(TV SERIES) Reacher Season 1 - An Awesome Series Based on Popular Jack Reacher Novels by Lee Child

Few days ago, I noticed there was this new series in Prime Video which was interesting for me as I quite liked the movies based on the titular character. I wanted to find out if this series is as good as the commentaries seemed to hint. OK, why don't I just start with it.

Brief Story Line

Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Titans TV series etc), a retired army investigator arrived in the small town of Margrave, Georgia to have a bit of fun, only to be detained by the police for suspicion of murder. The Chief Detective Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin - iZombie TV series etc) was unable to get anything from Reacher but did find out that he was really perceptive. A rookie officer named Roscoe (Willa Fitzgerald - Scream TV series etc) was doubtful of Reacher's involvement.

When another body was found, mayor Teale (Bruce McGill - Rizzoli & Isles TV series etc) decided to take charge of the investigation. Meanwhile KJ (Chris Webster) who was the son of Margrave's benefactor Kliner (Currie Graham), was always on Reacher's back as he suspected of him having to do with the murders. Reacher had no choice but to cooperate with Finlay and Roscoe to find out what actually happened in Margrave.

So how would the story conclude? You can find them all in this series.

End of Brief Story Line

Now that was really entertaining. This series started off brightly and did not take long to get to the interesting part. What made me immediately hooked was how fun to watch Reacher met with Finlay for the first time as well as office Roscoe. These three had wonderful dynamics that were really amusing and very likable. It was really nice to see Reacher and Finlay bantering (especially whenever Reacher gave short annoying answer to Finlay) and Roscoe's strong personality & intelligence despite being a rookie cop. 

Meanwhile the crime itself was quite intriguing. Although it is not the complicated whodunit type, but the investigation was enjoyable to see as things were revealed little by little. In case you are not aware, Jack Reacher is a character created by Lee Child and this first season was based on the first novel of the series titled Killing Floor. From what I read, it is pretty faithful to the plot of the book including most of the characters.

What surprised me in here was the quite abundant amount of action which were well executed for TV series. Alan Ritchson certainly have the experience in performing the action sequence and his fight skills seemed good as well. Having a very big bulky body also seemed to suit this really strong character (which was completely different from the image of Tom Cruise in the previous adaptations of 2012 movie Jack Reacher and its sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back). In addition to Ritchson's convincing performance, Malcolm Goodwin and Willa Fitzgerald were equally amazing. All three formed a wonderful chemistry that was a joy to see.

Aside from those names, the series also had few recurring characters/guest stars that I was familiar, such as Kristin Kreuk (Smallville TV series etc), Maxwell Jenkins (Lost in Space TV series etc) and Maria Sten (Swamp Thing TV series etc) who was actually part of the main cast but only appeared in latter episodes. Fun trivia: Kristin Kreuk and Alan Ritchson have played together in Smallville as Lana Lang and Arthur Curry/Aquaman respectively. 

Overall this is a really good show. The characters were engaging and interesting while the investigation was quite intriguing and the action were amazing (with some were really violent). Oh the series have few graphic nudity scenes too, so just be ready for them. It is only having 8 episodes which felt perfect and not too long, with duration of +/- 50 minutes each (all episodes were released on 4th February 2022). My favorite episode would definitely be the 7th while the 8th was a close second. I understand the series has been renewed for a second season which I am truly looking forward to (even though likely with new cast except obviously for Alan Ritchson). It also received high praise from critics and audience. So if you are interested in watching a crime investigation series, with plenty of good action sequence and interesting lead character, then you definitely should give this a try. Likely you would enjoy this as much as I did.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars