Reacher’s 7 Best Running Gags, Ranked Worst To Best
Even though it’s not an inherently comedic show, Reacher has so far found several ways to make use of humor, and some of the gags tend to return.
SUMMARY
Reacher has a dark sense of humor, often making jokes about his violent acts in a playful and subtle way.
Reacher forms a fictional tab with Neagley, who is always willing to pay for his expenses, showing their close relationship.
Reacher has a sentimental side, as seen through his choice of alias referencing a previous season and his attachment to certain people and places.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Reacher season 2.Reacher is primarily an action-packed drama that’s no stranger to the odd explosion, but the show also has a coy sense of humor. Although Reacher‘s main goal isn’t to make its audience laugh, it manages to do so without compromising its identity.
In fact, the show’s running gags are a big part of what makes Reacher so entertaining, even if some of them are slow burners rather than in-your-face punchlines. It’s one of the show’s hallmarks that will hopefully continue into Reacher season 3.
Reacher season 1 started in 2022, with Reacher season 2 starting at the end of 2023 and finishing in early 2024. The show follows an ex-military wanderer called Jack Reacher, and it’s been adapted from Lee Child’s book series. Reacher is a very blunt character who always says what he’s thinking, and sometimes his statements can be taken the wrong way.
However, his lack of filter also lends itself well to a bone-dry sense of humor, sometimes with a dark edge. His latest jokes are always better when they’re shared with a member of the Reacher season 2 cast.
The Use Of The Alias “Jack Margrave”
Reacher shows his attachment to the setting of season 1
It may not be intended for comic effect within the world of the show, but Reacher’s choice of pseudonym in Reacher season 2 is a pleasing reference to its previous installment. Margrave, Georgia is the setting for Reacher season 1, and the main character choosing the name of “Jack Margrave” proves that the thrilling events have not yet faded from his mind.
He doesn’t give the alias just once, it’s a name that resurfaces every few episodes. It not only reminds the audience of Reacher’s time in Margrave but also of his former love interest, Willa Fitzgerald’s Roscoe Conklin. It reinforces the fact that while Reacher seems to be a no-nonsense man on the surface, he also has a sentimental side and cares about the people and places he leaves behind.
Reacher’s Undying Love For Clark Bars
The confectionery is first mentioned in Reacher season 1
Reacher season 1, episode 2, “First Dance,” starts the show’s long-running association with Clark Bars. Reacher tells Roscoe his history with the sweet treat, telling her his fondness for them is due to his ability to always find one during his youth as he moved around due to his father’s military employment. While it seems like quite a benign moment at the time, the bar is mentioned again in Reacher season 2.
Reacher buys a Clark Bar for himself during the second season, but there’s also one among O’Donnell’s offerings after he raids the motel vending machine in Reacher season 2, episode 1, “The Man Goes Through.”
This is the only comedic moment involving a Clark Bar, and it’s only so funny because of its previous mentions. Reacher’s visible disappointment when he misses out on the only Clark Bar on offer is comedic timing done to perfection. It’s especially amusing when it’s considered that Reacher and the remaining members of the 110th Special Investigators Unit have more pressing issues in the scene.
The Ever-Growing Tab That Reacher Has With Neagley
Neagley’s friend sometimes has expensive tastes
Reacher doesn’t have a lot of money, living off his military pension as he drifts across the country. While he does occasionally come into an excess of cash, and usually by questionable means, his lifestyle doesn’t call for huge amounts of wealth.
However, there do come occasions when Reacher needs more money than he currently has access to, as shown at various points throughout Reacher season 2.
When this happens, Neagley is always more than willing to foot the bill for her old commanding officer, with Reacher insisting he’ll pay her back.
The items on the fictional tab can range from food, a brand-new suit, and even a quarter for the diner’s jukebox. The tab can reach staggering amounts, but Reacher’s moments of fleeting wealth always seem to come at the right time to repay Neagley.
Reacher Answering Dead People’s Phones
It’s happened several times throughout Reacher
Reacher has had a target on his back in each of the first two seasons of Reacher, and for various reasons. As a result, there’s a slew of men after him that seems to be endless.
However, Reacher has shown time and time again that he is not a man to be messed with. The people tasked with taking down Reacher often end up meeting their own end instead, and their employers often receive the news in a way that’s quickly becoming a signature move for the show’s main character.
Although Reacher doesn’t actively try to inform his victims’ employers that their men have failed, he can’t seem to resist a ringing phone in a corpse’s pocket.
He’s not a very emotive man, but Reacher looks to take great joy in giving the news over the phone that the attempt on his life was returned in kind, and this time successfully. It may not be an opportunity he looks for, but it’s one that presents itself quite often.
“I Ever Tell You You’re Smart, Neagley?”
“Not nearly enough.”
Reacher isn’t the kind of character to have a catchphrase, but there is a piece of playful banter of which he seems particularly fond.
Every time Neagley has a realization that pushes their investigation forward, Reacher offers her the same rhetorical question, “I ever tell you you’re smart, Neagley?” Her response to the query is always the same: “Not nearly enough.”
The second time the exchange occurs, it feels as if the writers have made some kind of repetitive oversight. By the time it happens a third time, it’s clear that the routine is something of an inside joke between Reacher and Neagley.
There is a very sweet payoff to the gag at the end of Reacher season 2, where Neagley twists the saying into, “I ever tell you you’re a good friend, Reacher?” Alan Ritchson’s character offers the same playful response that’s usually uttered by Neagley: “Not nearly enough.”
Reacher Blaming His Assaults On Inanimate Objects
These exchanges put Reacher’s dark sense of humor on display
Reacher has a talent for distancing himself from many of his violent acts, but usually only so he can be subtlety playful. There are many occasions where Reacher is accused of injuring or killing someone, only for him to offer an alternative point of view.
For example, a man shown fleeing Reacher during an Operation Kite Runner flashback states, “You broke my f****ing leg.” Reacher’s response is technically correct: “I broke the fence. The fall broke your leg.”
Reacher isn’t genuinely correcting his victims in these scenarios, but rather engaging in dark wordplay. There’s no denying the fact that Reacher is responsible for the acts he’s accused of, but playing around with perspectives is obviously just more entertaining for him than saying nothing at all. Some of these scenarios even lead to deaths, and his attitude is exactly the same.
Reacher’s Endless Critique Of Oscar Finlay’s Fashion Sense
He didn’t let up during Finlay’s Reacher season 2 cameo
Malcolm Goodwin’s Oscar Finlay is a man who knows what he likes, and what he likes is to always be wearing tweed.
This is something that Reacher picks up on in season 1, and he is understandably confused by Finlay’s insistence to continue wearing tweed even in the baking heat of Margrave. Watching Finlay try and hold back his annoyance at his choices being questioned is one of the more amusing parts of Reacher season 1.
Reacher season 2 is based on the Lee Child book, Bad Luck and Trouble. Finlay doesn’t appear in the book, marking a change between the TV show and its source material.
Finlay’s cameo in Reacher season 2, episode 4, “A Night at the Symphony,” allows the two men to catch up. As part of the exchange, Reacher takes the chance to point out Finlay’s consistency when it comes to his clothing, admittedly in the much cooler climate of Boston.
Speaking during their reunion, Reacher says, “I see you’re still sporting the tweed. Reliable as ever, Finlay.” The good-natured hazing is a fun addition to the return of a Reacher character who was never expected to be seen again.
