Summary
Reacher season 2 has the opportunity to prove that it’s superior to Jack Ryan in terms of action and storytelling. Jack Ryan’s second season had a slower pace and lacked the thrilling action of the first season, giving Reacher an opening to shine. Reacher season 2 has received positive critical reviews and is leveraging its action-genre elements and charming protagonist to create a standout season.
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Reacher season 2, which stars Alan Ritchson as the titular ex-military police officer, will finally settle a 26-year-old action character debate. When it comes to TV action heroes, self-proclaimed hobo Jack Reacher is often the smartest and strongest guy in any given room. From his strong moral compass to his intriguing military backstory, Jack Reacher has all the key components needed for an action star. But Lee Child’s enduring, retired Army vet isn’t the only one primed to survive high-stakes missions and life-threatening conspiracies. In fact, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan gives Reacher a run for his money — or ATM card.
If anything, Amazon Prime Video has become home to “dad TV” between its adaptation of Child’s Jack Reacher series and Clancy’s Jack Ryan novels. The latter TV series debuted in 2018, and stars John Krasinski as the titular former U.S. Marine officer-turned-Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) financial analyst. With four seasons under its belt, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan has had its fair share of hits and misses. While both Amazon Prime Video series have proven to be mega-hits for the streamer, viewers often pit the Jacks against each other. Now, Reacher finally has a chance to prove that he’s Ryan’s superior.
Reacher Can Prove He’s Better Than Jack Ryan In Season 2
While the first season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan debuted to solid reviews, the show’s sophomore outing suffered, failing to impress critics or audiences (via Rotten Tomatoes). Although Jack Ryan season 2 puts espionage first, it trades thrilling action set-pieces for a plodding pace, which ultimately undermines the best aspects of the show’s first season. Not only is season 2 a more predictable, paint-by-numbers spy thriller, it turns Krasinski’s Jack Ryan into a less morally complex figure. Instead of exploring what worked, Jack Ryan’s second chapter tries to go rogue — ironically, to its own detriment. That past failing also gives Reacher season 2 an opening.
Based on critical reviews, Reacher season 1’s incredibly faithful adaptation of Child’s Killing Floor impressed critics more than Jack Ryan’s first Amazon outing. Now, with Jack Ryan season 2 not fairing all that well, Reacher has the chance to truly one-up its action-genre competition by producing two stand-out, back-to-back seasons. So far, the feat seems achievable. Full of sophomore-outing confidence, Reacher season 2, which adapts Child’s Bad Luck and Trouble, knows exactly how to leverage the show’s action-genre elements and charming protagonist. Several installments into its eight-episode second season, Reacher is staying strong with a fresh score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Jack Ryan Is Ahead Of Jack Reacher – For Now
When it comes to who wins the battle of Amazon’s Jack shows, it seemed like Ryan was ahead of Reacher. With Reacher season 2’s apparent success, the tides might just be turning. While Krasinski and Ritchson capture the modesty and brawn of their respective Jacks with impressive precision, Reacher has always boasted better action sequences. For one, Jack Reacher is willing to dip into a moral gray area if it means pursuing justice; Ryan may balk at rigidity and rules, but he works more inside the system than the ex-military drifter. Even judging by just two seasons, Reacher serves up more narrative variety.
New episodes of Reacher season 2 air weekly through January 19, 2024.
While Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan has four full seasons to its name, both action series are based off long-running, sprawling source material. With just over 30 books to his name, Jack Ryan is a few novels more established than Jack Reacher, but who’s to say how the characters’ on-screen narratives will pan out. Reacher season 1 saw its titular character investigating a small-town counterfeiting scandal, rife with corruption and murder, but the stakes weren’t like those of Jack Ryan’s CIA schemes. In season 2, Reacher smartly chooses a more personal plot, though one with far-reaching implications, allowing its protagonist to grow more than Amazon’s Jack Ryan.
What Reacher Season 2 Must Do To Beat Jack Ryan
According to series’ star Alan Ritchson, Reacher is “building a world.” In a media landscape that’s full of cinematic universes, it only makes sense that Reacher would set itself up for future success. For starters, viewers are eager to know if fan-favorites like Roscoe and Finlay will return in future seasons. While that’s not the case in the source material, those sorts of changes make sense for television, which, more so than Child’s standalone books, would excel by establishing a cast of familiar, returning faces. Between building a world of characters and crafting thrilling fight scenes, Reacher could easily top Jack Ryan.