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Reacher (TV series)

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Reacher
Genre
Based onJack Reacher Novel Series
by Lee Child
Developed byNick Santora
Starring
ComposerTony Morales
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8
Production
Executive producers
CinematographyRonald Plante
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time42–54 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkAmazon Prime Video
ReleaseFebruary 4, 2022 (2022-02-04) –
present (present)

Reacher is an American crime thriller streaming television series developed by Nick Santora for Amazon Prime Video. Based on the Jack Reacher book series by Lee Child, it stars Alan Ritchson as the title character, a drifter and former military policeman who battles dangerous criminals throughout his travels.

The first season, based on Killing Floor, Child's 1997 debut novel, was released on February 4, 2022. A second season has been ordered.

Premise

Jack Reacher, a former U.S. Army military policeman, visits the fictional rural town of Margrave, Georgia, and gets arrested for murder. After he is freed, he teams up with Oscar Finlay and Roscoe Conklin to investigate a huge conspiracy with corrupt police officers, politicians and businessmen.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher, a decorated former major in the U.S. Army military police and drifter. Maxwell Jenkins plays the young Reacher.[1][2]
  • Malcolm Goodwin as Oscar Finlay, a police captain and Margrave's chief detective, formerly a detective in Boston[3]
  • Willa Fitzgerald as Roscoe Conklin, a police officer in Margrave who joins Reacher and Finlay in their investigation[3]
  • Chris Webster as KJ, Kliner Sr.'s only son[3]
  • Bruce McGill as Grover Teale, Margrave's corrupt mayor and interim police chief[4]
  • Maria Sten as Frances Neagley, a private detective and former army investigator who was a member of Reacher's military police squad[4]

Recurring

  • Willie C. Carpenter as Mosley, an elderly barber and longtime resident of Margrave[2]
  • Harvey Guillén as Jasper, Margrave's medical examiner[2]
  • Gavin White and Christopher Russell as Joe Reacher, a Secret Service agent and Reacher's older brother. White plays the young Joe and Russell portrays the character as an adult.[5]
  • Leslie Fray as Josephine Reacher, Reacher's mother
  • Matthew Marsden as Stan Reacher, Reacher's father
  • Hugh Thompson as Baker, a corrupt Margrave officer[4]
  • Jonathan Koensgen as Stevenson, a Margrave officer and Paul Hubble's cousin
  • AJ Simmons as Dawson, Kliner's nephew and enforcer
  • Marc Bendavid as Paul Hubble, a banker strong-armed into assisting a counterfeiting ring[2]
  • Patrick Garrow as Spivey, a corrupt corrections officer
  • Kristin Kreuk as Charlene "Charlie" Hubble, Paul's wife[2]
  • Currie Graham as Kliner Sr., the owner of Kliner Industries[2]
  • Martin Roach as Picard, an FBI agent and old friend of Finlay's[5]

