Reacher: Season 2 – A Man Goes Through

Reacher is back in action and this time he has backup. This season includes the 110^th Special Investigation Unit of the Military Police, his old unit. It has Reacher and the team solving the murder of one of their own. I possibly enjoyed the backstory more than the main plot itself. The main antagonists are thinly sketched but the actors are good and the action is really good….. when you can make it out.

Reacher was created for television by Nick Santora and Season 2 is based on Lee Child’s 11^th Jack Reacher novel, Bad Luck & Trouble.

Season 2 is now on Amazon Prime.

Story – In An Investigation, Assumptions Kill

Having read this novel and a bunch of others in the series, I would not have chosen this story for a second season. Other stories include certain characters which would have resulted in this story properly resonating with audiences once they knew everyone further down the line. However, you don’t always have that kind of luck when it comes to tv shows, just look at Netflix. 

So, Bad Luck & Trouble naturally starts with a dead body. Tossed out of a helicopter. Into the middle of nowhere. In the dead of night.

Jack Reacher is soon contacted by Frances Neagley (who we met in Season 1) who found out that it is none other than Calvin Franz, a member of the 110^th Special Investigations Unit of the Military Police. Soon half the team is missing and contacting the rest isn’t as easy as picking up the phone.

Things escalate when some of them band together to find hitmen & crooked cops on their tail – while one of the team may be working with an aerospace company who has defence contracts worth a lot of money. And when money’s involved, you bet people want to make it and keep it. The team want to solve their friends murder and take them down, while getting a hand from a dogged detective who is as much bite as well as bark.

I think the plot itself is enjoyable but it’s a little simple in comparison to other stories. I miss the “out of town/drifter” vibe season 1 had, but the main reason for this is that the story is a personal one, it’s about the characters of the 110th.

The 110th doing what they do best.

You Do Not Mess With The Special Investigators

The story is split into past and present; throughout there are scenes from when Major Jack Reacher was still in the army, assembling a ragtag team of officers with various disciplines. Those are: Frances Neagley, David O’Donnell, Karla Dixon, Jorge Sanchez, Manuel Orosco, Stanley Lowrey, Tony Swan & Calvin Franz. I really enjoyed seeing the team being brought together, working together. Seeing who liked who. Watching them put a case together and then finding out why the unit was disbanded. It was interesting and had a nostalgic feel to it.

Seeing most of these characters in the present does cut into the focus of Jack Reacher but does provide us with plenty of banter and quotes, repetitive dialogue that would make Aaron Sorkin proud. I was tempted to write them down. The four of them do work well as a team and a certain romance is nicely played out. They also poke fun at Jack for his lifestyle choices, which I appreciated as I can understand if people found the character to be a bit shallow in his development. He is who he is. I also liked seeing the other team members, their past & present demeanours. 

The show does well showing how the group came to be.

Characters & Performances – Solid All Round

Alan Ritchson still nails it as Jack Reacher. His character is still as smart as he is tough and is charismatic. I did think the character development is stilted due to this story but that’s not the actors’ fault. Maria Sten is back as Frances Neagley and is pretty good, the rapport with Reacher is good; “I ever tell you you’re smart, Neagley?” “Not nearly enough.” I enjoyed the backstory of the 110^th. The two other main characters were Shaun Sipos as David O’Donnell and Serinda Swan as Karla Dixon; Shaun was interesting, quite witty. Serinda I’ll admit was sexy and a good foil for Reacher.

Domineck Lombardozzi as the police detective Guitanno Russo was more than a match for the main leads and I liked all his scenes. Al Sapienza was his boss and an old pro in his role, you’ve seen him do it many a time.

Ferdinand Kingsley was A.M., the weapons’ broker and he was fine. He was appropriately sleazy and cool, however his character was just there for the plot. He had no depth. The same unfortunately could be said for Robert Patrick’s character Shane Langston. I thought Robert himself was solid, he’s a good actor but he doesn’t really have the screentime until nearer the end to establish what his character is really like. He’s mostly the “guy on the phone” wanting updates.

It was good to see Robert Patrick but this what his character does most of the time.

Cinematography & Sound – Part Stylish, Part Dark

Right so there’s almost a day/night cycle to this one. The investigation and most of the episode is daytime and it’s good. They go into hotels, motels, shops, buildings. Actual camerawork on the action is good with steady cam and handheld work. There’s a few car chases and they work out well. The fights are quick and punchy. My problem is that almost all the action is based at night-time so it’s very dark, with very little artificial light available. So it’s hard to make everything out. I enjoyed it but felt a little disappointed there wasn’t variation in time zones or lighting specifically.

They still used a decent amount of older music that Jack Reacher would like – there’s less blues this time around though. One’s like “Showdown” by ELO suited the tone of the scene, where Reacher went to rob a drug dealer. The shows’ music was solid with a punchy beat to it. I’m not an expert, but effects sounded good – punches, car scrapes etc.

I enjoyed the action, however almost all the scenarios were set at night-time.

Editing & Pacing – Quick, Maybe Too Quick At Times

I liked the pace of each episode. There was enough of a combination between story and action. Plot points were doled out quick, “we need to go here, do this.” Scene scenarios overall weren’t long, episodes themselves were about 45 minutes long.

Action itself was good but I would have preferred slower editing to allow people to appreciate it more. Faster doesn’t mean it’s better. I could follow it but part of me misses different styles, like camera panning.