Warning: Major spoilers for Reacher season 2 below!
In episode 6, Amazon’s Reacher season 2 features a scene where the show hilariously ends up calling out its own blatant character stereotype. Following episode 5’s explosive ending, Reacher season 2, episode 6 begins with Reacher and his team setting out to find Marlo Burns. While their investigation progresses, and they get closer to finding Burns’ whereabouts, Russo visits his superior, Marsh, and confronts him for helping Langston track Reacher and the surviving members of his 110th Special Investigations Unit.
Russo’s conflict with Marsh proves that he never had ill intentions and was only trying to help Reacher and his team solve the case. Unfortunately, before the episode’s credits start rolling, Russo meets a tragic fate. Before walking through his final moments, Reacher season 2, episode 6 does an incredible job at making Russo memorable by highlighting his acts of heroism. At the same time, it also calls out one of its own character stereotypes, which ultimately makes Russo’s demise more heartbreaking.
Why Dixon Offers To Kill Swan In Reacher Season 2
While Reacher struggles to come to terms with the idea that Swan might have been a traitor, Dixon strangely assures that she will kill Swan for him.
Reacher Season 2 Admits Russo’s Character Is A Common Stereotype
Reacher season 2’s episode 6 has a scene where O’Donnell says that Russo is “like that angry, pissed-off detective from that movie.” When Neagley asks him, “Which one,” he responds, “All of them.” By highlighting how David calls Russo a stereotypical pissed-off detective, Reacher season 2 blatantly admits that Russo’s characterization is too clichéd and archetypical. This meta-commentary in the Amazon series not only adds a touch of humor but also establishes how the show is self-aware of all the familiar character tropes it portrays. However the self-criticism also has a deeper meaning as it makes Reacher season 2, episode 6’s ending all the more tragic.
Reacher’s Russo Admission Makes His Death Even Sadder
Almost throughout Reacher season 2, Jack Reacher and his team look down on Russo by pigeonholing him and never getting him too involved in their mission. Even when Russo covers their tracks using his position of authority and protects them from landing in trouble with law enforcement, they underestimate him. A part of Reacher even suspects Russo could be the dirty police detective reporting their plans to Langston. However, after starting as an “angry, pissed-off detective from that movie,” Langston proves his worth by putting his life on the line to save Marlo’s daughter.
Unfortunately, as soon as he rises above the archetypes associated with his character, he meets a tragic fate after getting shot multiple times by Langston’s men. This makes his death even sadder because it highlights how he was always misunderstood and had to face doom to prove his competence and commitment to serve justice. Despite Reacher and his team’s initial dismissal, Russo’s ultimate sacrifice and the fact that he met the same fate as his father in Reacher season 2 highlight the depth and complexity that has always existed underneath his stereotypical and seemingly one-dimensional exterior.
Reacher
Produced by Amazon Prime Video, Reacher adapts Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series to live-action. The series follows veteran Military Police Officer Jack Reacher as he unravels a dangerous conspiracy in the fictional town of Margrave, Georgia. Played by the towering Alan Ritchson, the titular hero collaborates with officer Roscoe Conklin (Willa Fitzgerald) and Chief Detective Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin) to clean his name and save Margrave from crime and corruption.
- Release Date
- February 4, 2022
- Cast
- Malcolm Goodwin , Maria Sten , Willa Fitzgerald , Bruce McGill , Chris Webster , Alan Ritchson
- Genres
- Drama , Crime , Action
- Seasons
- 1
- Story By
- nick santora
- Writers
- Nick Santora
- Network
- amazon prime video
- Streaming Service(s)
- Amazon Prime Video
- Franchise(s)
- Jack Reacher
- Directors
- Nick Santora
- Showrunner
- Nick Santora
