I am a big fan of Jack Reacher and have read all the novels of Reacher till date. Generally, I read according to a theme during an year and try to gain perspective in that theme – fiction, non-fiction or a subject. For example, this year I have decided to read Hindi literature. But every year I go away from my theme twice. Once for Michael Connelly – Bosch or Haller and again for Lee Child – Jack Reacher. This post is about the Reacher series on Amazon Prime video. This time, unlike in Season 1, Amazon Prime did not release the series all at once. I waited for all the episodes of Reacher Season 2 to arrive on Prime Video and then watched them in one go. Jack Reacher is not about emotions, he is about violent justice. Guy Russo is about emotion. And this post is about him.

I have tried to keep this post as spoiler free as possible. I don’t give away the story, only talk about a specific episode and a specific character. This season is based on the book Bad luck and trouble. If you have watched the season, please let me know your thoughts. If you haven’t, I hope this post will intrigue you enough to watch it.

We meet Russo when he is following Reacher and team and Reacher notices him. You don’t have him in the book, this is the first time we get introduced to him. Reacher then proceeds to kick his car and break his nose. As the season progresses and through multiple encounters with Russo the character grows on you. He is the shining light of competence and honesty in a thoroughly corrupt Police Department. Everybody around him, including his boss, is on the take. And there are sequences where there are very compelling arguments for him to choose the path of corruption. Don’t disturb the apple cart, so to speak.

Russo doesn’t budge. He has his father’s example to look up to. His father died an honest cop and Russo is always striving to do justice to his father’s values and memories. By the time the fifth episode had gone by in this series,  I was convinced that the bad guys (made up of retired cops) along with their lackeys in the Police force will get what they deserved. After all this is Jack Reacher. And then there was the sixth episode – New York’s finest. Honestly, I thought it was a satirical title. I believed that in this episode the police force and corrupt cops will get their due by Reacher and team. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

When the episode ends with Neagley holding the hand of a dying Russo, the emotions got better of me. This episode really was about the New York’s finest. There were so many easy ways out for Russo. His own boss asked him to switch sides and live a peaceful life with lots of money. He knew that he is in mortal danger because he had confronted his superior with charges of corruption. Still, when Reacher and team needed his help to keep Marlo Burns’ daughter, Jane, safe, he was there for them. There is a high speed chase and shootout and Russo is hit by a bullet.

We know Neagley from season one. She doesn’t like to touch anyone. She doesn’t shake hands. No physical contact is her method. But when the dying Russo extends his hand, she holds it. While life slowly seeps out of him.

Reacher is not about emotions. Reacher is about violent justice. But episode six of Reacher season 2 – New York’s Finest is about emotions. An honest cop sacrificing his life for the right cause and in the process earning respect from a team of special investigators.

Bad Luck and Trouble is one of the best Reacher’s books. In the book series that’s the eleventh book. In my view there is a reason for that. Reacher is a force of nature, an avenging angel who can burn down everything in his path to get to the bad guys and then can kill the bad guys with his bare hands. If you have followed him through the books, you know this much about him by the time you get to the eleventh book. And then a book in which Reacher teams up with some of the finest fighters and investigators is something new to read.

However, in the Prime Video series we have only had one season before this. And a question to ask is – which fight was better? Reacher in jail with the inmates or Reacher and team with the Biker gang in the parking lot. In my view, in the series version Reacher’s invincibility is not that established and we got to see him teamed up with folks who have as much skill, if not raw power, as him. I loved the season, but thought it was too early for an adaptation of Bad Luck and Trouble. New York’s Finest was the best episode of the series and Reacher is not the hero in that.