My Review of "Reacher: Season One"

Reacher: Season One is probably my biggest surprise TV show of 2022 so far. I didn't expect to like this show quite so much. Then again it does have a heavy dose of nostalgia in the mix. It's not based on an old TV show or even set in the past. The style in which they play out this show feels very old school.

The whole season starts off innocently enough. We have this huge massive man visiting this small unknown town called Margrave. It seems easy going but then there wouldn't be a show. This quiet town is going to be turned upside down very soon. They set the mood up pretty well and at the beginning it almost even feels like a western. The mysterious gigantic guy is named Reacher.

Reacher came to this town as a fun trip. He wanted to find out more about a specific blues singer from that town. His older brother Joe had made him a fan of this blues singer. Little did he know, there was a murder the night before he arrived.

Naturally since Reacher is the stranger of the town he's presumed to be a prime suspect to the violent crime. His gargantuan size doesn't help his cause either. So the minute he arrives at a diner to eat some pie the cops barge in and arrest him.

Unbeknownst to the citizens of this small town, Reacher is ex-military and highly intelligent. He's able to prove the fact that he wasn't the murderer. Unfortunately for Reacher the murder victim turned out to be his older brother Joe.

This couldn't be a coincidence and so Reacher decides to stay in town to help solve the murder of his brother. While he's doing that, why not get a little revenge out of it too?

The actor who plays Reacher, Alan Ritchson is a prime candidate to play the next Superman if they ever decide to make another Superman movie. He does a good job in this movie and they don't shy away at his huge stature. Reacher in general reminds me of old school action hero characters like Rambo, Walker Texas Ranger and John McClane. He's a no nonsense kind of guy that gets away with everything. On top of that he seems invincible wherever he goes.

I would have thought this would make this show a little less entertaining but he's got other qualities. He actually uses his head before he goes barging into action. There are also a number of great supporting roles who he befriends. He doesn't want anything to happen to any of them so they're the characters who we worry about. It's very reminiscent to a lot of old school action shows and movies.

They add a lot of jokes throughout the season as well but they're pretty nuanced. I like the fact that they did this because it feels a lot more natural and on brand with what they're doing with the show. This is quite different from a lot of other shows where jokes can be awkwardly added in order to keep the audience's attention.

Although a lot of the facts come at you a mile a minute I was able to keep up with what was going on. At times they do go pretty fast in terms of explaining what they've discovered and it can be awkward. Luckily you don't have to pay attention to absolutely all the details. You can get the gist of everything they're doing without having to rewind.

Overall, this was surprisingly very entertaining. I know that there's a lot of cheese and predictability that goes along with this show but it's still fun. It's not too long and they get to the point. If you're not looking into a very brainy action TV show I say give it a try. I have to give this season a 7.5 out of 10. Lots of people will be able to devour this show within a week.