Reacher Season 1: 10 Best Fight Scenes, Ranked
Jack Reacher is the hero we deserve, a massive hulk of a man whose incredible physicality matches his sharp wit and intellect. He's the perfect dude, capable of taking down armies with nothing but his bare hands while outwitting the most cunning of villains.
I've read almost all of Lee Child's sprawling book series featuring Reacher. Each comes jam-packed with intricate plots, violent criminals, and beautiful women. Think James Bond with more violence and fewer jokes.
Reacher's journey to the screen kicked off with the brilliant Tom Cruise vehicle "Jack Reacher," but has since found new life in the form of Amazon's "Reacher," starring Alan Ritchson in the title role. The series, adapted from Child's first novel, "The Killing Floor," is a dream come true and perfectly captures the character's nature without compromise. That includes a flurry of fight sequences that pit our muscle-packing hero against swarms of enemies, often with brutal results.
Which scene is the best, you ask? Read on to see our list of the 10 best fight scenes in "Reacher," Season 1, ranked from worst to best.
10. Thug Battle, Episode 2
In Episode 2, Reacher meets up with a man named Spivey (Patrick Garrow) and finds himself flanked by two bad guys packing heat. One of them directs Reacher into the trunk of a car. "No," he says, facing the two smaller men. "It's too small. It'll be uncomfortable."
A back-and-forth ensues. Reacher lulls the attackers into complacency by explaining the dangers of hesitation. Suddenly, he moves and seizes the gun from the nearest man before knocking him to the dirt. He then smashes the other's hand in the car trunk several times and tosses him aside like a toy. The first man rises to his feet and pulls out a knife. Reacher does the same, and the two hack and slash at each other, with our hero quickly gaining the upper hand. The bad guy head-butts Reacher, momentarily stunning him. Reacher returns the favor, sending the poor bloke to the ground again. The cops arrive to interrupt the standoff, but it's clear Reacher won this round.
We already saw Reacher kick some a** in the premiere episode, so this bit is a little anti-climatic compared to the prison brawls (see below). Still, our leading man uses his wits to outsmart the two henchmen, which is fun. The fact that he wields a knife like a pro is just icing on the cake.
9. Reacher v. Sasquatch, Episode 3
There's a fun bit in Episode 3 where Reacher pokes around at a local bar for a man named Spivey. He spots a customer paying for a drink with a $2 bill, assumes he's a hard gambler in need of cash, and slips him some money in exchange for information. Another customer rises in the background, his massive frame blocking out the light and urging the first customer to retreat into the crowd. Reacher sizes up this new individual, who attempts to push our boy around with not-so-veiled threats.
"Find yourself another bar," Sasquatch (Nicolas Grimes) says, shoving Reacher in the chest. Bad idea.
Reacher notes that the man is a boxer, a southpaw. "You know, the thing about boxing? Too many rules," he says before clipping Sasquatch in the groin and striking him in the face multiple times with his elbow. Sasquatch drops to the ground, blood covering his face. Reacher pulls him up by his collar and immediately gets answers to all of his questions about Spivey. It's a humorous moment that demonstrates Reacher's resolve. Of course, this guy doesn't mess around. If he asks you a question, telling him what he needs to know is probably best.
8. Police Car Scuffle, Episode 5
Throughout Season 1, Reacher finds himself in plenty of sticky situations. In Episode 5, he and his partner-in-crime, Neagley (Maria Sten), find themselves stuck in the back seat of a patrol car with a, um, not-so-good police officer. The bad guys, you see, threaten to torture Officer Ribidoux's (Mika Amonsen) family unless he kills Reacher. Through tears, the young man pulls a gun on his partner, Officer Aucoin (Shane Marriott), and pulls the trigger, blasting his brains all over the window.
Reacher takes drastic measures and uses his feet to kick in the divider behind Ribidoux. Neagley offers support, and they bother Ribidoux enough to force him off the road. The patrol car rolls into a river and takes on water. Now Ribidoux has a choice: stay and drown or let Reacher rescue him and face a lifetime in prison. He chooses the former, and our heroes escape mostly unscathed.
