Reacher season 3

Amazon struck gold in 2022 with highly successful adaptation of the Jack Reacher books with the appropriately named Reacher, and the third season has been no exception as the show ranked highly amongst the most popular shows on the streaming platform. However, I wasn't all that satisfied with season two and if that dip in quality continued, how many more seasons could this show run on before the goodwill runs dry? Hopefully the showrunners had a few ideas up their sleeves to put the show back on track. 

Once again the story sees Reacher moving around America but quickly finds trouble in a small town in Maine when a face from the past appears and is quickly embroiled in preventing the kidnapping of a son to a powerful businessman. He gradually earns the trust of the businessman but not his henchmen as he quickly becomes caught in the centre of something much bigger.

For me, season one succeeded on its simple premise and Reacher being contained to a small town whilst having to think on his feet, not knowing who to trust. It was a great adaptation of the book and thrilling to watch it all unfold. Season two on the other hand lost the lone wolf suspense as Reacher becomes part of a team, the action veered into comic book territory and lost that sense of realism. Thankfully the showrunners chose Persuader as the next book to adapt and we get Reacher at his best; all alone and having to improvise with every twist and turn. 

Much like the seasons prior, this is expertly shot, directed and acted across all eight episodes. There are some weak spots, such as plotline when the FBI are holding a suspect in a cabin which drags on a little too long, but these are only minor and it's great to see the show back on track providing some easy to watch entertainment. Also, unlike season two, the villains here are great and carry with them a lot more menace than we've seen up until this point which all added to my engagement to see where the story would end. 

The Reacher series isn't high art by any means and the team behind this know they are working to entertain, which they succeed at here very nicely. There is a solid momentum behind each episode which kept me coming back without hesitation making season three a very easy one to recommend, and I look forward to where we'll see Reacher go next.