Amazon Prime Video seemingly hit another home run with their television show Reacher, an adaptation of the first Jack Reacher book, The Killing Floor. The series debuted in February 2022 and was met with rave reviews, holding a 90% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.1-star rating on IMDb.
The eight-episode season follows the protagonist Jack Reacher, a hulking loner of a man, as he stumbles into a quiet Georgia town, gets involved with a murderous plot, and eventually saves the day. The eponymous hero is played by small screen CW-alum Alan Ritchson. His massive frame fills out the character as he is written. This contrasts sharply with the casting of Tom Cruise, who starred in the two film adaptations which came before the show, Jack Reacher and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.
The suggestion that Cruise’s talents weren’t up to snuff was never in question. But even as a proven action star due to the Mission Impossible franchise, among others, Cruise’s relatively diminutive size was criticized by fans of the series. Ritchson truly fills the shoes of Reacher. This casting was positively received due to authenticity, but for another reason as well. The question that comes up is: why is he such a popular character?
The public opinion of what positive masculinity in media should look like may never reach a majority of consensus. But it has shifted drastically from the rugged and rigid action stars of the 1980s and '90s to the more socially aware and ostensibly PC versions that have come in the wake of the MCU and other current franchises. The show Reacher cuts against the grain of these new conventions. Is that the source of his magnetism?
Jack Reacher, the Character, Is Easy to Digest
A fully formed and realized character, Jack Reacher is easy to latch onto. He is a substitute for the male fantasy of strength, intelligence, and independence; he is a textbook alpha-male archetype. His 6’5” build is complemented with mountains of muscle. He is very physical, knowing how to fight, handle a weapon and make people succumb to his whim with a glare. This isn’t a critique necessarily. He is a more grounded and plausible superhero in many ways than those running around in tights and capes.
His background as a Major in the Army police corps arms him with credibility, experience, and instincts. He is smartly written to use his brains and his wits first. He detects and deduces before he points and shoots. The plots of his books, and certainly the plot of Reacher, write in scenarios for Reacher to display his prowess as an athletic Sherlock Holmes.
Reacher's mannerisms and people skills are amplified by his intimidating presence. His dialogue is to the point, objective and serious. He commands authority and respect. Ironically, this doesn’t stop the show from finding opportunities to stage fight scenes against hot-headed characters half his size. A few of which are repeat offenders. Haven’t they learned their lesson?
This boils down to Jack Reacher as an easy character for men to project their desires for respect and power. Reacher can come and go as he pleases, relinquishing domestic ties and strings to tie him down or hold him back. There is attractive freedom in this. He is a Superman from Earth, someone you could meet in passing. That accessibility is his ultimate strength.
Reacher Is More Than a Relic From the Past
Being essentially a man’s man, capable of anything and ultimately triumphing against all odds, gives Reacher the license to be the hero the plot needs him to be. This “doing the right thing his way” style was heavily featured in any highlight reel of last generation’s action stars. Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, and Norris all did what they had to do to win the day. They said what they had to say, did what was deemed necessary, and no one batted an eye. Their story arcs consisted of problem, solution, get the girl, repeat. In contemporary storytelling, this character arc can seem rather dated or at least very simplistic. Reacher’s titular hero also beats this old-fashioned drum. Thankfully, the advantage that Reacher has over his predecessors is a shared balance of accomplishment and learning.
The action stars of the past look antiquated because the only challenges they contended with were the bad guys with the guns, knives, and ropes that were trying to kill him. In the first episode of Reacher, Jack walks into the frame with a heavy presence. He walks away in the closing shot in the final episode of Reacher much the same way. Sturdy, steady, and alert. But in the brief eight-episode arc, he can both echo the past and show personal growth as a human. He eventually learns to communicate and convey emotions. This enables him to retain his stoic toughness while becoming available for empathy.
Ultimately, the gritty and gruff exterior of Jack Reacher is very much in the driver’s seat for most of this first season. The calculating coolness displayed is definitely more of a callback than a contemporary rendition of male masculinity; it's junk food with a smile, and that’s why it works. With Reacher’s near-unanimous praise as an action/mystery/thriller, Jack Reacher is right at home in service of the story. The question becomes: has the alpha male image pendulum finally swung back to a time that has since passed? If it’s what people want, it seems like an easy yes.
The novel The Killing Floor, the first of almost twenty-seven Jack Reacher books (the twenty-seventh will be published this fall), was the debut work of Lee Child (pen name of author James Dover Grant). There are many Jack Reacher stories to tell still. Amazon Prime Video has already renewed the show for a second season.