It's an intense sequence that shows Reacher's (and Neagley's) ability to think on the fly and not panic under pressure. No, it's not a fight sequence, so I can't reasonably rank it higher than No. 8, but there is enough kicking and mayhem to qualify it for a lower spot.
7. Alley Fight, Episode 4
Reacher and Roscoe (Willa Fitzgerald) loiter around their hotel and come under fire from two men, played by Vincent Khai and Maxime Laurin. Reacher tells Roscoe to split up and heads off in another direction with the bad guys close behind in a car. Smartly, Reacher ducks into an alley, spins, and shoots the driver when he attempts to follow. The second man continues his pursuit, and finally, he and Reacher come to blows. Surprisingly, our hero struggles to take the much smaller man down and finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Reacher accepts defeat and raises his hands in the air. However, as all bad guys in TV shows and movies do, the thug starts monologuing about how Reacher killed his cousin, and this is his chance for revenge, blah, blah, blah — giving Roscoe enough time to sneak up and shoot him in the head.
Okay, I have a few problems with this sequence. First, there's no way Reacher should have had difficulty taking down a man nearly half his size! Second, in the novels, Reacher handles things independently, one of the aspects that makes him so cool. I'm all for Roscoe chipping in to help the guy, but this felt too much like a contrived beat to give her a heroic moment. Reacher doesn't lose. Ever. It's still exciting enough to warrant mention here.
6. Restaurant Brawl, Episode 5
For the most part, Reacher doesn't take things too personally. He's all business and doesn't often act on emotion. However, in the rare instance when he does, you best get your butt out of Dodge.
KJ (Chris Webster), one of the show's villains, learns this lesson the hard way. Foolishly, the man paints a not-so-kind word on the side of Roscoe's truck. Reacher arrives, looks at the vehicle, and speeds back into town. Then, we cut to a restaurant where KJ does KJ things with his friends. Reacher pulls up a chair, picks at KJ's fries, and asks, "What kind of man are you? A stupid man? A bitter man? Or are you just an insecure, spoiled rich boy hiding behind Daddy's money?"
Fed up, KJ moves to respond, but Reacher slaps him so hard he crumbles to the floor like a paper bag. Then, our boy easily beats the bejesus out of the two other goons and prepares to take down KJ. Unfortunately, the fight ends when Roscoe and Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin) burst in with guns raised.
A quick tease of the final confrontation between the two men in the finale (see below), this scene is fantastic in demonstrating Reacher's desire to help those he cares about.
5. Bathroom Fight, Episode 1
Right out of the gate, "Reacher" tosses us into a world filled with brutal criminals and extreme violence. We meet Jack Reacher, a drifter who wanders into the town of Margrave, Georgia, and fast finds himself in jail (it's complicated) alongside a man named Hubble (Marc Bendavid). Reacher roughed up a batch of prisoners early on (see below), but he ends up in a precarious situation when he's surrounded by half a dozen bad guys in the prison showers.
"If you boys knew what was about to happen to you, you'd leave now," Reacher tells the crew. Alas, no one ever listens to the man, leading to a violent fight during which Reacher tosses his enemies like rag dolls. He even uses his thumb to gouge a man's eye — yikes! No one stands a chance against the muscle-bound wonder, and it's worth asking if any of the bad guys land a single punch during the thrilling sequence. When the guards arrive, they find the bad guys sprawled across the floor, covered in blood and nursing broken noses and limbs.
After this sequence, my enthusiasm for this new take on Jack Reacher went through the roof. The list only heats up from here.
4. Reacher v. Home Invaders, Episode 7
In one of my favorite moments in the series, Reacher takes a page from Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Commando." He covers himself in camouflage, loads a bundle of weapons, and camps inside Hubble's home. Earlier, he convinced corrupt Officer Baker (Hugh Thompson) that he was going to the house for evidence. Knowing Baker will send a group of men to kill him, Reacher goes shopping. He picks up weapons and necessary gear, heads back to Hubble's house, and waits to spring his trap.
