Television Review

Reacher: Season Three (2025) • Prime Video — the muscular hero we need in an age of antiheroes

Reacher goes undercover to infiltrate a smuggling ring led by a seemingly legitimate rug importer…

In a world where television has filled itself with “complex” (i.e. cynical) and “morally ambiguous” (i.e. psychopathic) anti-heroes, it’s nice to see an action star fully embrace the good-guy role. That’s what Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) gives us in Prime Video’s popular action series, Reacher.

We first met Jack Reacher decades before this show even existed. The former military special investigator and physically gifted fighter has starred in a series of thriller novels written by Lee Child since 1997 and by his brother, Andrew Child, since 2020. Our live-action introduction to this imposing 6'5″ giant was, somewhat ironically, played by Tom Cruise (who stands at 5'7″) in the film Reacher (2012) and its poorly received sequel Reacher: Never Go Back (2016).

After listening to reader feedback that Reacher’s height and muscular frame played a big part in…