Prime Video платформ дээр наймдугаар сарын 12-нд нээлтээ хийх тус цувралын шинэ бүлэг нь гол дүрийн баатрын хувьд урьд өмнөхөөс илүү тагнуулын адал явдалтай төстэй болсныг тоймчид онцолж байна.
Жак Ричер (Алан Ричсон) энэ удаад ганцаарчилсан бус, хамт олны бүрэлдэхүүнд багтаж, ээдрээтэй нууцыг тайлахаар ажиллаж байна. Цувралын дөрөвдүгээр бүлэгт хайр дурлал болон хувийн харилцаа нь зөвхөн өнгөц хэсэг бус, баатрын сэдэл болон түүний алдаатай салшгүй холбоотойгоор дүрслэгдсэн нь Жеймс Бондын кинонуудыг санагдуулах гол хүчин зүйл болжээ.
Энэхүү бүлэг нь гэнэтийн эргэлтүүдээс илүүтэйгээр үйл явдлын үр дагавар, буруу таамаглалаас үүдэлтэй асуудлуудад илүү анхаарал хандуулсан байна. Мөн Жак Ричерийн өнгөрсөн үеийн нууцууд болон түүнийг тойрсон асуултууд нь цувралын өрнөлийг улам бүр сонирхолтой болгож байгаа юм.
Дөрөвдүгээр бүлэг нь нийт гурван шинэ ангиар эхлэх бөгөөд Жак Ричер өөрийн гэсэн хэв маяг, зан чанараараа үзэгчдийн хүлээлтийг дахин эвдэх болно. Цувралын үйл явдал нь ердийн нэг тулаант киноноос илүү нарийн мэдрэмжтэй, нууцлаг өрнөлтөөрөө ялгарч байна.
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There’s a scene in the third episode of Reacher Season 4 in which blues guitar is playing gently on the radio in the background of a hotel room, and Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is walking around without his shirt on, pretending not to flirt with Lila Hoth (Agnez Mo). It’s not a spoiler to say that Reacher, like Bond, tends to have different love interests from season-to-season or book-to-book (fans have even debated about their favorite) but the nature of these romances are always very tied-up in the plot.
And yet, there’s something about Reacher pretending that he’s not flirting that makes him the the American James Bond. Critics who love the books have beens saying this for years, and at first glance, you might think that Reacher Season 4 is nothing like a Bond adventure. After all, this time out, as opposed to last season, Reacher isn’t fully solo, and instead, very much part of an ensemble, an ad-hoc team of misfits, all trying to do their best to solve a complex mystery. Reacher is also nothing like James Bond, other than facts that both are good at fighting, shooting, and delivering the occasional self-aware one-liner. But none of that is what makes Reacher Season 4 feel like a Bond tale. What makes it feel like a Bond adventure, is that there’s a simmering, sexy dance of deception underneath a lot of the story, which, is present in the source material, the 2009 book Gone Tomorrow, but made even more important in the front end of Season 4.
To put it another way, without spoiling anything, Reacher Sesaon 4 feels like one of those Bond stories where sex and romance isn’t just a side part of the plot designed to titillate, but instead, connected to the character’s motivation, and maybe, just maybe, also part of his failure.
It’s hard to discuss more of the story of Reacher Season 4 without spoiling the plot too much, but let’s just say that in some ways, the mystery of this season matters less than you might think. Reacher Season 4 is, on the whole, less about twists, and more about consequences. In fact, one of the smartest things about Season 4, the mysteries are all based on false assumptions, so the propulsive nature of the series isn’t just connected to solving one big mystery, but also, thinking about why a previous conclusion was so wrong.
If that sounds paradoxical or complicated, it really isn’t. Like the hulking hero of the show, Reacher is a simple character who is made complex by tricky situations. Yes, there’s a few moments where we’re reminded that his past is anything but ordinary, like when detective Tamara Green (Sydelle Noel) offhandedly jokes to Reacher, “You ever have a sibling get killed over some f*cked up illegal sh*t?” and Reacher responds with a deadpan, “yes.” Fans who remember 2022’s Season 1 and the 1997 novel Killing Floor, know what’s being referenced, and it’s a nice plot lampshade to the almost Murder She Wrote quality of why we love Reacher. Surely, Jack has quieter days, moments where landing in a new town doesn’t result in a full-blown mystery, but Lee Child has never really given us those stories, and we’re certainly never getting a season of Reacher in which showrunner Nick Santora just delivers eight episodes of Jack enjoying a nice concert and a chili dog.
In theory, it’s the notion that Jack doesn’t go looking for trouble (very un-Bond of him) but gets into trouble anyway that makes the show so appealing. Elsewhere in the show, minor characters seem to question the existence of Reacher with meta-narrative zeal. Why doesn’t he have a middle name? Isn’t Jack short for something, if so, what? And, is he really like Sherlock-who-has-no-home?
It’s in this way, the Reacher tropes, that Season 4 feels Bondish. Not that the tropes are the same, but that Reacher’s version of its own tropes are firing on all cylinder, aware of their inherent Reacher-ness. Again, the thing this season has going for it that is different, in some ways, from the previous three, is that there is more than one central mystery, and ultimately, Reacher’s reaction to not solving part of the mystery—both at the start of the season, and in the middle—is what makes everything feel more elevated and interesting.
People who aren’t fans of Reacher, who have never watched the show, or never cracked one of Lee Child’s wonderfully plotted, and artfully naturalistic novels, probably assume that most plot problems are resolved by Reacher kicking people’s asses because he’s massive and because he’s the mother flipping Reacher and sometimes he’s gotta Reacher some people in the face. While this assessment isn’t wrong per se, it misses some of the nuance, which yes, Reacher Season 4 has in spades.
More than any previous season, it’s the small things that make Reacher Season 4 so compelling. Like any good character-focused adventure story, there are certain things you want Reacher to do next, and you’re just waiting for it to happen. But the ways this season subverts those expectations is surprising. And the real mystery at the center of Reacher Season 4, is how a show with so many well-know types of tropes, manages to thrill us, and make us cheer, every time.
Reacher Season 4 debuts with three new episodes on Prime Video on August 12.
