A show that started strong with its first season quickly devolves into a disappointing mess with its second season.

Prime Video

SUMMARY

 Reacher‘s second season turned the widely likable series into a cringeworthy, over-the-top show with cheesy dialogue and awkward romance.
 The execution of the latest season was completely ridiculous, filled with clichés and tropes that induced eye-rolling.
 Many aspects of Reacher Season 2 didn’t make sense, stretching believability too far and detracting from the show’s ability to be taken seriously.

Warning: Spoilers for Reacher.There are many reasons why Reacher’s second season was a disappointment. Somehow, over the course of its eight episodes, it managed to take a widely likable series, thanks to its first season, and turn it into a cringeworthy, over-the-top juggernaut of a show.

From its cheesy dialogue, overly used tropes, and awkwardly inserted romance, so many aspects of the newest season simply didn’t make sense. Season 2 saw Reacher (Alan Ritchson) reconnect with the 110th Special Investigators Unit he created and oversaw when he was in the Army. However, their reunion wasn’t joyous, nor did it include everyone.

Reacher Star Alan Ritchson Once Stopped a Carjacker: ‘I Was Like, Instant Reacher Mode’

The group is only brought back together when a colleague, Franz (Luke Bilyk), shows up dead in the woods with indications he was tortured and thrown out of a helicopter. Neagley (Maria Sten) caught wind of it all after Franz’s wife called her.

She, in turn, contacted Reacher, and then Dixon (Serinda Swan) and O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) were brought into the mix. The four then set out to discover what really happened to their friend because they didn’t trust the police to do a sufficient job. While the premise of the latest season isn’t inherently flawed, its execution was completely ridiculous.

Too Many Clichés and Tropes

While the first season of Reacher contained its fair share of cheesy moments and tough guy tropes, it managed to toe the line in a way that made the show enjoyable.

It was self-aware enough, which made the series fun to watch. Season 2, however, takes itself entirely too seriously and upped the ante so much that it turned into a joke.

Audiences simply wanted more of the same because it worked, and Reacher decided to give them a series filled with cringe clichés and tropes that induced endless amounts of eye-rolling.

Viewers understand that Reacher is supposed to be a one-of-a-kind guy who is tough and always saves the day. However, Reacher’s approach in Season 2 appeared to cause more trouble and create unnecessary, cheesy violence.

He was constantly going after people without explaining a word as to why. The way he kicked Guy Russo’s (Domenick Lombardozzi) car at the beginning and caused the airbag to deploy was ridiculous on multiple levels.

He assumed Guy was following him for nefarious reasons and just attacked him. For a character who constantly proclaims, “assumptions kill in an investigation,” he sure did assume a lot during the entire season.

Furthermore, the way he continued to attack the drug dealers out of nowhere and somehow always had the upper hand didn’t make sense. The way Reacher seems to successfully go after dangerous criminals whenever he chooses and dominates the situation from the onset is unrealistic and inauthentic.

Reacher is a civilian, and Season 2 saw him dropping bodies left and right without a care in the world. He busted in guns blazing nearly everywhere he went and managed to leave a slew of bodies in his wake, similar to an ’80s action hero with a high kill count, without ever having to deal with the mess in a real way. His tough guy persona was simply too much in Season 2.

So Many Things Didn’t Make Sense in Reacher Season 2

Upon reflection at the end of Reacher Season 2, viewers quickly realize that so many aspects of the show didn’t make sense. Suspending belief for the sake of an entertaining series is one thing, but Reacher stretches such a request way too far to take seriously.

Why Reacher left a teenage girl with Russo for protection when he was in the process of fleeing his home after confronting a dirty cop is dumbfounding. All it did was put the girl in danger and lead to Russo’s death. How Reacher was able to hold that gurney Dixon was strapped to as it dangled off the end of the helicopter is beyond confusing.

Also, if Reacher called Homeland Security when he called the senator, they should have just shown up at the New Age warehouse and intercepted Langston (Robert Patrick) there. They still would have caught everyone involved in the larger conspiracy.

The way Reacher and the others let the pilot and the engineer go, only to shoot them down with the same anti-aircraft weaponry they were trying to intercept, felt utterly unnecessary, dangerous, and wildly out of character for everyone.

Finally, how Reacher and the team could walk away with $65 million was incredibly cheesy. There’s no way that would happen so blatantly in front of Homeland Security.

How Can Season 3 Do Better?

Although the show’s sophomore season was a significant letdown, the series has an opportunity to correct course with Season 3. Given the series is based on a slew of books, there are a million directions the show could take.

Foremost, Reacher Season 3 needs to leave the romance behind. It worked somewhat in the first season with Roscoe (Willa Fitzgerald), but the newest jaunt with Dixon felt uncomfortable and hard to watch.

There was no chemistry between the two characters; their intimate scenes felt odd and clunky. It’s hard to imagine how or why there was ever something romantic between them.

Furthermore, Season 2 needs to simplify the story. The first season worked well because the narrative was more insulated. It was reasonable to see how Reacher, a civilian, and Roscoe, a cop, could work together on small-town crime.

When the second season expanded its story to include dirty New York cops, senators, a major tech company, and Homeland Security, it was all just too much.

Ultimately, it didn’t make sense how four civilians could take on such a feat without facing legal repercussions. Season 3 should return to a smaller, more personal plot and tone down some aspects that are too unbelievable for their own good.