The following contains spoilers for Reacher Season 3, Episode 5, “Smackdown,” now streaming on Prime Video.
The third season of Reacher is already past the midway point, which means people start dying. While character deaths are great for a series to ratchet up the tension, they carry larger meanings for the titular hero this time around. The undercurrent of this season is about Reacher and, to a lesser extent DEA Agent Susan Duffy, reconciling their hubris, but only one learns the lesson.
The previous episode revealed Reacher’s history with Sergeant First Class Dominique Kohl who was killed by Xavier Quinn. This happened, at least in Reacher’s view, because he didn’t sufficiently protect the young soldier under his command. Ironically, because Dominique was such a moral and good person, Reacher tried to murder Quinn rather than bringing him to the Army’s justice. Naturally, he survived that attempt on his life and now runs a gun-running operation as Julius McCabe. Some important things happen in “Smackdown.” First, the bad guys kill two federal agents, Steven Eliot and Annette, an ATF informant posing as a maid. Second, DEA agents Susan Duffy and Guillermo Villanueva are fully onboard (for now) with Reacher’s sense of mortal justice. In fact, the character who is the most unnerved and, yes, scared is Jack Reacher himself.
The Episode Is Perhaps the Least ‘Complete Story’ In the Season Thus Far
A lot happens in “Smackdown,” which unfortunately gives the episode a somewhat disjointed feel. The previous four installments in Season 3 fit into the larger saga while telling a smaller, complete story. This is not the case here. The episode opens with the resolution of McCabe’s goons going after Duffy and Villanueva in a warehouse. It ends with Reacher and Zachary Beck about to come face-to-face with “the boss” for the first time. Still, the storytellers use this disjointed feeling to their advantage.
Despite Reacher’s commitment to the cause, the episode ends with him and Duffy at odds. She is holding out hope, naïvely in the eyes of her allies, that her informant, Theresa, is still alive. Reacher is ready to face his own death to kill Quinn, trusting that the agents he’s worked with can clean up the rest of the mess without him. It’s bleak, especially because Reacher rarely goes into a situation assuming he’s not going to make it out.
Given the number of deaths in this episode, the disjointed narrative also serves to keep the audience off-balance. Reacher especially feels everything is close to unraveling, and the episode carries that feeling over to the viewer. They know that Jack Reacher will almost certainly survive this season. Yet, the deaths in this episode remind audiences that his mistakes can cost others their lives. Unlike previous seasons, Reacher is more keenly aware of that than ever before.
Reacher’s Relationship With His New Allies Starts to Feel Natural
Just as in Season 2, the new cast presents a challenge for viewers. Unlike other shows, Reacher can’t rely on fan-favorite regulars or recurring characters to carry it through. While perhaps a bit late, the episode helps to endear these new characters to the audience. Alas, in the case of poor Agent Steven Eliot, he had to die first. He’s killed by Richard Beck’s bodyguard, John Cooper, who’d been detained in a DEA safehouse since the premiere.
The bodyguard also indirectly killed ATF agent or informant Annette, who posed in the Beck household as a literal French maid. Reacher endeared himself to her, especially in this episode when he knocked out one of McCabe’s goons who was rude to her. Yet, because of Reacher’s ploy to prevent Cooper from getting back to the house, they searched everyone’s rooms. They found her phone with evidence of reporting to the ATF.
This presents a dilemma for both Reacher and the DEA cops. They could stop their off-the-books investigation and come clean to authorities. This could mean that both Eliot and Annette died “for nothing” — and Theresa, if she isn’t dead already. Yet, they keep going. Surprisingly, despite his similarities with Duffy, Reacher’s best chemistry is with Villaneuva. He’s a classic “months away from retirement” cop, and his playful banter with Reacher hearkens back to Finlay from Season 1.
The Conflict Between Paulie and Reacher Levels Up In an Unlikely Way
While Jack Reacher is a mountain of a man, this season, he meets someone even bigger and stronger than him. Annette was killed by accident when the brutish gate guard Paulie hit her too hard in the head. Reacher tries to deliver some retribution with his fists, but Paulie isn’t fazed. Instead, he slaps Reacher, ringing his bell and putting the fear of God into him in a way viewers haven’t seen before.
Reacher to Richard Beck: I’m not afraid of [Paulie]. I just haven’t solved him yet. Big guys like that aren’t usually that fast. Took me by surprise. It won’t happen again.
Reacher denies his fight with Paulie scares him, of course. He says as much to Richard, who is no stranger to being beaten nor being scared of bigger, tougher guys. Rather, he tells the younger Beck that he just has yet to figure out how to beat Paulie. Most of his enemies don’t present this kind of physical challenge. So, no matter what Reacher says, he’s clearly shaken both by the threat of Paulie and the death surrounding his quest for revenge.
Still, there’s reason to believe that Reacher isn’t completely in denial about his chances. An earlier scene in which he “arm wrestles” Paulie offers a clue as to how he’ll win. Simply put, Reacher won’t out-muscle Paulie; he’ll have to outsmart him. He’s got a good shot, too. When Reacher calls Paulie “a dumb man” in this episode, he doesn’t deny it. He instead falls back on his strength, which is enough to keep Reacher worried.
‘Smackdown’ Dropped a Lot of Bodies, but Helped Bring the Characters Together
The most important part of “Smackdown” is how it builds on the theme codified in the previous episode, “Dominique.” Kohl dies because Reacher didn’t do enough to protect her. Similarly, Eliot and Annette die because Reacher, Duffy and Villanueva made a similar mistake. Ironically, this spilled blood has quelled concerns from the previous episode about Reacher’s penchant for extrajudicial killing. When he tells Duffy that Cooper is dead, she says “Good.”
One of the great things about Reacher as a character is that he rarely changes, evolves or even doubts himself. These moments in Season 3 where he’s silently aware the deaths at Quinn’s hands are partly his fault is necessary and good. Where the character goes next — and the choices he makes — will surely be influenced by these revelations, even if Reacher would never admit it out loud.
Villaneuva is on his way out, and he’s in this mess because he sees Duffy as a surrogate daughter. Duffy is fully committed to lying about why Eliot died and continuing her off-the-books investigation. She holds out hope Theresa is still alive, but she is starting to accept that her fate could be the same as Kohl’s. Yet, unlike Reacher, who never second-guesses himself, she isn’t only willing to lose her job — she believes she should because of the epic failures on her part that created the problem.
Source: cbr.com