'Reacher' Loses Its Charm

When the first season of Reacher came out in 2022, it truly felt like a breath of fresh air. At a time when the world was still recovering from the Covid lockdowns, superhero fatigue had set in, and woke storytelling and diversity quotas ruined most popular franchises, here was a straightforward show about a big, strong dude singlehandedly taking on a small army of bad guys and reestablishing order. Moreover, in its casting and television format, it did justice to the source material, presenting a physically large and imposing Alan Ritchson as the actual Jack Reacher as he’s written in the books, not a diminutive Tom Cruise acting more or less like Tom Cruise.