‘Reacher’ Season 4, Episode 5 Recap & Review: The Season Finally Finds Its Momentum

This article contains spoilers for Reacher Season 4, Episode 5

Through the first four episodes of Reacher Season 4, fans have been treated to what they’ve come to expect: fights, quick decisions, more fights, and chaos. However, something has been missing, as if the action and drama aren’t quite connecting.

In Episode 5, “Bridge,” that changes: more action, better dialogue, and a faster pace make it feel familiar and fun.

Reacher Realizes Lila and Amisha Have Been Playing Everyone

After Reacher (Alan Ritchson) arrives at Lila Hoth’s (Agnez Mo) room and finds her bodyguards and four other men dead, the cops arrive. Reacher briefly escapes, knowing he will be blamed for the deaths of all the men. After talking to Tamara Green (Sydelle Noel) on his phone, Reacher realizes he’s been duped.

Lila and her mother, Amisha (Anggun), are responsible for the death of Jacob Merrick’s (Christopher Marquette) nephew. They’re also behind the real threats following the mysterious flash drive.

Green, Merrick, and Russell Plum (Kevin Weisman) find the missing drive and the deceased Anna Merrick’s (Karen Kwong-Chip) phone in Jacob Merrick’s mailbox, which she had mailed to the only person she could trust. However, Lila and Amisha arrive, and an exciting car chase begins.

It ends on a bridge, with a standoff between our heroes, the Hoth ladies, and the police officers Green called while trying to escape. Lila and Amisha, backs against the wall, choose to jump off the bridge into the river, which they survive.

Reacher is caught, arrested, and thrown in a cell, but it doesn’t take long for someone to try to silence him. He, of course, escapes in classic Reacher style, grabbing the man through the bars and pulling his head THROUGH the bars, cleaving off an ear in the process. I have to give the show props for that little bit of violence, which is both downright funny and new.

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He reconnects with officers Merrick and Green and journalist Plum, who discover only a photo on the drive from Congressman John Sampson’s (Marc Blucas) past. There is an address on Anna’s phone, in one of the last texts she received, which included videos of her son being tortured.

A quick call to the Congressman yields no leads. So, with the cops again on their tail, they split up, with Reacher and Green headed to the address they found, which turns out to be a restaurant closed for renovations. There, they discover it was the spot where Lila and Amisha tortured Jacob’s nephew, and where he ultimately died.

As they investigate the gruesome discovery, they are surprised to see Lila, who calmly gestures behind her, revealing Amisha holding a knife to Jacob’s throat. Lila demands an exchange: the drive for Jacob, or they will kill him. It’s as good a place as any to end the episode.

Reacher Season 4, Episode 5, Delivers the Adrenaline

As far as action, pace, and story, this was by far the best episode of Reacher Season 4 so far. There were also a few well-executed action scenes. One late in the episode shows Green and Reacher avoiding the cops and being forced to rappel down a wall together using only one harness. Green falls, smashing into a glass window that is about to give way, only for Reacher to jump on it with her and crash below to escape the police.

The only odd part of the episode was the interaction with Jacob’s uncle, a police officer, which felt completely out of place. It was as if they felt it necessary to force more emotion, even though it wasn’t needed.

Overall, Episode 5 felt like a classic Reacher episode. It was fast-paced and moved the story from point A to point B in an entertaining, exciting way. With only three episodes left in Season 4, it will be interesting to see whether the show maintains this energy or shifts back to what we saw in Episodes 1 through 4.

Reacher Season 4, Episode 5, is now streaming on Prime Video. New episodes premiere every Wednesday through Sept. 16.