As the third episode of Reacher begins, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) talks to Roscoe Conklin (Willa Fitzgerald) about being scared. Roscoe reveals she was recruited by the FBI and Central Intelligence. She scored the 99th percentile in IQ, but only 80% on the psych eval because she lacks the ability to tolerate horse crap. She yells that she isn’t some scared little girl. Instead, she is pissed that they came into her house that she fixed up with her money in the town her family founded. She agrees to give him the handgun that Gray gave her a few years ago to keep it in the family and she was the only family he had. She warns him it’ll come back to her if she misuses the gun because people know she has it. He promises that nothing will happen to it before telling Roscoe to pack her bags since her house is no longer safe. She receives a message confirming the body found with Joe has been identified.

When they walk outside, Jack immediately aims the gun at a nearby stump and pulls the trigger. He justifies his actions by saying never trust a weapon you haven’t personally test-fired. They meet with Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin) who learns they went to a bar and spent the night together. Although Oscar scolds Roscoe for taking him to a bar, she thinks it was a wise decision since someone wanted to kill them last night. Jack insists everything was fine because he had his eye on Roscoe. They head inside to see what Jasper (Harvey Guillen) has to say. Once inside, Jasper tells them that the victim’s name was Pete Jobling who was a trucker for Southfreight Shipping. He was 43, married, and living in Atlanta although he spent most of his life on the road. His record was clean except for a 2018 traffic violation in Jacksonville that turned into a disorderly conduct charge. Oscar reveals he was defended by Zacarias Perez LLP successfully so there was no conviction.

They look up Perez and see that he has a high-scale firm that likely wouldn’t normally defend truck drivers. As they leave, Roscoe gets a call from Molly Beth Gordon who is the Specialized Administrative Officer with the Secret Service. It is about the call regarding Joe Reacher. When Jack takes the phone and says hello, Molly thinks she is talking to Joe. She is shocked to learn about Joe’s death which might be related to his work. Although she doesn’t know what he was doing in Margrave, she knows he was running a classified investigation. She begins crying while trying to answer their questions. Molly says Joe was the director of the Office of Investigations. No one was working under him since he assigned his current case to himself. She was the only one who knew about it because they were so close. When Roscoe asks what division he was running, Molly says Joe was running their anti-counterfeiting department.

Oscar asks whether there was counterfeiting happening in Margrave, but Joe told Molly he put a stop to all domestic counterfeiting a while ago. He put procedures in place to make it nearly impossible to counterfeit anything without getting caught and had started chasing international stuff. When she offers to get his files, Jack tells her to get hard copies only since he doesn’t want it leading back to her. He also says she shouldn’t tell Joe’s superiors. He kept it top secret for a reason and he trusts his brother’s instincts. Molly says it’ll take a few days to copy everything. Before the call ends, she tells Jack he sounds just like his brother. As they leave the morgue, they talk about counterfeiters and how they cut out the middleman. Jack suspects they’d do anything to protect a limitless supply of money. Oscar doesn’t think it is a coincidence that Hubble was a currency manager for Axis Financials’ Atlanta branch. He will track down some of the suits after hours to prevent them from clamming up.

He wants Roscoe back at the station house pretending to be tracking down the ex-cons who killed the Morrisons. He intends to tell Mayor Grover Teale (Bruce McGill) that her house was broken into so she is eager to get revenge on whoever did it. As for Oscar, he wants to visit Spivey (Patrick Garrow) after getting his address earlier. He wants Jack to go see Zacarias Perez LLP. Once Roscoe makes it to the station, Teale reminds her that the other bodies take a backseat to their departed colleague and his wife. He asks if she is okay after the break-in. She says she is fine, but she would’ve taken some of them with her if she had been homes. Teale instructs her to focus on the criminals on the board since they’re some of the most violent ones Morrison helped incarcerate.

She confirms she is tracking down stolen vehicle reports since the culprit wouldn’t risk using their own ride. Stevenson (Jonathan Koensgen) approaches her seconds later to ask if she was with Oscar this morning. He reveals that Charlie, Paul, and the whole family seem to have disappeared. He wonders if she knows something he doesn’t, but she says no. Stevenson insists he is just trying to figure out what the heck is going on around here. Then, he questions whether going after the ex-cons is best and if Finlay might be hiding something. He doesn’t know what to tell his wife. Stevenson complains about Reacher running all over everyone before Teale calls his name. Oscar goes to Spivey’s house. Spivey doesn’t answer so Oscar eventually breaks in as a neighbor watches. He looks around and eventually checks the phone in the bedroom. The call log shows that Spivey had called Kliner Industries several times. Alton police officers attack him from behind and continue when he hits the ground.

