Seasons of Reacher (and shows like it) often have bad guy tiers. There are underlings that could be dispatched before they even have a line of dialogue. There are goons with a bit more character development who might get a witty quip after Reacher himself stabs them in the neck or throws them off something. Above them are the sub-bosses, people like the monstrous Paulie this season, who everyone knows is going to get a final showdown scene with the title character himself. And then there’s a big bad, who is Quinn/McCabe this year, a truly vile human being who enjoys torturing people and wielding power through violence. He’s going to die in a manner befitting his top-tier status.
But not yet. Last week’s episode felt transitional, and that tone continues as so much gratification is delayed yet again. Even Duffy and Reacher’s boiling sexual chemistry will have to wait, although likely not for long. The key to this episode was defining the evil depths of Quinn, giving Brian Tee significant screentime for the first episode this season. And he does the most he can with it, chewing scenery, shouting orders, and getting creepy with a serrated knife.
The episode opens where the last one ended: with Reacher unsure if Quinn will recognize him when they go to his weapons warehouse to meet. (On that note, the background performers in the opening scene are kind of hysterical, just picking up guns out of boxes to add to the menace of the setting.) It turns out that Quinn’s amnesia made him forget the man who almost killed him.
Or did it? The episode plays out, and Reacher and Duffy believe that Quinn didn’t recognize our hulky hero, but don’t be surprised if that was a villainous fake-out for a bigger plan. Importantly, the opening scene also reveals that Teresa is still alive, but she’s about to be offered as a “deal sweetener” to a Russian crime boss. Ew. It turns out that there’s actually a boss tier above Quinn and that he’s in debt to the Russian mob, who helped him get set up on the East Coast. It’s a web of evil assholes.
Reacher goes with Richard to get the toy gun for daddy’s birthday party and takes a chance to meet with Duffy to catch up. After a brief passionate-but-confused kiss with Reacher, she makes a blunder and reveals that she brought Villanueva, who Richard recognizes as the cop that Reacher shot in the premiere. Uh oh. Credit drops more than 12 minutes into an episode kind of rule.
Richard knows now that the kidnapping was fake. Will he bust Reacher’s cover? They disguise the tension with dad by saying there was another bully encounter in town. Does anyone really buy the aggressive jealousy from Beck? He’s jealous of Reacher being enough of a protective father figure to keep his son alive? That’s silly.
Across the country, we finally get the return of Neagley! The soldier who helped run Quinn’s plates gets tracked down first and then two armed goons go after Reacher’s Robin. It’s a good sequence that reminds one how much fun Maria Sten’s spin-off show with this character is likely to be. After letting a dude bleed out on her office-kitchen floor, she lets Reacher know that Quinn is investigating in a way that could get back to him.
And that’s exactly what happens next. Quinn comes barging into the Beck estate yelling about the Special Investigators who were digging into his life, and Beck connects the dots, knowing that Reacher was a part of that group. He flees the scene, leading to a car chase and a hunt through the woods where Reacher puts mud on his face and commits some justifiable homicide. It’s not a bad sequence for a season that’s actually been a little light in that department, and it ends in a funny beat where Reacher pays a laundromat to close so he can clean up in peace.
Back at the Beck compound, Quinn is cutting things with a knife like he’s Hannibal Lecter when Paulie whispers in his ear about the Reacher forest massacre. He’s had enough, pulling Richard into the kitchen and forcing him to play Russian Roulette in front of his father. The poor kid has to pull the trigger three times, but it’s the end of the scene that’s truly disturbing as Quinn slams a knife into a cutting board and says, “I want a matching set,” as the camera foregrounds Richard’s missing ear. Quinn is a true sociopath, someone who enjoys the violence it takes to get power more than the actual power itself.
What now? They’re running out of time since Reacher’s cover is blown, and Villanueva argues that they should just call the ATF and have them storm in after the death of their undercover agent. (Wouldn’t they just do that anyway?) They have to save Teresa first or she might be collateral damage. Reacher and Duffy track her to a boat, but they’re too late. She was there not long ago, but they do run into the soldier who was keeping her captive for $1,000 per day. They beat him up and let him die as the boat explodes. His final words: “Fuck you, Reacher!”
The episode ends with some more flirtation and a funny line about how often Reacher does shit like this before another cliffhanger. “Pack your sunscreen, Duffy,” says Reacher. “We’re going to Los Angeles.”
Stray observations
- • Just as it felt like this season needed more Neagley, she gets her best scene of it. And given the plot now and only two episodes to go, it might be her last.
- • The tailor who helps Reacher and Duffy find Teresa says that he hasn’t met her but that he put her in a red dress because of the impact Ann-Margret had on him in 1966’s The Swinger. See for yourself.
- • It’s time to start considering where this season ranks in the Reacher legacy after a second outing that some thought disappointing. This one has a stronger villain—a common complaint about last year—but it does kinda feel like four episodes of plot in an eight-episode box. Let’s see if they can pick up the pace in the final two. If not, it might be on the third tier of Reacher-dom.
