‘Reacher’ Season 4 Review: The First Cut Is the Deepest

Everyone’s favorite gigantic force of nature, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), is back with Season 4 of his titular series on Prime Video. For those unfamiliar, Reacher is based on the best-selling Jack Reacher novels written by Lee Child. As always, each season brings a new cast of supporting characters and a new foe, but this is an adversary Reacher isn’t used to facing — one that’s one step ahead of him.

What is ‘Reacher’ Season 4 About?

Reacher Season 4 is based on the 13th book in the illustrious novel series, Gone Tomorrow, a prediction I made well over a year ago of what book this season would adapt. Instead of New York City like the book, this season takes place in Philadelphia, where a late-night cheesesteak and subway trip for Reacher goes incredibly wrong. When he sees a troubled woman in the subway expressing actions common of a suicide bomber, Reacher tries to de-escalate the situation. It wasn’t a bomb she was hiding, it was a gun. The gun wasn’t to harm anyone else, it was meant to take her own life, which she succeeds in doing.

You would think a suicide in the middle of the night wouldn’t cause even a blip in the radar of crime in a city like Philadelphia, but this case has garnered attention from the Federal government, CIA, and even mercenaries all with Reacher in their sights just because he was there when the incident happened. Like usual, a crew organically forms to get the bottom of why this is all happening. Small town police officer, Jacob Merrick (Christopher Marquette), who happens to be the brother of the subway victim quickly joins the fight alongside NYPD Detective Tamara Green (Sydelle Noel) who identifies that the subway victim was a Pentagon staffer, the plot continues to thicken.

That’s not all, as a few journalists are on the hunt to get to the bottom of this politically driven narrative. Russell Plum (Kevin Weisman) is a freelance writer trying to link a CIA black site to international terrorists, and Lila Hoth (Agnez Mo) is looking to expose potential Presidential candidate John Sampson (Marc Blucas) alongside her mother, Amisha (Anggun). Reacher and his crew are forced on the run as they flee the firepower of not only the government, but a slew of knife-wielding murderers leaving behind a massive body count in their wake, who are hot on their trail as well.

Political Intrigue Injects New Life Into the Series

Not to say there’s anything inherently wrong with Reacher, but the series has certainly fallen into a few tropes it couldn’t seem to escape in its first three seasons. Reacher’s nomadic lifestyle and almost anthology type format for the show always seems to bring in a new love interest. A love interest that is always helping solve the central case that season has brought to the forefront. While Season 4 seems to be repeating the same mistake, the story inspired by Gone Tomorrow proves that you can’t trust anyone this go around, and that is a good thing for fans.

Reacher Season 4 is a full-on political thriller, which is a fresh new dynamic for the series. This genre shift impressively fits right in with how the series is known for not taking itself too seriously, which is something that could have gone horribly wrong, but this season pulls it off effortlessly. That is due to how much Ritchson carries the tone so well in his portrayal of Reacher. There is a paranoia laced throughout this season, hiding the villain in plain sight. The villain mystery isn’t a season-long question either; it’s revealed with plenty of time left to not only wrap up the story nicely, but really show Jack Reacher a step behind the 8-ball for once.

Reacher’s endless need to help others may very well have finally caught up to him. For once, he truly sees not only narrative consequences for certain actions, but Season 4 of Reacher may be the first time the audience will see the big guy licking his wounds. Not only that, his new ragtag crew shows true alarm for how Reacher handles his missions. Reacher has never been deadlier, but how long can he keep getting away with his kill-first, ask-question-later approach?

‘Reacher’ Season 4 is A Massive Upgrade

Each season of Reacher truly feels like a new chapter in his story, but Season 4 has finally revealed a crack in his armor. This isn’t just physical for Reacher; it’s mental as well. He always comes off as a steel trap mentally, always cool and calculated, but for once he met his match in that department. No matter how big and smart Reacher is, he’s still human, and this entry in the franchise was the first time that fully exemplified that. For a series that seemed to be stuck in the “hell yeah, this guy kicks ass,” phase, Season 4 brings forth consequences that added much-needed nuance to the character.

The big thing Reacher always seems to fall short in is emotion. Now, this seems to be very intentional to line up with how the titular character navigates his own life, but it would be great to explore this side more. The only real flaw with this season is that the layers of the political mystery seem to topple on top of each other. But once you get to the bottom of things, the payoff is worth the sometimes confusing journey.

Reacher Season 4 is the best season of the series yet; it’s hard-hitting, intellectual and will keep fans on their toes. Not only does the political thriller genre look great on the character, but Reacher unleashes some of the most brutal moments of the entire series this season. As Reacher’s character has fleshed out throughout this entry, his violence becomes more unhinged as well. Now, that’s what I call a win-win.

Reacher Season 4 debuts with three episodes on August 12 on Prime Video. Follow the Agents of Fandom socials for the latest entertainment news and reviews.