Reacher, books and television series alike, knows he’s the main event.
Anyone else surrounding him can often feel like a potential footnote in his overarching story. Thus, the supporting cast can typically fall by the wayside because viewers are mostly here for the “Big Guy.”
But that’s what makes Reacher Season 4 so refreshing compared to previous seasons.
(Courtesy of Prime)
So far, Reacher Season 4 is succeeding in centering Jack Reacher without ever making him feel like he has to overtake every story completely.
And for a show that operates in the hero/antihero space, that’s pretty significant.
Every season of Reacher follows a similar formula in the sense of having Reacher stumbling into town while he’s drifting and finding his fair share of trouble.
As he’s lured into criminal underpinnings, we’ll find him connecting with a beautiful woman (quite literally, whether there’s chemistry or not) and forging allies along the way, since he needs more than his massive body to take down a bad guy.
Typically, his allies are in some form of law enforcement, as it’s always a blast to watch him fully color outside of the law while paired with someone who not only abides by it but whose sole purpose is to enforce it.
(Courtesy of Prime Video)
From a storytelling perspective, that rich dichotomy opens the door to great conflict amid a much larger plot.
During Reacher Season 1, we had the persnickety Finlay, who remains one of the most entertaining, fun, and impactful characters.
Their chemistry was great to watch, and Finlay had a strong identity, with Roscoe also serving as Reacher’s strongest and most convincing romantic connection.
But then Reacher Season 2 introduced us to his former MP Special Investigations Unit. Frankly, the surefire sign they lacked presence in the end is that I can’t even recall their names or much about them since the season concluded.
And the cop of the season was Domenick Lombardozzi’s Guy Russo, who was serviceable and helped deliver one of the best series moments for Neagley, but beyond that? He was your typical reluctant ally.
(Sophie Giraud/Prime)
Reacher Season 3 gave us the grating Duffy and her partners, who often felt like they disappeared off the screen and out of relevance until it was time for Duffy or Reacher to lay eyes on them again.
That’s essentially the supporting-character issue Reacher previously had. Outside of Neagley, there never seemed to be room for others to stand out.
Strong casting aside, the writing and structuring of the seasons rarely allowed supporting characters to flourish beyond what the plot dictated. They didn’t detract from Reacher in any way; they orbited around him.
Yet that’s precisely what has made Reacher Season 4 noticeably unique.
Characters who aren’t Reacher get to hold space in the narrative. The season hasn’t stalled whenever Reacher isn’t dominating the screen, and carrying the story is genuinely a group effort.
(Courtesy of Prime Video)
I’d say Reacher Season 4 Episode 4 demonstrates that well.
The conspiracy around Anna’s death has Reacher bouncing around between the nation’s most prominent cities as he speaks to Sampson and his wife and dodges mercenaries.
While he’s trying to piece together parts of a larger story, Tamara, Jacob, and Plum are too. And Reacher trusts that his allies are merely a phone call away.
Whipsmart, empathetic, and badass Philly cop Tamara emerges as an early favorite because she matches Reacher in energy and depth. She’s funny, astute, and similarly driven despite not having a personal connection to this case.
There’s a mutual, unspoken understanding between Reacher and Tamara that lets them click, and when he’s not operating the space onscreen, it’s easy for the series to let her fill the void he leaves behind.
(Prime Video/Screenshot)
In some ways, she does so even when Reacher is right there.
We see it in crucial and entertaining moments, from her running interference when Reacher nearly pummels a college student for answers to tapping into her own support network to acquire a getaway car.
Reacher is more than content to step back and let her work without much resistance, which delivers a refreshing change of pace from his usual dynamics with law enforcement.
It’s Tamara, rather than Reacher, who seems to hold the team together here. With Jacob, for example, she becomes a bridge between the two men.
Jacob also has his layers. As a key moment of Reacher’s approach to saving Anna comes to light, Jacob quietly shifts from “Mr. Mayberry” to a man with vengeance and justice on his mind, willing to defy everything to avenge his sister and nephew.
His grief, and how it oscillates between devastating sadness and frenzied rage, makes him far more memorable, compelling, and evolved than others at this juncture in the series.
(Prime Video/Screenshot)
Meanwhile, a unique show creation, Plum, offers up the levity that has kept the humor this season particularly on point and endearing.
He’s become the ultimate scene-stealer, taking a pretty basic trope: the quirk, conspiracy-theorist hacker sort, and elevating it into something fun to soak in.
The chemistry of this season’s B-Team is pretty unparalleled.
It makes watching them on adventures all their own, operating in the secondary plot, genuinely interesting. And a sign of that is how rarely you find yourself thinking, “Where’s Reacher?” when any of them are onscreen.
Grounding each team member with some form of purpose helps significantly. We know Jacob was determined to figure out what really happened to his sister and nephew, and now he’s equally as driven to avenge them.
(Prime Video/Screenshot)
Tamara’s motivations are less abstract and more closely aligned with Reacher — she’s in this because it’s become a case that is like an itch she can’t scratch, and she’d like to solve this one in a way she couldn’t for a case that haunted her before.
Plum is fueled by journalistic integrity and bitterness toward those who ruined his good name and questioned his mental status because he saw through them; exposure and a hunt for the truth motivate him.
They each come with their own baggage and story, giving them a deeply lived-in, multidimensional feel without ever feeling as if their lives or purpose cease to exist when Reacher isn’t around.
Reacher finally delivered a B-Team that can hold its own, and it’s fantastic.
How are you feeling about the cast this season? Let’s dive in below!
You can stream Reacher Wednesdays on Prime Video.
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Reacher Season 4 premiere wastes no time delivering humor, action, and a wild conspiracy that gets the adrenaline pumping. Our review!
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