Reacher finale spoilers follow.
It's not much of a reach stretch to guess that you've already watched the whole of Reacher season one, and you're now here looking for answers. Or you lacked the kind of stamina that Jack has and caved on the hunt for spoilers. Either way, just know that there are plenty of finale reveals coming your way from here on out... but you knew that already, right?
Reacher's first season on Amazon Prime Video begins in the same way that the book it's based on does, namely, with Jack arriving in the sleepy town of Margrave, Georgia. And like Lee Child's Killing Floor, Reacher's there because he remembers his brother once mentioned a blues musician named Blind Blake had died in this town.
But upon his arrival, Reacher is arrested for a murder he didn't commit, and it soon turns out that the victim was none other than – *dramatic gasp* – his brother, Joe.
It's not long however before Jack is released from prison, and this is where his quest for Joe's real killer truly begins. Across eight episodes, Reacher works alongside Roscoe Conklin, a police officer he takes a liking to, and Oscar Finley, Margrave's Chief Detective. Together, this trio eventually uncover a wider conspiracy that threatens to consume Margrave completely.
It turns out that the Mayor, alongside most of the police force, is embroiled in a number of financial crimes, not to mention a whole bunch of murders. By the start of season one's eighth and final episode, their plan is to frame Reacher and Finley for everything they did themselves, and then cover up their deaths by claiming that the pair turned on each other.
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Reacher is led away to help these criminals hunt for a key witness that the Mayor wants taken care of. But Jack is one step ahead of course, so he ends up killing the crooked cop and then crashes a car directly into the police station, thereby killing another crooked cop by cutting him in half.
This all leads up to one final confrontation where Reacher and co rescue their captive friends before setting fire to all of that sweet, sweet illegal cash. And you know they mean business here, because Finley even takes off his tweed.
Guillotined henchmen, Michael Bay explosions and one Mayor with a bullet in his head later, the day is saved! But before we can celebrate too much, Reacher takes us back in time to a sombre moment from Jack's past.
After being told not to cry, a younger Reacher enters the room where his mother lies on her deathbed. Together, they and Jack's brother, Joe, share their goodbyes. "I will do the right thing," Reacher tells his Mom, and that instinct clearly propels him in the present day too.
Before they leave, Jack and Joe receive their grandfather's war medal for bravery in the face of danger. "It takes bravery to do what's right," says Mom, and that was the last Reacher ever saw of her.
Cut to the present day and Reacher is saying a few more goodbyes in Margrave too. First up is Roscoe. "If there was anyone who could make me stay close to the flame, it would be you," Jack tells her, but unfortunately, not even she's enough to keep him in town. It probably doesn't help that the Feds are snooping around him too.
That doesn't mean Roscoe is definitely out of the picture for good though. Before Jack leaves, she gives him her number on a Clark chocolate wrapper, which means she could feasibly return at some point in season two or beyond – perhaps as the town's new Mayor – if the writers are keen.
Before leaving, Jack has just one more stop to make at the local diner where he says goodbye to Finley and finally tries that goddamn peach pie. It's delicious, of course, as is the conversation that follows. Here, Jack and Finley bond over their shared struggles when it comes to opening up, and you can tell that they share a genuine respect for each other now too.
Finally, Jack finds Joe's resting place and buries the medal their mother gave to her sons before passing away. "It takes bravery to solve the world's problems too," says Reacher with tears in his eyes.
And with that, Jack strolls out of town and starts hitchhiking with Blind Blake's music playing in the background. Where Reacher will end up next is anyone's guess, unless you're a) the showrunner or b) an avid fan of the Lee Child books this show is based on.
If you're neither of these things, then it's worth noting that Reacher season two will probably be based on Die Trying, the second book in this 26-novel long (and counting) epic run. While there's a chance that season two could deviate from the source material, this approach seems most likely given that season one was based on the first Jack Reacher book, Killing Floor.
Without spoiling too much, the novel starts with Jack helping an injured young woman in Chicago when the pair are suddenly captured at gunpoint and transported across country. It turns out that this stranger who Reacher was taken with is actually an FBI agent named Holly Johnson – and she has a big secret of her own.
Whether season two will stick faithfully to the text remains to be seen, but don't be surprised if the next chapter ends with Jack once again strolling by the wayside, hitchhiking his way onto even more trouble for season three.
Reacher is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