Guest

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Welcome to Margrave"Thomas VincentNick SantoraFebruary 4, 2022 (2022-02-04)
At midnight, a man later identified as Pete Jobling is shot dead just outside Margrave, Georgia. The following morning, Jack Reacher arrives on a Greyhound bus and walks into town, where he is arrested at a diner for the murder. He is sent to be held in the local jail with Paul Hubble, a banker who falsely confessed to the murder. Spivey, a crooked guard, puts them in with the general population, where Reacher brutally foils an attempt on their lives. Hubble explains he confessed to cover for a criminal organization that would have otherwise killed him and his family. After being released, Reacher is verbally threatened in town by the son of local businessman Kliner. When he later returns to the police station, he is informed about a second killing. At the morgue, a discussion about both the recent murder and another one earlier in the week leads him to identify the first victim as his older brother, Joe.
2"First Dance"Sam HillScott SullivanFebruary 4, 2022 (2022-02-04)
Reacher teams up with Finlay, the local police captain, and a cop named Roscoe to investigate his brother's murder and the recent disappearance of Hubble following his release from custody. Finlay's boss, Ed Morrison, is gruesomely murdered at his home; Reacher deduces that he was killed for not taking care of Hubble. The mayor, Grover Teale, himself dirty, takes over as police chief and orders Finlay to conduct a sham investigation into Morrison's death. Finlay's friend, FBI agent Picard, agrees to take Hubble's wife and children into unofficial protective custody. Reacher sets a meeting with Spivey but gets ambushed by two South American ex-soldiers, allowing Spivey to escape. Roscoe then takes him to a bar, where Reacher begins to open up about his past. While driving home, they learn that the road is washed out and are forced to spend the night sleeping in the same motel room.
3"Spoonful"Stephen SurjikAadrita MukerjiFebruary 4, 2022 (2022-02-04)
Roscoe returns home to find evidence of a break-in; at Reacher's urging, she gives him a gun. The group contacts Joe's colleague, Molly Beth, at the Secret Service, learning that Joe was in Margrave on a confidential assignment to investigate reports of large-scale counterfeiting. Reacher intimidates one of Kliner's lawyers for information on Jobling while Finlay checks Spivey's house for clues - and gets beaten by police after they mistake him for a burglar. The two men then visit Kliner in person. Kliner claims he knows nothing and makes threats to drop the investigation. Reacher convinces Roscoe and Finlay to move out of their homes temporarily. While buying supplies, Roscoe is approached by Kliner's son KJ, who warns her that Reacher is a murderer. Reacher himself is again ambushed by the ex-soldiers, but this time manages to kill them. He then finds Spivey's corpse in their car trunk.
4"In a Tree"Christine MooreCait DuffyFebruary 4, 2022 (2022-02-04)
After meeting with Finlay, Reacher takes Roscoe to help him dispose of the bodies. He also reveals the truth behind KJ's warning: while serving in Iraq, Reacher killed three civilian men who were sexually assaulting a group of young boys. After the evidence is dumped at an Atlanta airport, Reacher pays for a hotel room and he and Roscoe wind up having sex that evening. The next day, they visit the home of a former Kliner employee and find empty air conditioner boxes that Reacher suspects were used to move the counterfeit cash. Picard gives them a lead on the motel Joe stayed at before he was killed; Reacher finds a hidden note before he and Roscoe are jumped by more mercenaries. Roscoe saves Reacher's life, and Reacher admits that he put himself in danger to protect her. Molly Beth arrives in Atlanta with Joe's files on the case, but someone kills her and steals the files seconds before Reacher finds her.
5"No Apologies"Norberto BarbaScott SullivanFebruary 4, 2022 (2022-02-04)
Feeling guilty for Molly Beth's murder, Reacher takes out his frustration by attacking KJ after he vandalizes Roscoe's truck. Kliner declines to press charges. Roscoe learns that Teale has fired her for "subpar" police work. Desperate for new leads, Reacher finds a key and trunk left by Roscoe's deceased former boss Gray, containing research that confirms Reacher's suspicions that Margrave is the heart of Kliner's counterfeiting operation, but with no useable evidence. Traveling to Memphis, Reacher meets with his old comrade, private investigator Frances Neagley, to find a hitman who may have been Joe's murderer. After Roscoe punches Teale upon learning that he murdered Gray, Finlay gets her out of town by having her replace Picard as the Hubble family's bodyguard. Reacher and Neagley survive an attempt on their lives by a desperate Memphis cop whose family was threatened. Finlay breaks into Kliner's office only to find that Kliner has just been killed.
6"Papier"Omar MadhaAadrita MukerjiFebruary 4, 2022 (2022-02-04)
Finlay and Reacher follow one of Kliner's trucks. Finlay tells Reacher the real reason he came to Margrave was not due to divorce, but because his wife Sharon died after a long illness. After finding the truck empty, Reacher goes to New York City to meet with one of Joe's contacts, Professor Kate Castillo, having found that another contact had been murdered under the guise of being mugged. He determines that Kliner had been shipping counterfeit money to a client in Venezuela, using "super bills" made from the specialized paper used in printing dollars. Assassins find Roscoe and Hubble's family, but Roscoe dispatches both men in the woods. While waiting for Picard, Hubble's wife Charlie shares the details of their involvement with Kliner, explaining that Paul was tricked into laundering money and was then forced to watch a man be crucified to ensure his loyalty. Reacher arranges for Castillo to get police protection and uses his necktie to strangle an assassin sent to kill her.
7"Reacher Said Nothing"Lin OedingScott SullivanFebruary 4, 2022 (2022-02-04)
Officer Stevenson and his pregnant wife are murdered by a hit squad seeking information about the Hubble family. Teale fires Finlay on a pretext the next morning. Reacher pretends to confide in the last Margrave officer, Baker (who Reacher believes is corrupt), sharing a fake plan to search Hubble's house. Finlay goes in person to inform Stevenson's parents of his death. The hit squad goes to Hubble's house, planning to kill Reacher, but he traps and kills them all, including Kliner's nephew Dawson. Based on the information he's gathered, he realizes Kliner was bleaching $1 bills to get the paper needed to print his money. Reacher checks in with Roscoe, who shares his discovery with Picard. Reacher helps Finlay evade mercenaries who track him to his motel due to his visit to the Stevensons'. Reacher and Finlay return to Jobling's house, which has been burned to the ground. They search Jobling's parents' house and find boxes of counterfeit bills. They arrange a meet with Picard, but when they arrive, Picard is waiting with KJ and Teale.
8"Pie"MJ BassettNick SantoraFebruary 4, 2022 (2022-02-04)
Revealing himself to be the one behind all the murders, KJ shows Reacher a live stream of a captive Roscoe, and sends him and Picard to find Hubble. Reacher tricks Picard into stopping to fix a tire and shoots him; Picard is able to escape. Reacher immediately finds Hubble, who reveals he was working with Joe and Jobling (who feared that he would be murdered for stealing counterfeit bills) to stop Kliner's operation. Finlay is being tortured at the precinct; Reacher rams and kills Baker, and frees Finlay. Neagley arrives, and Reacher gathers weapons and torches Kliner's factory with gasoline. Picard attacks Finlay, who manages to kill him with a hydraulic press. Roscoe subdues and handcuffs Teale before killing him. As the warehouse burns, Reacher splashes KJ with flammable chemicals and kicks him into the fire. A flashback reveals how Reacher's mother died after a long illness and gave Reacher his French grandfather's Croix de Guerre. Roscoe gives Reacher her number and says to call her if he wants to and tells him she plans to rebuild Margrave and Reacher tells her she should run for mayor, while Finlay decides to move back to Boston and start over. After burying the medal where Joe died, Reacher quietly walks out of Margrave and sticks out his thumb for a ride.

