It’s not like anyone really thought the big man would be bested by the likes of Shane Langston. Reacher canon holds that he always vanquishes the villain – the only variables are what combination of deductive reasoning, righteous ass-kicking, and available logistic support he’ll employ to get that done. As the series fed us bits and pieces of Langston’s evil plan, and showed its work with each violent act from weapons broker A.M marking his progress across the game board, Reacher Season 2 was teasing the moment when all of its remaining players would gather for the final set piece. The finale really kicked into gear with the end of Episode 7 (“The Man Goes Through”), when Reacher brandished his tried-and-true fatalism. People live and then they die, and as long as that process remains linear, there’s no reason to get bent out of shape over it. As usual, he included himself in that metric, even if his streak of wins remains unbroken. Walking up to that gated New Age facility alone and unarmed, Reacher knew the game would end with him rescuing Dixon and O’Donnell, tossing Langston from a chopper, and stopping A.M.’s progress. Details matter, and this time around, it was just a question of how they’d fall into place.
Speaking of fatalism. “Got ‘em right where we want ‘em, boss,” O’Donnell says from where he’s restrained and wincing from the bullet Langston just put in his leg. Reacher’s reunion with his crew of special investigators has been a huge season two positive, because it expanded the protagonist’s somewhat limited palette. (Wandering Loner Giant suddenly has increased access to cashflow and backup he can trust.) But basically it’s hilarious and cool that O’Donnell and Dixon are always ready to rock ‘n’ roll at the drop of a hat, in addition to Neagley, who we already knew was hardwired into Reacher’s decision making binary. Considering Neagley’s interest in gaming, Reacher was like “I am a first-person shooter.” The defining bit in season two is that they all are. And laying helpless on a gurney is just a temporary setback.
After Reacher – while still cuffed, mind you – destroyed the kneecaps and limbs of like five more of his armed thugs, Langston needed his own show of force. He busts out a glass jar with the biometrically relevant body parts of Tony Swan, but Langston’s pontificating about sixty-five-million-dollar paydays and kicking it on a Caribbean beach is cut short when Neagely creates a distraction at the front gate. Senator Lavoy’s security team does their part, too, parachuting onto the roof, cutting the power, and breaching the facility. And as a panicky Langston and a remaining henchman trundle Dixon and O’Donnell to the waiting helicopter, Reacher frees his fists with a secreted paper fastener and prepares for the most slow-ass yet remarkable sprint of his life.
Was his plan always to run awkwardly onto the tarmac and leap to grab the chopper’s landing gear? Even Neagley was like, “I don’t know, boss.” But it’s just like this season of Reacher to lean fully into pulp storytelling, and before you can say a diet of black coffee and diner breakfasts gives you wings, the big fella’s climbing into the cabin through the chopper’s open bay doors. In a sublime few seconds of “Fuck it, we ball” television action, Reacher is stabbed through his forearm while fighting Langston and his thug, only to grab Dixon’s gurney with his bleeding arm as it’s thrown free of the aircraft. Dixon then unstraps herself, scales the gurney Reacher’s holding in midair, yanks the blade out of his forearm, and plunges it into the goon’s neck as he continues to punch Reacher. She nonchalantly slices O’Donnell’s bonds, walks past an incredulous Langston, and tells the pilot to keep the chopper steady, “or we’ll figure out if I can land this thing.” Remember what Reacher said he was gonna do to Langston once he found him? It’s all happening. Langston’s bravado is gone, and he’s blubbering about cutting the ex-110’ers in on the A.M. cash as he dangles from Reacher’s fist at 3,000 feet. “You assume that’s the information I need, Langston. But in an investigation, assumptions kill.” You got tossed, dirtbag! And O’Donnell has to compliment the boss man on this effective combination of final line and finishing move.
But what about A.M.? The team takes Langston’s chopper to the meet at an upstate New York farmhouse, where a New Age engineer will apply microchips to missiles and make Little Wing operable. The weapons broker arrives, reads the room, and ever the picture of smarm, goes into a prepared speech about how it’s just business as Reacher, Neagley, Dixon, and O’Donnell raise their weapons. “You don’t care how many people die as long as you get your finder’s fee,” Reacher tells A.M., and they deliver said fee in the form of many, many bullets. To this point, Reacher’s fatalistic and improbable plan has worked out perfectly. Which is why his deduction that Lavoy would give his security team a secret kill order fits right into the narrative. “Fire in the hole!”
As Neagley test fires Little Wing, the senator’s ex-special forces shooters turn on Reacher and his group, only to have Agent Karim of the Department of Homeland Security arrive with a tactical team. If there was never any question that he would shut down Langston, Reacher staying two moves ahead of a slimy politician like Lavoy was a foregone conclusion.
Now in possession of 65 mil’s worth of bearer bonds, the special investigators split the money between all of the folks left behind by the hurt that it caused. Franz’s family. Sanchez’s girlfriend in Atlantic City. A sizable donation to Tony Swan’s favorite dog rescue. There’s money to set up Dixon in a private forensic accounting practice. To ensure lifetime care for Neagley’s elderly father. For O’Donnell’s kids’ college funds to get a power up. And for Reacher? Maybe a new toothbrush. After a few nights of R&R with Dixon, dude’s got the wandering bug again. It’s classic Reacher – once the result is achieved, he’s back on the road. Alone. Indefinite. Inevitable. But this time, Neagley stops him at the bus terminal. And their short conversation speaks to the evolution of Reacher’s second season while suggesting the shape of adventures to come. Cue the crescendo of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.”
“I’m not as comfortable with this arrangement as I thought I was. Years without seeing each other, never speaking, getting together only when we’re being shot at? We need to get better at staying in touch. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Master Sergeant.”
“And one more thing. You refer to the special investigators as your team, your soldiers, even your friends. But you know we’re more than that, right?”
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.
