With the season finale approaching, Amazon Prime’s Reacher starts getting intense, finally bringing back the one-man action show fans have been craving since the beginning of the season. However, amidst all the thrills and action, it’s the characters in Reacher who shine the brightest, and the second season is no exception in that regard. Accordingly, the second season’s newly introduced character, NYPD Detective Russo’s arc, steals the show and makes the episode one of the most memorable yet in the ongoing season.
In the previous episode, it was revealed that New Age Tech’s shipment of Littlewing missiles was strategically stolen and swapped by A.M., just as he had planned with Langston to avoid suspicion. However, Neagley and Dixon’s timely interference almost foils the plan, but the shipment gets stolen nonetheless by A.M.’s henchmen. Intricately connected with this terrorist conspiracy is the murder mystery of Reacher’s team of special investigators, and NYPD Detective Russo proves his mettle by helping Reacher in the investigation by putting his neck on the line. Several pieces of evidence indicate Reacher’s unit member, Tony Swan, to be in cahoots with Langston and A.M., despite Reacher’s gut feeling telling him otherwise. In the sixth episode, ‘New York’s Finest,’ the much-awaited confrontation between Reacher and Langston takes place, but ends in an anticlimactic way, setting the stage for a potentially eventful final two episodes.
Spoilers Ahead
Did Swan Really Betray His Friends?
The beginning of the sixth episode picks up right from the ending of the previous one, as we find Reacher and Neagley are taken aback seeing the hitman they used as bait to lure New Age he gets blown to pieces, setting off a tripwire bomb. What disturbs them more is the fact that, according to the hitman, Swan was his employer, and later Russo’s statement about classifying the bomb as a military-type IED further points toward Swan’s involvement. Reacher is still willing to trust Swan, going against the judgment of others, albeit a bit reluctantly this time.
Russo also informs them about the possible sighting of Marlo Burns, the director of operations at New Age, who had sent Reacher’s team to an ambush set up by Seropian’s goons. Reacher and his team manage to track down Marlo from her kid’s gaming console’s id. Upon interrogating her, Marlo states that Langston had instructed her to provide the address, and she had no idea about an ambush. The team also learns that contrary to their suspicion, Swan was actually hired as an investigator by Marlo and discovered New Age’s terrorist conspiracy. The duo were on their way to probe further into the rabbit hole until Swan went missing, and assuming Langston’s involvement in that, Marlo got spooked and decided to stay mum. Eventually, Langston came knocking on her door and threatened her with the life of her daughter, sending her fleeing across the country. The team decides to once again use the bait strategy with Marlo, this time to bring Langston out of the hole.
Elsewhere, A.M. murders a female cop after his fake identity almost gets compromised, and the character’s recurring murder sprees that lead nowhere has honestly turned out to be tiring and lazy at this point.
Who Snitched On Reacher’s Team During Their Boston Adventure?
Previously, Reacher and Russo went back and forth regarding the Boston biker gang incident the team had to tackle. Reacher had shared the information about moving to Boston for investigation only with Russo, and naturally, after getting jumped by a biker gang, he suspected Russo to be Langston’s informant. However, it turns out, Russo trusted NYPD Lieutenant Marsh with the information, who had cut a deal with Langston after getting squeezed by him. Russo’s father, a straight-arrow cop like him, was Marsh’s former colleague, and citing the example of how he had to pay the ultimate price for his honesty, Marsh warned Russo and advised him to take Langston’s deal for his own safety. Expectedly, Russo spits on the proposal and gives Marsh a dose of his mind before storming off of the scene.
Reacher and co. make Marlo call Langston and ask for security from Reacher’s team, and eventually Langston gets convinced to personally come to her aid. Finally, it seems Reacher will get his hands on the perpetrator, who has brutally murdered three of his comrades and is possibly also responsible for another’s abduction or murder.
Was Detective Russo Able To Save Marlo Burns’ Daughter?
To keep Jane, Marlo’s daughter, out of harm’s way during the upcoming conflict, Reacher goes to seek Russo’s help. After seeing the way Russo protected Franz’s family during the burial ground shootout previously and how good he is with the kids, Reacher is able to trust him with Jane’s protection. Putting aside their past differences, Reacher shows respect for Russo’s ethics, and in return, Russo honors his trust by agreeing to take care of Jane for the time being. However, thinking about the off-chance that Marsh might have informed Langston about their conversation, Russo decides to take Jane to a more secure location. His suspicion is proven true, as no sooner does he start driving than Langston’s henchmen start giving chase while conducting a drive-by.
Russo informs Reacher about the recent developments as he continues to evade the hot pursuit. Langston arrives with his henchmen at the rendezvous point to meet Marlo but identifies the setup, and a shootout begins. In order to assist Russo, Reacher sends his team—Dixon, Neagley, and O’Donnell—away with Marlo and begins stealthily picking off Langston’s crew one by one. Finally, eliminating everyone standing in between him and Langston, Reacher almost manages to corner him—until a chopper arrives and rescues Langston in the nick of time.
Things get even more problematic on the other side, as it takes some time for Neagley and others to navigate through and reach Russo’s location, and by that point, the chasing henchmen almost catch up to him. To avoid the risk of an accident, Russo decides to make a stand and engages in a gunfight after stepping out of the vehicle. To keep Jane out of harm’s way, Russo decides to cover her and let her run to safety, and while doing so, he kills almost every henchman on their trail. However, in the process, Russo gets fatally shot as well, and by the time Neagley arrives to run over the last crook, it is already too late. Russo dies in Neagley’s arm, and like his father, he meets an honorable end. The episode ends on a tragic note, with Russo’s sacrifice turning out to be the highlight of the entire season so far—almost comparable to the tragic end of Molly Beth Gordon in the previous season. Russo’s death doubles the personal stake for Reacher and his team against Langston even more, who is more likely to meet a brutal end during the final showdown.
