Corrupt bureaucracy, depraved cops, greedy business tycoons, and degenerate celebs are as recurrent in Reacher’s lore as one would generally expect from crime thrillers and mostly serve to set up conflicts or act as catalysts in the flow of the narrative. Among these varied dregs of society, crooked politicians seem to have a knack of getting in Reacher’s way more often. Perhaps Reacher’s anti-authoritarian stance acts as a magnet to draw out the rot in the system, which was highlighted in the first season with Mayor Teale of Margrave, whose partnership with the shrewd business magnate Kliner drained the suburb from within. In the second season, matching the higher stakes of the narrative, Reacher faces another hurdle in the form of Senator Malcolm Levoy. Initially an accessory in Reacher’s investigation, Levoy’s involvement with the central crisis of the Littlewing conspiracy runs deep and continues until the very end. The details of his involvement and the aftermath of his actions are what we would like to discuss in this write-up.
Spoilers Ahead
How Was Senator Levoy Involved With Project Littlewing?
A terrorist conspiracy shapes up in the second season of Reacher, centering around the aerospace company New Age Tech, and Senator Levoy turns out to be an unwitting enabler in it. Privatization of defense has proven to be much more detrimental than it can be beneficial, and Project Littlewing is an allusion to that. From the intel that Reacher and his team had managed to gather by looting New Age Tech’s storage, Littlewing is revealed to be the company’s biggest deal handed down by the DOD. Although it was initially conceived as anti-missile software to protect commercial airliners, New Age managed to modify it to create a guiding software that can be affixed to missiles and allow bypassing any countermeasure while hitting a target. Obviously, prioritizing its potentially destructive capabilities over its originally intended purpose was a profit-motivated decision taken by the company, and without political support, the chances of Littlewing taking flight were slim. Without the appropriation bill, Littlewing would have been buried under piles of red-tape mess.
Senator Malcolm Levoy’s reputation of being a sell-out politician was well-known, which motivated New Age to buy his confidence in backing up Littlewing and eventually secure congressional votes to make the project a reality. Years of bureaucratic entanglement were solved as Littlewing was fast-tracked into trial, approval, and the eventual mass production level. At that point in time, Levoy probably hadn’t considered the fact that outside the domain of direct government interference, Littlewing can easily fall into the wrong hands, which later happened as New Age’s chief of security, Shane Langston, got the bright idea of committing treason and selling the tech to terrorists.
Why Did Reacher Agree To Take Levoy’s Help?
While investigating the deaths of his former comrades at the hands of Langston, Reacher and his team learned about Levoy’s connection to Littlewing, and in order to extract related information, they set up an elaborate plan to rattle his legislative director, Daniel Boyd. Even though, as a senator of the nation, Levoy pulls the strings on motions, bills, and amendments, he is unaware of the intricate details, which are taken care of by advisors like Boyd. In the process of gathering information, Reacher and O’Donnell inadvertently drop enough hint from their side, which makes Boyd suspicious about New Age’s recent activities as he reports back to Levoy.
Up until Reacher dragged Boyd into the investigation, Levoy had no idea about the terrorist conspiracy going on right under his nose. If news of his involvement were exposed and Littlewing’s capabilities were tested by A.M.’s buyers, Levoy’s political career could have ended and he could have been put on trial for aiding the enemy of the state.
However, Reacher’s arrival brought problems knocking at his door, but at the same time provided a solution as well. Levoy was aware of Reacher’s exploits in Margrave, and knowing how capable he is in dealing with situations like these using extrajudicial means, Levoy considered himself to be in luck to have found a common target. Reacher aimed to bring down New Age, thereby unwittingly helping Levoy clean up the mess he’d created in the first place. Additionally, the involvement of his team meant they could be treated as an expendable unit without drawing unnecessary attention, which could put Levoy in trouble. Levoy decided to propose an alliance to Reacher and promised him every form of help he needed to neutralize the threat Langston and A.M. pose. Considering Langston to be the lesser evil, Reacher decided to join hands with him, despite being skeptical of his dubious machinations.
What Happened To Levoy At The End?
Eventually, Reacher needed the promised assistance as two troubling situations—the death of Russo and the abduction of Dixon and O’Donnell—had left him outnumbered against Langston and his crew. Levoy stood by his promise, and as per Reacher’s request, three former Navy SEALs—part of Levoy’s security detail—were sent to his aid. Thanks to their surprise attack along with Neagley, Reacher was able to free himself, rescue his friends, and put an end to the Littlewing conspiracy by killing Langston and A.M. However, to absolutely no one’s astonishment, Levoy turned out to be your average two-faced politician, as he had instructed the operatives to eliminate Reacher and his team upon the completion of the mission. Thereby aiming to cover up all the loose ends and put a lid on all his misdeeds. Reacher had expected this betrayal and accordingly turned in Levoy and his operatives by previously informing Homeland Security about the entire development. As a result, as the season ends, Levoy’s worst fear comes true, and he gets apprehended by the authorities.