Production

Development

Regimental Coat of Arms of the United States Army Military Police Corps

On July 15, 2019, a TV series adaptation of Lee Child's Jack Reacher series was announced by Amazon. Nick Santora, who created Scorpion, was set to write, showrun, and produce the series through Paramount Television and Skydance Media.[7] On January 14, 2020, the TV series was greenlit, with Don Granger, Scott Sullivan, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Marcy Ross, and Christopher McQuarrie as executive producers with Child. The first season was announced as an adaptation of Child's novel Killing Floor.[8] In July 2021, it was announced M. J. Bassett had joined the series as a director.[9] Adapting the books to screen the writers decided they would need to make Reacher verbalize his thoughts more often, but that they would keep his dialog short and direct and have him only speak longer to people he respects. They also decided to introduce Neagley to the series far earlier than in the books.[10]

Casting

On September 4, 2020, Alan Ritchson was cast in the titular role.[1] On March 22, 2021, Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald, and Chris Webster were cast as series regulars.[3] On May 19, 2021, Bruce McGill, Maria Sten, and Hugh Thompson joined the main cast.[4] On June 11, 2021, Kristin Kreuk, Marc Bendavid, Willie C. Carpenter, Currie Graham, Harvey Guillén, and Maxwell Jenkins were announced to have joined the cast in undisclosed capacities.[2]

Filming

A temporary townscape was built in North Pickering, Ontario to support filming of the show. The entire fictional city of Margrave was built from the ground up in a leased farm field in Ontario. Other areas of filming include Toronto, Port Perry and Pickering.[11] Principal shooting of season 1 took place between April 15 and July 30, 2021, in Toronto.[12] During filming, Ritchson broke a bone in his shoulder which required surgery and tore an oblique muscle during a fight scene.[13]

