TV REVIEW: Reacher S1E1: “Welcome to Margrave”

Although well established as a novel protagonist, Jack Reacher is not a character that I discovered with the Lee Child novels. In fact, I came into the character somewhat late. I found Reacher through the film adaptation of One Shot featuring Tom Cruise, a movie I liked despite the criticisms about Cruise’s casting as Reacher. The Reacher character, a nomadic military investigator who gets caught up in various mysteries, was intriguing and he felt true to my understanding of military life. The Amazon TV series attempts to move to a more novel-accurate portrayal starring Alan Ritchson, with the first season adapting the first Reacher novel, Killing Floor. The question with this series is whether that greater book accuracy would lead to a better series.

Taken as a TV adaptation, “Welcome to Margrave” had several different goals it needed to achieve. It needed, first and foremost, to sell this new version of Jack Reacher to audiences that mostly see him as Tom Cruise. It needed to set up the season’s mystery and story arc, tease the important story elements without giving away too much, at the same time remaining true to the important parts of the novel. This episode also needed to establish the fictional city of Margrave, Georgia, including the small-town Southern charm and the corruption hiding beneath it. The episode accomplishes all of these points, creating a compelling enough mystery to draw me into the later episodes.

Much of the first episode centers around the mystery of Jack Reacher—who he is, why he’s in Margrave, and what he plans to do about the strange murders in town. Although likely taken from the Child novel, I appreciate that the writers do not give you the full story of Reacher from the start, even if you happen to know him from other media. The episode parcels out the information with careful and judicious pacing, with Reacher only offering it when it makes sense for him to do so. In fact, Reacher hardly even speaks early on. This makes sense in-story, since Reacher knows the legal system well enough not to disclose information unless necessary. But in narrative terms, it also builds interest and anticipation. Reacher becomes a more mysterious character because of this, the equivalent of the silent stranger hero who comes to town. At the same time, it also builds mystery surrounding Reacher’s role in the events of the story and what his true objective is. Alan Ritchson’s physical presence and his nonverbal acting sells these scenes well, doing a good job of making the viewer care about Jack even though we don’t truly know him at this point in the show.

At the same time, the events and people swirling around Reacher are just as interesting. The inciting event is a mysterious murder set in a sleepy Georgia town where murder cases are exceedingly rare. Through no fault of Reacher’s, he’s drawn into a web involving police corruption, financial fraud, corporate conspiracies, and murder. It’s an intriguing and well-thought setup taken from the novel, and the episodic setup allows the series to work with the pacing and development presented in the book. The cast of characters around Reacher is also compelling, especially Detective Oscar Finlay, a Harvard-educated policeman who is forced to rely on Reacher despite his personal misgivings. Rounding out the investigation team is Officer Roscoe Conklin, who is able to bridge the gap between Reacher and Finlay and enable them to work together. Lee Child created some intriguing characters for this story, but the show does a good job of bringing them to life on the screen. With a compelling hero and an effective supporting cast, as well as an intriguing villainous threat, the episode gives a good foundation for the Reacher show to work effectively.

Although I’m not familiar with most of the actors in this series (aside from some in following episodes), the talent of this cast is evident in their performances. The most important casting is Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher, who resembles Lee Child’s vision of the character while also bringing the intensity of the character. He is physically imposing in the way that Reacher should be, but Ritchson also captures the keen analytical intelligence of Reacher as well. He does extremely well in the action scenes, carrying himself nicely in the role of an action hero. Moreover, Ritchson also comes across as believable in the role of a former serviceman, and this comes across in his movements as well as in the way he speaks. Ritchson shows some real versatility in the role as well as emotional range when Reacher is allowed to fully express himself as a character. I suspect that this role may well elevate Alan Ritchson to other future starring roles, but for now he comes across as an excellent Jack Reacher.

The supporting cast around Ritchson is also quite solid, even though I wasn’t familiar with them going in. Malcolm Goodwin is quite enjoyable as Detective Finlay, coming off as an educated man who can be hard-headed and difficult, but who also cares about the people that he serves. Finlay is one of the more interesting characters in this show, and Goodwin gives a good contrast between the Harvard stuffiness and the isolation he feels from the rest of the town. Willa Fitzgerald struck me from the start of the episode, and I like that she comes across as the everywoman of the show. She doesn’t come across as a glamorous star in this role, and that makes her performance as Roscoe more credible. At the same time, Fitzgerald brings an empathy that is important to Roscoe’s character while also displaying a quiet strength against Reacher at times. Marc Bendavid plays Paul, a banker who is caught up with the conspiracy plaguing the town; Bendavid plays an understandably fearful character, and there is a wide-eyed sense of dread that he conveys in every scene he shares with Reacher. All in all, this is a good ensemble of lesser-known actors, and they come together to form a stronger whole in this series.

If you’re interested in military-themed murder mysteries, Reacher gives a very solid start with its first episode. Even if you only know Jack Reacher from the feature film, this show is a good introduction to the character and his characterization feels consistent with the Reacher we saw in the film. At the same time, this works as a show, with a good cast bringing a small town to life, offering mystery and a hint of menace. As of this writing, a second season of Reacher has been greenlit, and in my view, deservedly so. If Amazon can build on what they’ve shown us here in its first season, Reacher has the potential to be a strong series in their stable.

Score: 4.5/5

Director: Thomas Vincent

Writer: Nick Santora

Cast: Alan Ritchson, Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald, Chris Webster, Marc Bendavid, Harvey Guillen, Willie C. Carpenter, Patrick Garrow

Author Profile

Steve Sellers

Steve Sellers had been a fan of superheroes ever since Superman: The Movie. But it took the JSA, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Dragonlance, Lord of the Rings, Twilight Zone, and Chris Claremont's legendary run on the X-Men to make him a writer and a longtime fan of comics, fantasy, and science fiction. Steve is the co-creator of WHITE DRUID & MICHAEL NERO and GUARDIANS OF ELAYIM for Omen Comics, and he is also the creator of BLITZ and SHOCKWAVE for Revelation Comics (an imprint of Omen Comics).