Reacher season three sticks the landing in an explosive hour

After a shelf collapses and knocks the monsters out for a bit, Paulie wakes up first, digging Reacher out and chaining him up in a maneuver that feels designed to recall Dominique’s death. He pulls him up and leaves him hanging, struggling for life. The strongest man on Prime Video uses his leg strength to pull the chain hook from the ceiling, stumbling through the door. Round two!

Back at the Beck mansion, Villanueva is wearing only a T-shirt as he goes to find Richard, and he runs into a guard coming out of the bathroom. After a standoff for a bit, they end up fighting. Villanueva pulls a cool move in which he gives his enemy a bit of shock via electrocution in toilet water, and Richard hears the struggle. 

Back outside, Paulie and Reacher roll off a cliff and into the tumultuous ocean below. (Don’t ask how no one at the party happens to look outside and see a downright biblical showdown happening or at least hear the thuds of 250-pound men hitting each other. Not that kinda show.) The music subtly shifts to a survival temperature as Reacher struggles, trying to climb out. He’s pulled back by Paulie as the camera bobs above and below the surface of the ocean. 

After a brief cutaway in which Neagley has an encounter with a suspicious waiter that ends up going nowhere, it’s time for round three of the Paulie/Reacher battle. This one is in Paulie’s security shack. Screens break, windows shatter, a monitor is used as a weapon, and the pair circle a massive machine gun hanging in the center of the room. Paulie seems to get the jump on Reacher, aims, and fires, with the gun exploding in his face. “You might be bigger and stronger but I’m smarter,” says Reacher, a nice reminder that Reacher isn’t a beloved TV hero just for his muscles. After all, it’s in the details.

Duffy is searching the mansion for Teresa as the longest version ever of “Dancing In The Moonlight” plays at the party (seriously, it’s background for way too long) and she finds her CI just as she’s about to be raped by an arms-dealing Yemenis. Meanwhile, Reacher finds an arsenal of weapons to put to use on bad guys at the party, and he starts doing exactly that. As the shots fire, Duffy gets to shoot a bad guy’s dick off (her language, not mine), and things get truly nuts (no pun intended). Quinn shoots a couple Yemenis and runs too. Is it too late for him to burn it all down and get away?

He finds his way to Beck’s office, where he plans to arm himself and flee with Richard. He’s about to get more firepower when Beck gets the jump on him, but it’s with the toy gun given by Richard last episode. As Quinn realizes it’s not real, he shoots Beck with a dozen or so bullets, which you would think would mean Anthony Michael Hall doesn’t get to mutter final words to his son, but this is TV.

Finally, there’s a showdown outside between Team Reacher and the Yemenis over who gets to deal with the now-captive Quinn. Neagley uses a fake grenade and a bag of money to negotiate for her BFF, leaving Reacher and Quinn for a final scene. “Her name was Dominique,” he says, sparking Quinn’s memories. He’s about to be killed by Reacher for the second time. This one looks more permanent.

The season closes by tying up some loose ends. Richard wishes he knew his dad better, and Duffy and Reacher “break up.” It’s nice of the writers to give Duffy the “can’t tie me down” speech usually given the male heroes. As he says, “You stole the speech I normally say.” And Reacher gets a chopper. Everyone goes home, including Teresa, as Reacher drives his new motorcycle over the horizon, on to the next adventure.

Stray observations

• • Duffy’s last line is well-delivered even though it’s just a simple “Keep your head down, Reacher.” 
• • An even-better Duffy line? “If you’re thinking about doing anything, I will stab you in the ass right here.”
• • There’s also a wonderful exchange of I love yous between Duffy and Villanueva, who ended up playing a much bigger part this season than one might have expected after the premiere.
• • It’s lovely that this finale is just a hair under 50 minutes given the current trend for streaming programs to end seasons with feature-length episodes.
• • The final needle drop is a good one: “Shine” by Mondo Cozmo.
• • Who’s the season MVP? I mean, it’s always going to be Alan Ritchson, but in the supporting cast? My vote to Sonya Cassidy, who broke out of the two-dimensional trappings of a love interest role to give the show a different energy. Her commitment to saving Teresa really drove the plot. 
• • The South in season one, New York in season two, New England in season three. I don’t know the books well, but the West Coast feels logical for the fourth season, right? 
• • Thanks for reading this season! It was a slow but, ultimately, fun one.