Jack sits down with Perez in his office while using a fake name and cover story. He asks for information about Pete Jobling. When Perez doesn’t want to give him the file, Jack threatens to attack him with the phone. He eventually chokes Perez with the phone cord until he prints the file Jack wants and staples the papers together for him. Jack tells him not to bother trying to figure out his name. If he tries to cause any problems, he will wish Jack had finished strangling him. As Roscoe picks up Oscar from the station, she learns he was assaulted because the cops thought he was a burglar. She nearly gets into a fight with one of the officers. While walking outside, Roscoe tells him they’re going to meet Jack at Jolene’s because he found something. Oscar did as well. Once they arrive, Jack tells them he got everything he needed by using the phone. Jolene (Jenni Burke) brings their food and interrupts their conversation.

Then, Jack explains the dead trucker’s employer Southfreight Shipping was contracted to Kliner Industries. When Pete got into trouble, Kliner paid his legal fees. Oscar tells them about the phone log he found in Spivey’s house. They wonder if Kliner could be counterfeiting. They have the resources to pull it off although they might’ve got the resources by counterfeiting. Roscoe questions how Hubble’s bank fits into this. Reacher intends to break into Kliner tonight to see if he can find something connecting them, but Oscar says they can’t obtain evidence unlawfully since it’d be inadmissible. Reacher argues he didn’t get a warrant to search Spivey’s although Oscar thinks his actions were justified. Jack changes his mind and says he will walk into Kliner’s office and talk to him instead. Oscar is coming since someone needs to keep a clear head. Roscoe urges them to play nice and deal with their mess before she leaves to continue with the rental cars. Jack tells Oscar he is taking the ribs to go. He takes them to the dog that didn’t have water previously.

Jack tells Oscar about the owner not giving him water as the owner comes around the corner to ask what is going on. He explains the dog was his uncle’s and he died a few weeks ago. He didn’t want the dog, but he got it anyway. Oscar tells the owner of the repercussions of the negligent care of an animal in Margrave. He suspects Oscar should have better things to do. Oscar warns him not to make him come back and cite him before urging Reacher to come on. They head to Kliner Industries where they don’t find a single security camera. Jack notices they had a lot of animal feed although Oscar doesn’t think that is suspicious. Oscar tells Jack he’ll do the talking as they walk inside. Reacher notices the game on the wall and suspects they’re a family of skilled marksmen.

Kliner Sr. (Currie Graham) claims to know nothing about the killings besides what he heard at the diner. Oscar asks him about Tanner Spivey and why he called Kliner Industries several times in the past few days. He also mentions Pete Jobling who was a former driver for Kliner. He wants to know about his relationship with these men. Kliner says he keeps lawyers on retainer because his drivers drive too fast and get hyped up on energy drinks. It pays to keep them on the road. As for Spivey, he says the company has several departments. Spivey might have a friend on the loading dock and they could’ve been creating plans to grab a beer after work. Kliner knows Oscar is just doing his job and Reacher is trying to get answers about his brother’s death. However, he is insulted to be under suspicion after everything he did for this town.

Oscar promises his intention was never to insult him. Instead, his intention is to conduct his investigation in any manner he sees fit. Kliner knows Oscar had difficulty settling in and suspects it has something to do with his education or the fact he is a northerner. He says people want to work with Oscar, but not if he is chasing down theories without facts. Kliner insists the evidence trail he is following is a waste of time for him and Oscar. When Kliner tells him to leave it, Oscar says his father’s name was Horatio Finlay. He may think he is everybody’s daddy in this town, but he isn’t Oscar’s. He isn’t going to tell him what leads to chase and how to chase them. Oscar threatens to put his foot up his arse if he keeps talking to his cops and trying to hinder his investigation in any way. While Jack holds in his emotions, Kliner says it is time for them to leave. Two guards enter to escort them out. Back in the car, Jack mocks Oscar and encourages him to loosen up.

Jack insists he did the right thing because Kliner is a bully and bullies need to realize they can be punished too. In a flashback, young Joe (Gavin White) and Reacher (Maxwell Jenkins) prepare to be punished for something they did. Young Joe encourages him not to cry no matter what happens. They’re approached by an officer who tells them that Curtis Bishop had his face bashed in with the object in the bag. His cheekbone was fractured so he had to have surgery. Joe is told the bike tracks led back to his bicycle. Joe grabs the ball, shakes it, and says all signs indicate yes. Back in the present, Jack warns Oscar that he isn’t going to be safe at home anymore and should bounce around motels outside of Margrave. He instructs him to use fake names and travel light while promising you’ll get used to it. Roscoe meets up with Jack who says Oscar is packing his stuff.

