Reacher season 2’s finale changed the fate of a key villain, and underlined just how brutal the latest series has made the title character.

Warning: Major spoilers for Reacher season 2’s finale below!

SUMMARY

 Reacher’s execution of the main villain, AM, in the finale is a cold-blooded act that underlines how brutal he became during the second season.
 In the book, AM survives and is handed over to the authorities, but the show’s decision to kill him off is likely seen as a more satisfying fate for viewers.
 The killing of his friends in the 110th is why Reacher became so unforgiving in season 2.

Reacher season 2 altered the fate of the main villain from the original novel and in doing so, made the title character even more brutal. Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books are a compelling mix of genres and feel like a mash-up between a traditional murder mystery novel and an ’80s action movie. The main character is an aloof but highly intelligent detective who just happens to be built like Dolph Lundgren. After two divisive Jack Reacher movies with Tom Cruise in the title role, Amazon’s series recast the part with Alan Ritchson, who was a better fit.

Reacher season 2 adapted Bad Luck and Trouble, the 11th book in Child’s series. This saw Reacher reconnecting with members of the 110th Special Investigators Unit he fronted during his army days, as they investigated the murder of a friend.

Central to the story is Ferdinand Kingsley’s AM, a mysterious arms dealer looking to acquire an experimental missile. Just like the novel, AM is something of a cipher, though on the show he leaves behind a trail of bodies while evading the authorities.

The 110th Execute AM In Cold Blood In Reacher’s Season 2 Finale

Reacher and team have no mercy for AM

The entire season has been building to Reacher and the other members of the 110th finally confronting AM. While not directly involved in the killings of their friends, there’s little doubt about his involvement either.

When he smugly claims he’s merely the “seller” and bears no responsibility, Reacher and the 110th cold-bloodedly execute AM, collectively emptying their pistols into him. The series might have made the villain more of a physical threat than he was in Bad Luck and Trouble, but it would have been kind of comical to see Kingsley’s AM actually trying to battle Ritchson’s Reacher.

There’s an abruptness to AM’s demise that’s in keeping with Child’s books too. No matter how dangerous his foes might appear, Reacher rarely conceives of creative or elaborate ways to dispatch them; usually, a gunshot to the head will suffice.

Even throwing Robert Patrick’s antagonist Langston from a helicopter feels less like a cool, action-hero moment, and more like him paying off a promise he made to Langston in an earlier episode.

AM’s Bad Luck And Trouble Fate Is More Fitting

AM’s survival in the book doesn’t mean he got off easy

In a sense, AM is like a dark mirror of Reacher, with both essentially being “ghosts” who leave little trace as they move through the world.

Of course, Reacher has morality and a sense of right and wrong, whereas AM has no trouble selling weapons of death to the highest bidder. Seeing the 110th blast AM to death is satisfying in a bloodthirsty way, but in Bad Luck and Trouble, they decide to let him live.

Instead, they tie AM up and leave him to the authorities. To Reacher’s mind this is a cruelier fate since AM will almost certainly be thrown in a cell for the rest of his life while possibly being tortured for information on various terror groups.

Letting AM get captured might even have led to lives being saved, but Amazon’s adaptation opted for the vigilante approach. Both are valid, but it feels like AM – who desires to stick to the shadows – being captured for his crimes was the better comeuppance than just being executed.

Amazon’s Reacher Has Made The Title Character Even More Brutal

Reacher had little mercy during season 2

Reacher may have had little hesitation punching or shooting people in season 1, but for the majority of the story, this was in self-defense. In the years that passed between seasons 1 and 2, the character’s lack of human contact as he roamed America seems to have made him more feral, since Reacher was especially brutal in the latest season compared to season 1 or the Tom Cruise movies. He drowned a hitman in wet cement, induced a brain aneurysm in an assassin – after some torture – and, once again, tossed Langston out of a helicopter.

Reacher’s execution of AM is in line with his take-no-prisoners approach during season 2. AM may have been a ruthless killer himself, but he’s completely unarmed when the 110th takes him out. Handing him over to Homeland Security probably would have been a fate worse than death to the arms dealer. Still, the Reacher of Amazon’s show preferred the satisfaction of killing AM himself.

The titular character is plenty violent in Bad Luck and Trouble, but season 2 dialed up his intensity a few notches. This might be because he’s avenging the deaths of people he regards as family, but it will be interesting to see if Reacher season 3 continues this more brutal take on – or if he calms down a little.