Warning: spoilers ahead for Reacher season 3’s finale.
SinceReacherbegan in 2022, Alan Ritchson’s character has taken villains down using his strength, military training, and sheer size, but season 3’s finale confirms Jack Reacher’s most dangerous trait is something else entirely. Jack Reacher is a big man - that much is widely accepted.Reacherseason 3’s endingrevolves largely around the clash between Prime Video’s titular protagonist and the villainous Paulie in an unstoppable force vs. immovable object battle for the ages. Barely an episode passes without Reacher exploiting his mountainous frame, or without another character making a humorous reference to Reacher’s size.
The presence of Oliver Ritchers' Paulie amongReacherseason 3’s villainshas stripped away that advantage. Paulie is bigger than Jack Reacher, stronger than Jack Reacher, and grumpier than Jack Reacher, putting Alan Ritchson’s character in unfamiliar territory as the smaller underdog. While Paulie unquestionably gives Reacher his hardest fight yet, the challenge forces new skills to the surface, including the one that truly makes the former leader of the110th Special Investigations unita force to be reckoned with.
The Result Of Reacher’s Fight Against Paulie Proves His Best Asset Is Intelligence, Not Strength
Reacher Hits The Sudoku More Than The Gym
Reacher and Paulie batter each other all over the grounds ofZachary Beck’s mansion. Rakes, chains, strangulation, crotch kicks - nothing is off-limits in the final showdown between the big man and the bigger man. Despite having the physical edge,Reacher and Paulie effectively cancel each otherout in terms of power and strength. Thanks to each man’s unholy ability to keep fighting after taking huge amounts of damage, it seems that going blow-for-blow will never yield a decisive victor.
The fight against Paulie was won inside Reacher’s head.
In the end,Reacher comes out on top by using his intelligence, plugging the barrel of Paulie’s gun and forcing it to backfire. The outcome highlights Reacher’s attention to detail, ability to think calmly under pressure, expansive knowledge, and eye for seizing a strategic advantage. Even a regular citizen like Richard Beck could have killed Paulie using the same technique, proving that Jack Reacher’s most dangerous asset has never been the circumference of his biceps or ability to rescue cats from trees without a ladder, but the myriad of other qualities he brings into the combat arena.
By contrast,Paulie remains focused purely on overpowering his opponent. The towering villain believes that having the muscle to maneuver Reacher in front of the gun’s business end is enough to guarantee winning.
Reacher Season 3 Fully Admits Its New Villain Is A Cut Above Season 1 & 2’s Enemies
Although Reacher S3 raised the stakes for the main character from the beginning, it now admits that its villain is far better than the previous ones.
Reacher’s tactics were clearly foreshadowed earlier in season 3. After getting on Paulie’s bad side the first time, Reacher described Quinn’s henchman not as someone he needed to overpower, but as a puzzle he needed to figure out. When training with Richard, Reacher also pointed out, “Strength is not your strength. You need strategy.” Reacher’s awareness that a smart mind can overcome a size mismatch only serves as further proof that the fight against Paulie was won inside Reacher’s head, not his tightly-fitted clothes.
Reacher Season 3 Found A Great Balance Between Investigative Reacher & Aggressive Reacher
All Sides Of Reacher Are Welcome In Season 3
While Jack Reacher is a multi-faceted creature, he typically has two modes: investigative and aggressive.Reacherseason 1’s Margrave storypushed investigative Reacher to the fore, since the case was a tightly-woven conspiracy featuring multiple parties. The slew of dead Special Investigators inReacherseason 2, however, summoned forth the protagonist’s aggressive side, as Jack and pals plowed through swathes of enemies on their route to justice.
Reacherseason 3 has landed upon a pleasing middle ground whereby Alan Ritchson is allowed to showcase both aspects of his character. Going undercover and working with the DEA has necessitated Reacher’s cognitive skills and abilities as a detective, but situations have arisen where Reacher has found himself with no choice but to raise hell, whether that be chewing his way through Quinn’s men with a shotgun, or skulking around a dark forest quietly dispatching foes.
Reacher
Cast
Reacher follows Jack Reacher, a former military police investigator, as he navigates civilian life. Without a phone and carrying minimal belongings, Reacher drifts across the country, experiencing the nation he once served, and encounters intriguing challenges along the way.
