Reacher: Smackdown
March 6, 2025 11:26 PM - Season 3, Episode 5 - Subscribe
When a DEA tragedy puts the entire mission at risk, Reacher, Duffy, and Villanueva improvise a drastic plan to save their cover.
I don't feel quite right with Reacher just executing, with a shot to the back of the head, some guy he conned into thinking that they were on the same team.
In books, is this what Reacher is?
posted by porpoise at 1:43 AM on March 7
In books, is this what Reacher is?
posted by porpoise at 1:43 AM on March 7
ATF! WTF! Didn't see the French maid being an agent? Were there any signs?
posted by porpoise at 1:48 AM on March 7
posted by porpoise at 1:48 AM on March 7
In books, is this what Reacher is?
It depends. In the books Reacher is basically a psychopath with a moral code. He doesn't kill for no reason, or because he's been insulted. But if he decides it's morally justifiable to kill someone, he does it ruthlessly and efficiently, without a fair fight if possible, and feels no guilt or doubt whatsoever.
The guy he shoots is an enemy combatant who's trying to kill the people on Reacher's side, so he would absolutely kill them first and not feel troubled by the decision.
TV Reacher is more emotional and vulnerable than Book Reacher.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 2:37 AM on March 7 [4 favorites]
It depends. In the books Reacher is basically a psychopath with a moral code. He doesn't kill for no reason, or because he's been insulted. But if he decides it's morally justifiable to kill someone, he does it ruthlessly and efficiently, without a fair fight if possible, and feels no guilt or doubt whatsoever.
The guy he shoots is an enemy combatant who's trying to kill the people on Reacher's side, so he would absolutely kill them first and not feel troubled by the decision.
TV Reacher is more emotional and vulnerable than Book Reacher.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 2:37 AM on March 7 [4 favorites]
> In books, is this what Reacher is?
Reacher is a man with hands the size of turkeys, who does a ton of extrajudicial murders. He's like if Sherlock were also Judge Dredd. Lee Child makes a big effort to assure you that everyone Reacher murders is a Bad Guy. Fundamentally it's kind of a fascist justice-fantasy. Reacher is an old west sheriff and the whole world is his OK Corral. I can't always tell if it's an Englishman's satire of America or an Englishman's fantasy, maybe a little bit of both. So far the one thing that's missing from this season to keep it in line with the Lee Child's Reacher is he hasn't had enough sex with the beautiful women that he always has to save (but who also can often shoot really well).
posted by dis_integration at 10:56 AM on March 7 [7 favorites]
Reacher is a man with hands the size of turkeys, who does a ton of extrajudicial murders. He's like if Sherlock were also Judge Dredd. Lee Child makes a big effort to assure you that everyone Reacher murders is a Bad Guy. Fundamentally it's kind of a fascist justice-fantasy. Reacher is an old west sheriff and the whole world is his OK Corral. I can't always tell if it's an Englishman's satire of America or an Englishman's fantasy, maybe a little bit of both. So far the one thing that's missing from this season to keep it in line with the Lee Child's Reacher is he hasn't had enough sex with the beautiful women that he always has to save (but who also can often shoot really well).
posted by dis_integration at 10:56 AM on March 7 [7 favorites]
> In books, is this what Reacher is?
This is the 7th reacher book. Persuader. I do not know why I read all these books but they are remarkably addictive.
posted by dis_integration at 11:00 AM on March 7 [2 favorites]
This is the 7th reacher book. Persuader. I do not know why I read all these books but they are remarkably addictive.
posted by dis_integration at 11:00 AM on March 7 [2 favorites]
Was that clock really small or are Alan Ritchson 's hands really big? Don't worry, I know the answer.
He's like if Sherlock were also Judge Dredd.
I like this, and also think, hmm, would Ritchson be good for Dredd? Maybe so. Not that I have a problem with Urban if any more ever get made. Also, I think we all know Paulie is not a problem that Reacher has yet to solve, he's gonna fuck him up whenever the time is appropriate, that little baldy guy with the ponytail too. Puts me in mind of Dredd's trip to Hondo City, should ArtW be reading.
posted by biffa at 11:49 AM on March 7
He's like if Sherlock were also Judge Dredd.
