While Reacher has always been a good show, I'm of the opinion the varying seasons have been of differing quality. The first season was an above average offering, perhaps due to the rose-tinted appeal of finally having a more authentic Reacher representation following Tom Cruise's past adaptation of author Lee Child's works. Seeing Alan Ritchson take on the responsibilities of the 'imposing giant man-mountain' felt considerably more fitting, especially since he seems to have understood the assignment and captured the subtleties of the character. Then Season 2 came around and seemed to focus more on action and less on detective drama, serving up a round of episodes with a more Mission: Impossible feel to them. It was fine television, but lacked a bit of the novelty of the first chapter. Then came Season 3, which again gave us a different take on the Reacher formula, serving as more of a crime-drama adventure than what came before it, and while it was fine, there was a growing sensation (at least within myself) that the wheels of this adaptation were steadily falling off and what was once unique was slowly becoming a bit predictable and immemorable.
Needless to say, I went into this latest season of Reacher with a bit of scepticism. I had no doubt that what was being served up would be 'good' at the very least, because there is a stable foundation this show is built upon, but the big question was whether it would be more of what we've seen recently or whether it would dare to be something more. It seems showrunner Nick Santora had ambition on his mind for this latest chapter.
What we have with Season 4 is a bit of a combination of Seasons 1 and 2. There is the detective and mystery element from the first batch of episodes, all as we follow Reacher and this new cast as they work to solve a peculiar case spiralling from a woman who commits suicide in front of Reacher on a subway carriage. Why did the woman commit such an act, what were her motivations, why was she distraught at the moment, why was she wearing a winter coat in the dead of summer? These are all questions we watch Ritchson's lead character critically think through to deduce applicable reasoning. As a viewer, this setup even gets your own cogs turning in an effort to discover the truth at hand, and oftentimes you feel as though you've got a handle on the situation before a new twist is thrown into the equation. For the most part, the first half of the season operates like this, prioritising mystery but still finding time to get the blood pumping with intense action where Reacher ploughs through enemies like a bull in a China shop.
While I won't get into spoiler territory, a big twist occurs around halfway through the season that turns the entire dynamic on its head. From here, the basis of the season also shifts away from this detective setup to be more akin to Season 2's all-out action, as we see Reacher cracking skulls, taking punishment himself, and just generally being an atypical action hero despite the world being out to get him. While I won't deny that it's entertaining, and there are some interesting set-pieces and choreographed fight sequences to keep you glued to the screen, I do think this season of the show lacks a bit of punch from a villain standpoint and this has its effect on the action moments.
There's something about Reacher and how this series likes to pit heavyweight against heavyweight to lead to explosive, almost titanic action. Considering what we saw in Season 3 with Oliver Richters' enormous giant Paulie, it would be hard to go above and beyond with a similar threat in Season 4. However, it seems the creatives decided to reset the paradigm by going almost the opposite way, seeing Reacher face an all-new kind of enemy, and for the most part, they just don't quite feel as imposing or frightening as what came before. When they operate in the shadows, there's an element of fear thanks to the shroud covering these forces, but once they are unmasked, you start to feel safer knowing Reacher is on the hunt.
So yes, Reacher's fourth season is a genuinely entertaining watch with plenty of twists, shocks, violence, and action. But at the same time, I do feel as though this show is still facing the same challenge it has been since it debuted, which is that it can't quite figure out how to top the way it kicked off. There's enough here to keep you thrilled and engaged, and I would argue Season 4 is the second-best season of Reacher we've had yet, but this latest batch of episodes isn't rewriting the script of what we have come to expect from Reacher leaving my prior fears in-tact a tad. Ritchson may be a strong dude, but can he continue, season-after-season, to shoulder the weight of this series? Only time will tell.
