The 10 Most Badass ‘Reacher’ Episodes, Ranked

Reacher has proved itself as one of most badass shows on television.

A growing series that is steadily cementing itself as the pinnacle of modern television action entertainment, Reacher has become a monumental hit for Amazon Prime Video with both its first and second seasons becoming instant ratings successes.

The series follows Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), a former military policeman with exceptional combat skills who dishes out his own brand of criminal justice while living as a roguish drifter.

Impressing fans of the Lee Child novel series as a faithful and enthralling adaptation, each season so far has followed a set story, with season one seeing Reacher work to uncover a corruption conspiracy in a small town, while season two has focused on his reunion with his former squad as they strive to avenge their murdered friend.

As such, the Amazon Prime series has excelled as a pulsating blend of blockbuster spectacle and mystery thrills which flaunts its penchant for action as its greatest asset.

Release Date: February 4, 2022

Cast: Alan Ritchson , Maria Sten , Malcolm Goodwin , Willa Fitzgerald , Robert Patrick , Serinda Swan
Seasons: 2
Streaming Service(s): Prime Video

10. “A Night at the Symphony”

Season 2, Episode 4

A busy episode from a narrative perspective, “A Night at the Symphony” saw Reacher and his crew make huge inroads into the purpose of New Age and a secretive government defense contract referred to as Little Wing.

Through all the investigative drama and intriguing reveals, the episode was able to glide through its runtime with a great sense of energy, one which was capped off brilliantly when Reacher’s crew were attacked by a mercenary biker gang. The confrontation is a fast, frenzied, and adrenaline-pumping fight scene that cascades into a medley of bone-crunching perfection.

9. “In a Tree”

Season 1, Episode 4

The fourth episode of Reacher’s first season, “In a Tree” proved to be the most important in the context of Jack Reacher’s relationship with Roscoe Conklin (Willa Fitzgerald).

With the duo making plans to meet a contact at Homeland Security, they become intimate in the hotel room they share before following up a series of leads which takes them to a motel where they are shot at by two mercenaries in a car.

Going from the motel into a scrapyard area, Reacher attracts the thugs’ fire as he flees from them on foot while Roscoe tries to flank them.

From a car chase to a shootout which cascades into hand-to-hand combat, it seems Reacher may have met his match when one of the goons has him at gunpoint, but Roscoe arrives in the nick of time to save his life, thus proving that the two made an excellent team.

8. “Picture Says A Thousand Words”

Season 2, Episode 3

While season two of Reacher has struggled to consistently take the hulking hero to the heights of the first season, its third episode, “Picture Says a Thousand Words” was an obvious standout.

It sees Reacher and the dogged Detective Russo (Domenick Lombardozzi) enter into an uneasy alliance, while Neagley (Maria Sten) and Dixon (Serinda Swan) follow a lead that gives them the identity and address of a person of interest.

The discovery leads Reacher and his allies to launch an attack on the target’s house where, having correctly anticipated an ambush waiting for them, they methodically proceed through the house, taking out mercenaries as they go.

Gritty, intense, and completely captivating, the episode’s action sequences were masterfully executed, while the narrative of the episode proved to be important in uncovering who and what New Age was.

7. “Pie”

Season 1, Episode 8

While it wasn’t the best episode of Reacher’s first season, “Pie” did function well as the finale as it resolved the mystery as to who was behind the string of murders and allowed Jack Reacher to face him mano e mano. With KJ (Chris Webster) revealing himself to be the culprit, he reveals to Reacher a livestream of Roscoe being held captive, forcing him to embark on a dangerous rescue mission.

The action starts off in explosive fashion and only grows more intense, with Reacher and Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin) infiltrating the warehouse and picking off the henchmen before Reacher and KJ finally face each other. While their major duel was relatively brief and consisted mostly of KJ taunting Reacher, it did come to a satisfying end with the villain burning to death.

6. “The Man Goes Through”

Season 2, Episode 7

Season two’s penultimate episode had plenty to offer in the wheelhouse of action thrills, with Reacher closing in on Langston (Robert Patrick) only to learn that two of his old comrades have been put in danger, forcing Jack to devise a dangerous rescue mission.

