Reviewed by Alicia Glass
Based on the 7th book of the Jack Reacher book series by Lee Child, Persuader, when Reacher thwarts an attempted kidnapping, he finds himself introduced to the shadowy world of businessman Zachary Beck and his associates.
Welcome back to the would-be vagabond lifestyle of former Army Ranger of the Military Police and all-around quiet badass, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson)! We’re all pretty aware by now that the show likes to pull little maguffins, especially in the first episode of a new season, so when Reacher stops the attempted kidnapping of one-eared Richard Beck (Johhny Berchtold) and appears to accidentally kill a cop, we can safely surmise it’s some kind of setup.
And things are more or less explained right away – determined DEA Agent Susan Duffy (Sonya Cassidy), along with her former mentor Guillermo Villaneuva (Robert Montesino) and the disgraced rookie Steven Elliot (Daniel David Stewart) are hunting down a missing undercover operative, Teresa Daniels. Duffy made a deal with Reacher to get him to help find Daniels, along with dealing with a formerly thought deceased nemesis of his, Lieutenant Colonel Xavier Quinn (Brian Tee), by infiltrating Beck’s shipping “rugs” for the bad guys empire. Everyone got where we are? Good, onward we go, into Beck’s ridiculous sprawling mansion grounds, hordes of overpowered bodyguards, and the lonely life of his ignored artistic son!
Beck’s empire was originally just, you know, the selling of antiques and shipping of rugs and things, so his son swears, but at this point Julius McCabe has taken over and Beck Sr. (Anthony Michael Hall) is powerless to stop the continued villainy. Chapman Duke (Donald Sales), Beck’s head guard and number two, gets his orders from both Beck and McCabe and makes it pretty clear which one takes precedence, while the towering hulk of another bodyguard, Paulie (Olivier Richters), seems to take great delight in goading Reacher into semi-constant sparring sessions that would effectively end regular men.
With all the testosterone being flung about the Beck mansion grounds, its no wonder none of them grandstanding men seem to notice the secretive doings of the mostly female servants, especially the mousy little maid Anette (Caitlin McNerney). Indeed, a great deal of the actual work done in this season comes from the female cast – Duffy, of course, with her determination and grit of a crocodile, it was almost inevitable that she’d become a Reacher love interest that could actually keep up with him; the backstory of one Dominique Kohl (Mariah Robinson), an officer Reacher mentored and partnered with back in the Army that he grew to greatly respect, who died a gruesome death at Quinn’s own hands; the head cook of Beck’s household Agnes (Helen Taylor), heavily accented and suspicious and yet somehow one of best tertiary characters in the series; and inevitably the inclusion of Neagley (Maria Sten), Reacher’s former colleague of the 110th, always reliable and just as good a sleuth as Reacher himself, who is rumored to be getting a spin-off show of her own relatively soon.
The really-real bad guys are closing in, Quinn’s getting more suspicious and paranoid, and everythings about to kick off at Beck’s enforced birthday party! Can Reacher save the girl, stop the villains, and snark a stoic quip or two in the process? Catch Reacher Season 3, airing on Amazon Prime now, to find out!