Reacher’s all gas and no brakes continued with another adrenaline-pumping hour.

The action sequences and the perfect balance of emotional and character-driven content are what make Reacher Season 4 Episode 5 truly shine.

Because, let’s be real, the conspiracy is just “meh” right now.

(Prime Video/Jessica Kourkounis)

The Hoths are badass, sure, but not gripping, and Sampson’s connection to an Indonesian warmonger, resulting in this murder spree and every form of alphabet law enforcement coming down on Reacher and the crew, isn’t compelling yet.

The story feels strongest when it centers on Anna’s death and how deeply it affected other characters and led to all of this.

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I’m not wholly invested in why this drive was so important, but I am thoroughly hyped about the exciting ride it’s taken us on with Reacher and the B-Team.

It’s the action and the character dynamics, along with a different tone, that make Reacher Season 4 a blast and a half to watch.

And this hour truly delivered on the action, even when it made little sense.

(Courtesy of Prime Video)

Reacher escaping Philly PD via a trash chute had me shaking my head, but then they had the brilliant move of having him caught in there for a bit.

And then landing him in jail, where he seemed perfectly content to catch a breather in a cell, was pure cinema.

His ongoing beef with the CIA guy has been a season highlight, and just when it seemed like he couldn’t top essentially hog-tying the man via handcuffs, we graduated to one of the gnarliest scenes the show has delivered in a while.

It’ll be impossible to unsee Reacher yanking his head through the bars so intensely that he ripped one of his ears off!

It was one of many moments from that action-packed trailer delivered within the hour.

(Prime Video/Screenshot)

And all of them were essentially culmination moments leading up to Reacher eventually coming face to face with Lila.

But forgive me, because it was everything else that had me in a chokehold.

Ultimately, Anna sent the drive to the only person she has ever truly trusted: Jacob.

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He’s just been so sucked into this conspiracy that he really hasn’t had a moment to process that or even go home.

This was the first installment where it really hits that these four people, who otherwise never would’ve crossed paths, have been running nonstop on adrenaline all this time.

(Courtesy of Prime)

And that’s starting to catch up to all of them in different ways. When Reacher is literally dangling from rafters and welcomes a ten-minute break from the manhunt after him, stating he’s tired, it hits like a sledgehammer.

But it also provides nice context for how the characters end up in the mental spaces they’re in.

Jacob retrieving the drive and her phone from his mailbox, seeing Anna’s handwriting and all, he has that moment of remembering that she really is gone, but then they catapult us back into the action with Lila and Amisha after them.

Was it ridiculous that they were engaged in an entire shootout through a suburban neighborhood in Mayfield? Yes.

Was it annoying that the cops seemed to do more to stop Tamara and Jacob than the ladies? Absolutely.

(Prime Video/Screenshot)

But was it great to watch anyway? Of course. It’s been especially great because the season is doing a decent job of delivering this unexpected romance forming between Tamara and Jacob.

Jacob is on the edge. He has been since he found out about his sister, and he’s been slowly and quietly unraveling all this time. Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette is just so damn great in this role, capturing Jacob’s layers and his pain.

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There are so many little haunting moments when it feels like he doesn’t have much to live for— that it’s revenge, and that alone is fueling him right now.

And with those high emotions and little time to really rest, we have this restless, vengeful, reckless person who technically is a liability. But his investment and personal stakes in all of this drive the plot and give it heart.

On the bridge, he damn near felt suicidal, and Tamara recognized that. But she’s a true-blue cop devoted to her partner right now, and she won’t let him fall on her watch.

(Prime Video/Screenshot)

Even how this transitions to her watching after him in the hotel. Jacob is one bad decision away from losing it completely.

And there’s no way on earth he needed to see that video of his nephew or anything else.

Tamara is so in tune with him but also not in a way that feels problematic, and that’s what makes their connection so compelling to watch.

She becomes the thing that centers him. Reminding him who he is even when she barely knows him was endearing.

Seeing how much he has apparently changed since all of this is interesting. After that experience with his uncle at Mayfield, there’s simply no way he can ever go back to just being a small-town beat cop.

(Prime Video/Screenshot)

Of course, he has to survive Amisha. It was obvious they’d end up in that situation, a standoff with the Hoths.

And at this point they’ll have to exchange Jacob for the drive. They still risk them wanting to kill Jacob anyway,s though.

And even with all this, we don’t know why the drive is so important. Plum hasn’t done as deep a dive. He has not had time.

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But I feel the real Intel is either in the identity of the scientist in the background and what he was up to, or in something encrypted in that photo.

Too many people have died for a photo. There has to be so much more, and it goes beyond Sampson and this mission that he barely talks about. I’m still trying to figure out the Sampson angle, and I still feel like his wife is behind something.

(Prime Video/Screenshot)

Overall, if there was an MVP of this hour, it was Tamara. I love every second of her screen time. She and Reacher on the run together was quality content, and their chemistry is really great.

The glass ceiling sequence was so epic, and it’s nice to see Reacher with such an active partner who keeps up with him. Tamara really knows how to match his energy, and it makes them fun to watch.

I can understand people taking issue with this season because Reacher doesn’t always feel as prominent.

It’s different and maybe an acquired taste. And this episode definitely felt more noticeable in that regard when it seems like Reacher is merely there for the action and little else.

But personally, it doesn’t affect the season’s quality. Though, I’m curious how the rest of you feel about that.

(Prime Video/Screenshot) Rebellious Thoughts:
  • Docherty genuinely seems to care about Tamara and knows she got a raw deal. I respect him a bit more knowing he wanted to protect her. But wouldn’t helping them protect her?
  • I’m going to need more Plum content expeditiously.
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  • The Reacher wit remains unmatched. This season is so funny.
  • Does anyone else think that, between the Docherty conversation and the connection with Jacob, she may get hurt trying to protect Jacob, and it’ll send him over the edge?
  • Cyrus is such a great recurring character. I just wish we got to see Pancake again.
(Courtesy of Prime)
  • Lila and Amisha did NOT have to kill that man just to steal his car! That was so horrific just for the hell of it. Justice for HIM!
  • I have to be real, I did not anticipate Philly having so many snitches. People who would never voluntarily talk to any form of law enforcement any other time were blowing Reacher in. They weren’t even doing it for a reward, just the love of the game! Or, I guess, to be an honorable citizen or whatever.
  • If anything happens to Jacob and/or Tamara, I will be beside myself.

Over to you, Reacher Fanatics.

Are you as invested in the primary drive conspiracy angle as everything else? Any fellow Jacob/Tamara shippers out there? Let’s discuss!

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