“The Man Goes Through” also contained an extensive flashback sequence showing Reacher and his special investigation military unit as they engaged in a firefight with an army squad dealing heroin.

Later, Neagley and Reacher extract information from a hitman in the hospital, before Neagley finds herself in a vicious skirmish in the morgue with a mercenary disguised as a doctor. Ending on a suspenseful cliffhanger with Reacher giving himself up to Langston to save his friends, “The Man Goes Through” was an engrossing viewing experience from start to finish.

5. “New York’s Finest” (2024)

Season 2, Episode 6

Season two has expressed an appetite to build the action spectacle as it has gone on, with the sixth episode, “New York’s Finest”, providing plenty in that regard. With Reacher and his team beginning to grasp just how deep the corrupt dealings of New Age span, inspiring them to set a trap while Russo tries to go into hiding with his daughter.

The plan goes askew though when Russo and his daughter are targeted as they try to go off the grid, compromising Reacher’s ploy to use Marlo Burns (Christina Cox) as bait to lure Langston into a trap.

The group then splits, with Reacher staying behind to pick off Langston’s men one by one, only to be thwarted by a helicopter when he gets the chance to confront his main target, while the rest of his crew go to Russo’s aid.

4. “Papier”

Season 1, Episode 6

While it wasn’t the most action-packed episode of the series, “Papier” did boast arguably the most brilliant fight sequence of the entire show. With Margrave reeling from another mysterious murder, Jack Reacher travels to New York to meet a contact and learns the truth about the illegal activities going on in Margrave.

While in New York, Jack Reacher finds himself being tailed by a thug, leading to a suspenseful chase sequence through alleyways and buildings before Reacher finally stops to face his pursuer in a stairwell.

The brilliant fight choreography, as has consistently been the case throughout the series, made for a phenomenal spectacle as Reacher and his assailant did battle. With knives, ties, and even bicycle wheels being used as weapons in the vicious brawl.

3. “Burial”

Season 2, Episode 5

The fifth episode of season two, “Burial,” saw Neagley and Dixon pursue a truck carrying three missiles and make a shocking discovery in the process, while Reacher and O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) travel to Washington D.C. to learn more about A.M. from Homeland Security.

While it was a bit slow in a narrative sense, the episode made up for its pitfalls by giving fans not just one, but two impressive action sequences.

Neagley and Dixon’s encounter with the New Age henchmen on the road was brief but engrossing, while the episode flexed its muscles with the action sequence at the cemetery.

When Franz’s (Luke Bilyk) funeral is targeted by two snipers, Reacher and co spring into action as they go from a shootout to an on-foot pursuit before Reacher and Russo continue in a car chase.

2. “Welcome to Margrave”

Season 1, Episode 1

The pilot episode of any series has a hell of a lot of work to do, being responsible for establishing the characters and major plot lines of the show while also introducing viewers to the tone it wants to run with.

“Welcome to Margrave” does all this to perfection, following Reacher as he ventures to the small town of Margrave which he learns is a vile cesspool of corruption when he is arrested for murder and left in general population in prison.

With attempts being made on Reacher’s life, and the life of a banker who was coerced to falsely confess to murder, Jack must fight off the other inmates.

The fight sequences immediately announced the series as an action spectacle to take notice of, operating with an entrancing, eye-popping brutality to the delight of viewers who love their fight sequences as violent and intense as possible.

1. “Reacher Said Nothing”

Season 1, Episode 7

The best episode of Reacher thus far, the penultimate entry of season one thrived as an exceptional depiction of military action which enabled fans to see Jack Reacher at his ruthless, precise best. Operating with an underlying sense of comedic excess, it follows Reacher as he leaks information to the corrupt Officer Baker (Hugh Thompson) in order to spring a trap that will allow him to acquire evidence.

Starting out with a hit squad attack on Officer Stevenson (Jonathan Koensgen) and his pregnant wife, the episode strikes an intense though engrossing tone from its very first moments.

The crux of the episode, being Reacher’s planned trapping and ambush of the hit squad, is a standout highlight of the series thus far, running a little like an amped-up Home Alone movie with Reacher picking off the task force one by one.