Introduction

We’ve finally hit the 4th season of Reacher, which would be book 13 called Gone Tomorrow, and I’m left here again with numerous feelings. There’s just something about action and drama shows that when done well, leave me wanting more, and with only 8 episodes this season I feel we could have gotten just a tad more episodes. Alas, the season has concluded, don’t worry Reacher fans a season 5 is already on its way, but was season 4 where I’ve finally begun to grow just a tad tired of our mini ex-military Hulk? It’s about time we find out in our review of Reacher Season 4! The whole series can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video!

Story

In our fourth season of Reacher, our main man himself, still played by the awesome Alan Ritchson, is now in Philadelphia still roaming with little reason or purpose. While taking a late subway ride, Reacher witnesses a woman who looks distressed and possibly a threat to those on the train. When Reacher approaches her, the woman loses herself and sadly ends her own life despite Reacher’s attempts to calm her down. Reacher discovers that the woman had sensitive information and many entities want it, ranging from the FBI, mercenaries, and several strange people. As with most of Reacher’s missions, he ends up involving several civilians, a Philadelphia detective Tamara Green, and a small town cop named Jacob who was the adoptive brother to our random train woman. Reacher must now hunt down a flash drive that everyone seems to want, all while piecing together what would cause a random woman to take her own life so abruptly.

Reacher Season 4’s story is probably the most mixed narrative so far from the series. That isn’t to say it has its high moments, I love some of the twists Season 4 has and there’s plenty of emotional scenes stemming from the typical Reacher elements. The fact several episodes have a suicide warning should say how dark this season was going to get at times. However, in the end many of these characters I couldn’t connect with as much as say the previous season, and there are some sequences that are meant to be heartwarming that just don’t hit their mark. I do like though that Reacher relies a lot less on his former allies, which was getting a tad old in previous seasons, and really only has two characters of great use in this season. Still, the lack of a team of special talented people and the usual support system makes Reacher feel more vulnerable in Season 4 and that I appreciate.

Acting and Cast

I’m going to say Alan Ritchson still does a tremendous job as the quick witted and often stoic Reacher, and he does continue impressing even in this 4th outing as this character. Ritchson is joined this round by several newcomers such as Sydelle Noel as Tamara Green (Arrow) and Christopher Marquette as Jacob. These two I’ve not seen much of their acting talents but they did a stellar job in their respective roles. Tamara being a detective that has lost her drive to risk and Jacob, the quiet town cop who now has to deal with more than he’s ever before thought possible. Sydelle and Christopher capture their roles quite well and help not just push Alan’s Reacher further but act as strong supports. There are also a few other standouts such as the main female Reacher gets with, as per usual, Agnez Mo as Lila Hoth, who I can’t spoil too much, and Kevin Weisman who plays Russell Plum. The cast in Reacher Season 4 isn’t as spectacular as previous seasons, Season 1 and 2 specifically, but works well and helps progress the story.

Cinematography and Direction

Reacher Season 4 doesn’t utilize big action sequences or a multitude of epic moments like the past few seasons, but the cinematography is still solid. Watching Reacher fight off a couple of goons or have to literally pull off a stunt only someone of his physique can is still captured quite well and rarely disappoints. The finale too is excellent with some almost thriller-esque sequences that kept me quite entertained, even if I could predict how it would play out, which I was quite right about.

As far as the direction, it’s the fourth season of Reacher so I kind of know how it will be paced and where the focus points will be. I’m not going to say the direction was bad, it’s just by now I think I won’t be alone saying everything kind of is predictable when it comes to how each moment will pass. There’s a story point that has Reacher and an ally seem to be at their possible demise but obviously with us knowing a Season 5 is coming and this being based on a long running book series by Lee Child, the shock value was quite low. I think this will always be a common issue with Reacher, especially for those who have read the books, that we will know Reacher will never be in any real danger…he might get banged up or hurt quite badly but never killed.

Conclusion

Reacher Season 4 is still a great time to be had, but I feel I’m beginning to grow tired of some of the themes that seem to keep reappearing in every season. Reacher is still a character I love seeing beat tons of people and fighting against seemingly impossible odds, but the situations he ends up in are getting kind of tedious. I am still very excited for the 5th season and can’t wait till it releases, but I feel like my love for this series will begin to drop more if some of the repetitive themes keep reappearing. Still, fans of Reacher will find Season 4 worth watching, but I bet will compare it to past seasons and might feel it is the weaker one of the last 3 before it.