Former military police officer-turned-vagabond vigilante, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), finally returns to television this week in the highly anticipated third season of the eponymous television series,Reacher, soit’s a good time for a refresher on Season 2. Remember, each season ofReacheris based on a novel from authorLee Child’sJack Reachersaga. Season 1 adapted the first book in the series,The Killing Floor,while Season 2 jumped ahead to Book 11,Bad Luck and Trouble. Season 3 adaptsPersuader, Child’s seventh Reacher novel, and will pick up at an undetermined time in the future as Reacher goes behind enemy lines, assisting the Drug Enforcement Agency in rescuing an informant who is running out of time. But what do you need to remember from Season 2 before all of this goes down?
Jack Reacher Reunites With His Old Army Unit To Solve a Friend’s Murder
In Season 2, which picks up over two years afterthe first season, Reacher is pulled from his vagabond lifestyle after receiving a distress signal from his former teammate, Frances Neagley (Maria Sten). Neagley reveals that Calvin Franz (Luke Bilyk), another former teammate of the Military Police’s 110th Special Investigations Unit, was murdered. Not trusting the New York Police Department to handle the investigation,Reacher and Neagley start their own investigation to solve Franz’s murder. Later, they reunite with two other members of their old unit, Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan) and David O’Donnell (Shawn Sipos). The investigation ultimately reveals that two other members of their old unit, Jorge Sanchez (Andres Collantes) and Manuel Orozco (Edsson Morales), were also murdered, and another former member, Tony Swan (Shannon Kook-Chun), is mysteriously missing.
The investigation leads them to the military defense contractor, New Age Technologies, as well as the revelation thattheir friends were murdered for getting too close to a conspiracyheaded by New Age’s head of security, Shane Langston (Robert Patrick). In a mystery that takes the group across New York City, Atlantic City, Boston, and Denver, Reacher and his reunited team uncover Langston’s nefarious plot. During the investigation, they receive assistance from Detective Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin), who has returned to Boston followingthe events in Margrave, Georgia during Season 1.
Langston and his cohorts conspired to steal New Age’s missile defense system, Little Wing, and sell it on the black market to foreign enemies of the United States. Langston utilizes the services of the international criminal and black market weapons broker, Azhari Mahmoud (Ferdinand Kingsley), to oversee the deal. After looking into Langston’s activities,Franz, Orozco, and Sanchez were murdered after nearly exposing his operation. Reacher also fears that his old friend Swan betrayed their ideals and took part in the conspiracy and cover-up murders.
Jack Reacher Wages War Against New Age Technologies in Season 2
Throughout the season, Reacher and his teammates conduct their investigation while dealing with thugs and mercenaries hired by Langston. The reunited 110th forms a begrudging partnership with NYPD Detective Guy Russo (Domenick Lombardozzi), who also wants to solve Franz’s murder. At first, Reacher doesn’t trust Detective Russo, but they align when Russo selflessly protects Franz’s widow and son at the slain soldier’s funeral after Langston sends gunmen there to execute the remaining members of the 110th. Later, Russo valiantly sacrifices his life to protect Jane Burns (Kate Moyer), the young daughter of a witness named Marlo Burns (Christina Cox), a New Age executive who sought to blow the whistle on Langston. Langston’s cohorts gun down Russo when Reacher and his team use Marlo to draw out Langston. In one ofthe season’s most emotional moments,Neagley overcomes her deep haphephobia and holds a dying Russo’s hand while he bleeds out.
This leads to Reacher’s final confrontation with Langston and the New Age conspirators at the company’s compound.Langston kidnaps and tortures Dixon and O’Donnell, forcing Reacher to give himself up to Langston. Langston reveals that Swan wasn’t corrupt; in fact, he murdered Swan for getting too close to his conspiracy, using Swan’s removed eyeball for security retina scans to posthumously frame him. Thankfully, Reacher and Neagley have formulated a plan to stage a siege on Langston’s compound using agents working for U.S. Senator Malcolm Lavoy (Noam Jenkins), a politician who wants to cover up the Little Wing mess.
Inan action-packed climax, Reacher chases down Langston aboard a chopper carrying the captured Dixon and O’Donnell. Together, they overcome their captors, andReacher tosses Langston out of the plane, a form of poetic justice considering that Langston did the same thing to Franz in the season premiere. The 110th unit later heads to Mahmoud’s rendezvous point, and they gun down the weapons broker for his role in the conspiracy. Senator Lavoy’s agents attempt to betray Reacher to complete the cover-up, butReacher has already anticipated Lavoy’s treachery. He exposes the agents and Lavoy to the federal government and has them arrested.
Reacher and His Teammates Go Their Separate Ways in Season 2
With Senator Lavoy exposed and Langston and his conspirators dead, justice is served for the slain members of the 110th.Reacher takes the money Mahmoud planned to give Langston for the Little Wing deal and divides itamong the survivors, Langston’s victims, the family members of their dead teammates, and the relatives of the late Guy Russo. Not one to seek wealth, Reacher keeps only a pittance to buy a one-year bus pass to travel across the country. Reacher and Dixon had shareda longstanding attractionsince their days in the Army, yet they never acted upon it while working together. They begin a short-lived romance earlier in the season and sleep together once more before parting ways, with Dixon planning on starting her own investigation company using her newly acquired fortune.
Season 2 ends with Reacher and Neagleysaying their farewells in New York City, where the mission began. Neagley notes that they need to keep in touch more often, not just when thrust into life-or-death situations, noting that the 110th are more than just friends. As Reacher departs on the bus out of New York, an elderly man asks Reacher about his visit to the city. Reacher replies that he was “visiting family,“acknowledging how he really feels about his friends and teammates.
ReacherSeason 3 premieres February 20 on Prime Video, with the first three episodes available at launch. New episodes will be available weekly through March 27.The first two seasons ofReacherare streaming now on Prime Video.