I like this, and also think, hmm, would Ritchson be good for Dredd? Maybe so. Not that I have a problem with Urban if any more ever get made. Also, I think we all know Paulie is not a problem that Reacher has yet to solve, he's gonna fuck him up whenever the time is appropriate, that little baldy guy with the ponytail too. Puts me in mind of Dredd's trip to Hondo City, should ArtW be reading.
posted by biffa at 11:49 AM on March 7
Part of the origin of the book series is that Lee Child was laid off from his job in televison, and wrote the first book as a kind of revenge fantasy. But also he was reading a lot of crime fiction, and was fed up with angst-ridden detectives who are always having moral crises, so he decided his hero would just straightforwardly kill the baddies without worrying about it.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 12:02 PM on March 7 [3 favorites]
posted by TheophileEscargot at 12:02 PM on March 7 [3 favorites]
would Ritchson be good for Dredd
Now you've got me considering Ritchson as the Biggest Bond Ever, a mental image I'm finding hilarious.
BigBond tries to cram himself into a DB5
BigBond tries to silently enter a building via the window, only it's not big enough. Now he's stuck.
BigBond keeps ordering vodka martinis, only to snap the delicate glassware with his massive mits.
posted by coriolisdave at 3:52 PM on March 7 [4 favorites]
Now you've got me considering Ritchson as the Biggest Bond Ever, a mental image I'm finding hilarious.
BigBond tries to cram himself into a DB5
BigBond tries to silently enter a building via the window, only it's not big enough. Now he's stuck.
BigBond keeps ordering vodka martinis, only to snap the delicate glassware with his massive mits.
posted by coriolisdave at 3:52 PM on March 7 [4 favorites]
I dunno. I feel like I’m getting headaches from all the hard eye-rolling I do every episode of this season. It’s one “oh c’mon” moment after another, which seems to be lending this season a far more comic book tone than the previous two.
I mean, I don’t care how beefy Reacher is, flipping a @3000 lb. car onto its roof is just silly. And, to add to the silliness, the guy who just flipped said @3000 lb car can’t so much as make Paulie flinch with a hard gut punch?
Did everyone else call Eliot being killed by the bodyguard almost as soon as they took the guy into custody? Especially given Duffy’s dismissive treatment of Eliot?
Duffy’s obsessiveness over finding Teresa has become borderline mania, almost to where it’s like there’s something she’s not telling us. But these characters aren’t written that deep, so I suppose it’s just “drama.”
It’s been entertaining, to be sure. It just feels disorganized and on-the-fly to me.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:00 PM on March 8
I mean, I don’t care how beefy Reacher is, flipping a @3000 lb. car onto its roof is just silly. And, to add to the silliness, the guy who just flipped said @3000 lb car can’t so much as make Paulie flinch with a hard gut punch?
Did everyone else call Eliot being killed by the bodyguard almost as soon as they took the guy into custody? Especially given Duffy’s dismissive treatment of Eliot?
Duffy’s obsessiveness over finding Teresa has become borderline mania, almost to where it’s like there’s something she’s not telling us. But these characters aren’t written that deep, so I suppose it’s just “drama.”
It’s been entertaining, to be sure. It just feels disorganized and on-the-fly to me.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:00 PM on March 8
The punch doing nothing was pretty bad, unrealistic and clichéd.
What bugged me about the car flipping was that it's actually pretty easy for two guys to flip a mid-sized sedan. You're not lifting the full weight of the car, just tipping on two tyres usings its width as a lever: they shouldn't have had to make such a meal of it.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 12:54 AM on March 9
What bugged me about the car flipping was that it's actually pretty easy for two guys to flip a mid-sized sedan. You're not lifting the full weight of the car, just tipping on two tyres usings its width as a lever: they shouldn't have had to make such a meal of it.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 12:54 AM on March 9
> The punch doing nothing was pretty bad, unrealistic and clichéd.
Yeah. Reacher as a character has a problem because he's basically an unstoppable force for justice. He's a superhero. But if he's never in real danger, if nobody is stronger than him, then there's no drama (the superman problem). So they have to establish that the guy is very strong. But even Andre the giant couldn't shrug off a punch to the gut from a guy who it's previously established can pull a door off its hinges They should've had him quickly dodge it and counter punch instead. That would have established that the big scary guy is fast and lethal.
posted by dis_integration at 7:51 AM on March 11
Yeah. Reacher as a character has a problem because he's basically an unstoppable force for justice. He's a superhero. But if he's never in real danger, if nobody is stronger than him, then there's no drama (the superman problem). So they have to establish that the guy is very strong. But even Andre the giant couldn't shrug off a punch to the gut from a guy who it's previously established can pull a door off its hinges They should've had him quickly dodge it and counter punch instead. That would have established that the big scary guy is fast and lethal.
posted by dis_integration at 7:51 AM on March 11
Good lord Michael Anthony Hall just is a terrible actor.
posted by cooker girl at 6:35 PM on March 13 [1 favorite]
posted by cooker girl at 6:35 PM on March 13 [1 favorite]
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posted by TheophileEscargot at 11:27 PM on March 6 [1 favorite]