Release

The series was released on February 4, 2022.[14] On February 7, 2022, Amazon Prime Video renewed the series for a second season.[15]

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7.30/10, based on 63 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Reacher captures the trademark bulk of its titular hero while trading away some of his definition, but fans of the novels will find plenty to love about this faithful adaptation."[16] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17]

Lucy Mangan of The Guardian said, "This rollicking adaptation of Lee Child's man-mountain ex-military sleuth is hugely fun, packed with punchups and far better than Cruise's movie efforts."[18] Michael Hogan of The Telegraph wrote, "Reacher is huge, pulpy fun and far classier than you might expect."[19]

Joshua Alston of Variety wrote a nuanced critique that, although positive about the casting of Ritchson, criticizes the fundamentals of the character as being unsuitable to carry this kind of show. He opined that "the longer it runs, the more obvious its protagonist-shaped void becomes".[20]

Dan Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter called it "frustratingly over-faithful to the source material", saying, "I wouldn't mind another season, but I'd probably still rather read another book."[21]

Ratings

Reacher was the most streamed television series for the week of February 7–13, 2022, according to the Nielsen streaming rankings -- the first Amazon production to be such.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (September 4, 2020). "'Jack Reacher': Alan Ritchson Cast As Title Character In Amazon TV Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Petski, Denise (June 11, 2021). "'Reacher': Kristin Kreuk, Marc Bendavid, Willie C. Carpenter Among 6 Cast In Amazon Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Andreeva, Nellie (March 22, 2021). "'Jack Reacher': Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald & Chris Webster Join Alan Ritchson In Amazon Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Petski, Denise (May 19, 2021). "'Reacher': Bruce McGill, Maria Sten, Hugh Thompson Join Alan Ritchson In Amazon Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Cameron, Charles (February 4, 2022). "Reacher Cast, Character & Book Comparison Guide". Screenrant. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  6. ^ Shunpike, Stan (February 18, 2022). "A Guide To The Cast Of "Reacher" And Their Previous Work". BuzzFeed. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  7. ^ Thorne, Will (July 15, 2019). "Amazon to Develop 'Jack Reacher' Series". Variety. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  8. ^ Otterson, Joe (January 14, 2020). "'Jack Reacher' Series Gets Greenlight at Amazon". Variety. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  9. ^ Marc, Christopher (July 14, 2021). "EXCLUSIVE: 'Rogue' Director M.J. Bassett Joins Amazon's 'Jack Reacher' Series Reboot". The Ronin. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  10. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (February 12, 2022). "Reacher EP Says 'Wildfire' Response Fueled Quick Renewal, Shares Secrets to Prime Video Hit's Success". TVLine.
  11. ^ Calis, Kristen (May 10, 2021). "What's Going On Here: More filming of 'Jack Reacher' planned for north Pickering". Pickering News Advertiser. DurhamRegion.com.
  12. ^ Miller, Mira. "This is what's filming in Toronto this winter". blogto.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  13. ^ Grantham-Philips, Wyatte (February 3, 2022). "'Reacher' Star Alan Ritchson Says He Needed Surgery After On-Set Injury". Variety.
  14. ^ Lawrence, Derek (December 2, 2021). "Alan Ritchson sizes up Jack Reacher in first look at Amazon series". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  15. ^ White, Peter (February 7, 2022). "'Reacher' Renewed For Season 2 At Amazon". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  16. ^ "Reacher: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  17. ^ "Reacher: Season 1". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  18. ^ "Reacher review – the house-sized action hero Tom Cruise will never be". The Guardian. February 4, 2022.
  19. ^ Hogan, Michael (February 4, 2022). "Reacher, review: Lee Child fans can rejoice – Alan Ritchson rights the wrongs of Tom Cruise". The Daily Telegraph.
  20. ^ Alston, Joshua (February 3, 2022). "'Reacher' Is a Brutal Thriller With a Void at its Center: TV Review". Variety.
  21. ^ Fienberg, Daniel (February 1, 2022). "Amazon's 'Reacher': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  22. ^ Maas, Jennifer (March 11, 2022). "Reacher Becomes First Amazon TV Series to Top Nielsen SVOD Rankings". Variety.
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