Predictably, four men in white, packing shotguns arrive. Reacher executes their driver outside and then systematically kills the others one at a time. He slits throats, stabs, and stomps on necks. The final guy presents more of a challenge, and the pair nearly destroy the home before taking their fight outside, where Reacher gets knocked into a swimming pool. He promptly recovers and blows the guy away with a gun.
Again, the only thing keeping this bit from reaching the top is the shocking difficulty Reacher has with a relatively undersized man. This is Jack Reacher, people! Not some average Joe off the street. Otherwise, the home invasion sequence is one of the more thrilling set pieces from the show.
3. Prison Cell Fight, Episode 1
Our first look at Reacher in action arrives about midway through Episode 1. A group of inmates led by JD (Emeka Agada) begins harassing Hubble. Reacher allows the bullying to go so far before intervening. "What you want?" JD asks when Reacher rolls off his bed and stands before him.
"To give you a choice," Reacher replies casually. "See, you're in my house, fatso, and you didn't ask permission. So you and your friends can leave now, or they can carry your fat a** out in a bucket."
JD attacks anyway, and Reacher knocks him out cold with a few sharp blows to the head. As icing on the cake, Reacher walks out with a new pair of sunglasses, courtesy of JD's men. Officially, this is when newbies to Lee Child's franchise realize Reacher's awesomeness. Bad guys, beware! If Reacher tells you to step aside, you must do as commanded, or you'll end up drinking through a straw for the rest of your life.
The prison cell bit is unique in its simplicity. Reacher takes a few swings and easily overcomes an attacker. It's beautiful to watch and an easy entry into the top three.
2. Stairwell Smackdown, Episode 6
By Episode 6, Reacher finds himself knee-deep in scumbags. Following a meeting at the police precinct, Reacher (decked out in a shirt and tie) catches a ponytailed thug shadowing him and quickly sprints down an alley. A brief chase ensues, and the two men eventually trade blows next to some trash bins. Ponytail man pulls out a knife and does the typical hack-and-slash move, cutting our boy in the belly. Thinking quickly, Reacher leaps over a fence, arms himself with a displaced bicycle wheel, and fends off his enemy. He catches Ponytail's hand in the spokes, cracks a few bones, and lands a good shot to his face. When that effort proves futile, Reacher removes his tie and uses it to slap away Ponytail's attacks.
Then, Reacher wraps the tie around the bad man's neck, breaks his foot against a guard rail, and leaps over the side of a stairwell, still clutching the piece of clothing. Reacher hangs five feet above the platform below, using his weight to choke Ponytail to death. His mission accomplished, Reacher drops down and wanders away to the tune of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky."
I've seen a lot of movies and TV shows in my day, and I'd be hard-pressed to remember one where a character died via strangulation by a tie. For that reason alone, it gets the No. 2 spot. Only one scene tops this fight sequence ...
1. Reacher v. KJ, Episode 8
"Reacher" takes its time developing its characters and complex plot. Thankfully, it builds to a satisfying climax that gives every character something to do, or in this case, someone to fight. Roscoe takes on Teale (Bruce McGill), Finlay battles Picard (Martin Roach), and Neagley goes toe-to-toe with a couple of faceless goons. Reacher locks horns with KJ, and following their brief dustups earlier in the season, their final confrontation pays off in a big way.
With fire erupting all around, the pair exchange gunfire. KJ talks smack long enough to give Reacher time to sneak up behind him, and a furious fight commences. KJ charges with an axe, and Reacher swiftly dodges his attacks and eventually tosses him into a pile of burning boxes, leaving him screaming and essentially charbroiled.
"It's over," Reacher declares.
Indeed, following a lengthy investigation, a dozen fight sequences, and violent encounters, "Reacher" goes out with a bang. The heroes defeat the ruthless villains of Margrave and live to see another day. Some of the previously mentioned fight scenes may be better, but Reacher versus KJ is the ultimate cherry atop a delicious cake. Now, onto Season 2!