Reacher Season 2 Finale Explained: No More Bad Luck And Trouble

This post contains spoilers for Season 2 of "Reacher."

The penultimate episode of "Reacher" season 2 ends on a cliffhanger, where Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) makes an impossible choice: he walks straight into the lion's den to save his dear friends. Things haven't been rosy for Reacher and his pals since the new season's inception, as the catalyst for the group banding together was the death of their mutual friend, Calvin Franz (Luke Bilyk), who served alongside them in the 110th Special Investigations Unit.

At the end of season 1, we see Reacher leaving Margrave to continue his wandering lifestyle, but the nature of this new case forces him to contend with his self-inflicted loneliness and tendency to keep people at bay. With his friends' lives on the line, Reacher must completely embrace his maverick spirit and throw a comically evil dude out of a helicopter to avenge his dead friends. And in typical Reacher fashion, he does.

The latest season's finale is pitch-perfect in several ways. The bad guys are defeated, the nuclear missile threat posed by Project Little Wing is averted (and put to a much safer, better use), and the group gets to spend one last moment near a bonfire before parting ways. No loose ends or unanswered questions linger in the air, setting up the perfect foundation for any stories that will be adapted from Lee Child's "Reacher" book series in season 3. Let's crack our muscles and dive deeper into the series finale, to understand why it ends with a bang, not a whimper.

Franz's death casts a long shadow over every episode in season 2 — a truth that feels uglier with the disappearance of three other 110th members. Later on, all three missing members are revealed to be dead, including Tony Swan (Shannon Kook), who initially seemed to be directly involved with the nefarious plan orchestrated by New Age CEO Shane Langston (Robert Patrick). However, Reacher and his team learn that Swan isn't helping Langston but is actively trying to thwart his schemes, confirming Reacher's hunch that Swan could never go against his morals and is still the upstanding man he knew.

In episode 7, Langston kidnaps O'Donnell (Shaun Sipos) and Dixon (Serinda Swan) and asks Reacher to come to his base alone. Reacher agrees while lying that Neagley (Maria Sten) died during an altercation with one of Langston's men in the hospital. This is not the first time Reacher has made such a ballsy move — in season 1, Reacher slaps a dude across his face and smashes plates on thugs in a crowded restaurant after they disrespect Roscoe. While the Langston situation is pretty serious, as there are several lives at stake, Reacher approaches this crisis with the same dogged determination he is known and loved for. He tells Neagley that he is not afraid of death, and must do what he can to save the people he cares about. So he walks into Langston's base alone, with just a paper clip concealed in his palm.

While Neagley plays a seminal part in saving the day (more on that later), Reacher is able to distract Langston long enough to break his cuffs and salvage the situation in the nick of time, saving his friends in the process.

Yes, Reacher is the focal point of his series, and the man has successfully delivered on all fronts this season, be it emotional growth or his evolution into a figure who always does the right thing, irrespective of circumstances. However, Neagley is the ace of the season finale, as she swiftly snipes all of Langston's men around the base and breaks in to help Reacher with the mission. While things escalate after Langston attempts to throw Dixon out of a helicopter (in the same manner he killed Franz), Reacher and Neagley work deftly together to turn things around in no time.

It is not a stretch to state that Neagley is, in many ways, pivotal to Reacher's story, as she provides him with a solid emotional anchor he can rely on when things get ugly. Terrifyingly competent and ruthlessly thorough in her job as a private investigator, Neagley was also instrumental in solving the Margrave case and she helps Reacher unlock the dizzying mystery that unravels in the latest season. After all, her ATM message is the catalyst for the show's events, and she is constantly by Reacher's side during every fight, scuffle, or sticky situation he finds himself in. While the rest of the gang contribute significantly (including Guy Russo, who helped Reacher despite his misgivings and sacrificed himself for a noble cause), the New Age case would have been impossible to crack without Neagley's skills and general presence.

There's a running gag in season 2, where Reacher often tells Neagley, "Have I ever told you how smart you are?" "Not nearly enough," is her perpetual answer, and this statement couldn't be more true. No matter how many times the two of them have this exchange, it never gets old. 

Season 2 closely follows Child's "Bad Luck and Trouble," barring a few changes introduced for the sake of brevity or dramatic emphasis. In the book, Child frames Reacher's actions in the telltale mold of unpretentious badassery that the character is ingrained with, and this aspect translates well onto the small screen. Reacher bares his soul this season and expresses vulnerabilities without compromising with his innate need to be free, which makes the ending even more compelling, and true to who Jack Reacher is.

Earlier in the season, Langston calls Reacher and asks him what he wants after the latter thwarts his schemes time and again. "I want to throw you off a helicopter," Reacher declares in a deadpan tone, and this is exactly what happens in the season finale, where Reacher flings him off the chopper to avenge Franz's death. Langston gets a taste of his own medicine and plummets to his demise, and the crew wastes no time and moves on to the next target, A.M. (Ferdinand Kingsley). One of the most delightful aspects of "Reacher" is the absence of long monologues to draw out the inevitable: After they corner A.M., and he confirms that he facilitated the terrorist missile scheme, they shoot him without any hesitation whatsoever.

Soon after, crooked politician Senator Lavoy is arrested for sanctioning Project LittleWing, the helicopter consisting of Langston's accomplices is blown above the river with the same LittleWing missiles, and Reacher gives away all the money retrieved from the operation to the families who lost their loved ones. The ending feels extremely cathartic, especially when Reacher poses for a group photo with his friends one last time before parting ways, ready to take on another insane adventure waiting to cross paths with him.