connected to the murders. Reacher is reluctant to believe that Swan was involved in New Age’s dirty dealings, but he has to come to grips with the notion thatone of his old teammates could be corrupt.
Seeing Finlay make a guest appearance in Season 2 is a lot of fun, and it looks like the dutiful detective has made progress since the events of the first season.He moved back to Boston and was promoted to lieutenant in the police department. When Reacher asks Finlay if he’s recovering from the loss of his life, Finlay notes he still spins his old wedding ring “Here and there, but feeling better every day.” Goodwin does such a great job with the role that a spinoff series featuring Detective Oscar Finlay would not be a bad idea. The show could work similarly to another hit Prime Video series,Bosch, but with the Boston setting and flavor.
New episodes ofReacherSeason 2 debut on Fridays on Prime Video. The first season andthe first half of Season 2are available now on the streamer.