Since he knows her family was in farming, he asks her how many cattle a moving truck full of feed can take care of. When she drives by the Kliner land, she only sees a hundred or so and nothing for the size of land Kliner has. Jack explains he is suspicious about the feed Kliner was getting delivered today considering they’re not running a commercial farm. Oscar enters as Roscoe says there is a hotel right outside of Hickory where they can stay under the radar. It is the third exit off 85. Oscar wants to make sure he is on the same page as Reacher meaning they can’t take him out without evidence. Reacher is fine with that because the operation is a hydra. If he cuts off one head, two will grow back in its place. Instead, he wants to uncover the whole operation and burn it to the ground to get justice for Joe. Jack suspects Kliner will be the last one to go. Then, they discuss their three leads, Spivey, Hubble, and Jobling. Roscoe believes they should try speaking to Jobling’s wife since she might know something.

However, Jack thinks Spivey is the key to solving the crime. If he can get him to say who paid him to kill Hubble, they’ll have their answer. He believes he’ll find Spivey at the Blue Cat since he picked to meet there and was likely comfortable at the place. Some of the regulars might know where Spivey is hiding. Jack leaves without them but promises to meet them in Hickory. Roscoe and Oscar have stops to make before going too. He urges her to be safe. When Roscoe leaves the store, she finds KJ (Chris Webster) leaning against her truck. He asks about her time with Reacher and whether there is any talking going on. Roscoe says stalking is not a good way to a girl’s heart. KJ wouldn’t have to do that if she’d just go out with him.

KJ asks whether Jack told her about Baghdad, the civilians he killed, and how his connections helped him get away with it. He insists Jack Reacher is a murderer. She threatens to put him on the ground in handcuffs although he claims he might like that. Before she goes, KJ promises he is only looking after her because he cares about her. Meanwhile, Roscoe goes to an Axis Financial event where he finds people shooting guns. He claims his name is Steve Williams when introducing himself to Debbie Shane (Claire Armstrong). Steve claims his grandmother passed and he wanted to use their office to get some work done, but learned they closed early. He asks her about Axis in Atlanta since life is short and he is considering transferring offices. He claims he wanted to work in currency management. She says it will be harder to transfer to that department in Atlanta.

They had a guy do that for them but left and they discontinued the department. She confesses that Paul Hubble quit the bank about a year ago without giving two weeks’ notice. Later, he goes to a pub where a local woman takes interest in him and realizes from his accident that he is from up north. They joke about the Patriots and their Super Bowl win over the Falcons before Oscar tells her he works in law enforcement. He explains he is on a case he can’t untangle with a rookie he can trust and a veteran he can’t trust to do the smart thing. He tells her he is staying because they’re the only ones trying to make things right. She asks if her questions are bothering him, but he says no and he isn’t great at conversation. He asks where she is from and soon learns the woman is from Marietta where she works in cosmetics. Her instincts tell her he is a good guy so she offers to find a dark corner somewhere and see where the night takes them.

Both are married although she suspects Oscar’s marriage isn’t going great. Regardless, Oscar says he isn’t her guy. Jack arrives at the Blue Cat bar. He notices a patron paying with a $2 bill. Jack says the mailmen have them because the Treasury dumps them on the post office. Gambling addicts get them in change at the racetrack because of the standard $2 bet. He suspects the man wagers more than he makes and could use extra cash. Reacher is right. When Jack gives the man money and asks about Spivey, he is approached by a man who insists he won’t say anything because Spivey is a friend. Jack identifies the man as a southpaw boxer but says boxing has too many rules. He quickly drops the man with punches and learns Spivey left town with some Spanish guys. Reacher heads outside, gets in his car, and turns on music. He notices a car behind him and gets back out.

He goes inside, heads to the kitchen, and grabs what looks like a dirty rag before leaving. The car follows him. Jack wants the car to follow him although not too close. Eventually, he turns down a dark, desolate road, opens the door, and jumps out. Jack watches from a hiding spot nearby as the men get out and approach his vehicle with their guns drawn. He manages to sneak up behind them before shooting both of them. He searches the bodies and takes a big handful of money. He intends to put the bodies in the back of the trunk, but he finds Spivey’s body already back there with a bullet in the center of his head. He curses before the episode ends.

 

Reacher Review

With each episode of Reacher, the story is slowly coming together and the characters are coming into their own. There is a lot going on in Margrave. We’re likely going to learn something new during each episode. In some regards, Reacher shouldn’t be taken too seriously since the characters and dialogue are so far over-the-top, especially everything involving Jack.

On the other hand, this seems to be one of the main reasons people have enjoyed the series. It is a throwback to some of the older action movies with the incredible, invincible heroes. That is likely one of the biggest things that sets Reacher apart from Joe Pickett who was a flawed, more grounded protagonist.

It is easy to see why people wouldn’t like Reacher, but their reasons may be the main reasons others have enjoyed it. It is a decent escape that doesn’t need to be taken seriously. The episode scores a 7 out of 10. All recaps of Reacher will be available on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support the Reel Mockery project by following this link.