I enjoyed the first 4 episodes so far, hope to finish it up tomorrow.
Watched the first ep last night. Really enjoyed it. Though if the massive coincidence isn’t explained better than the single line mentioned last night I’m not sure how I’ll feel as this plays out. Still, it pulled me in already so I’ll stick it out no matter.
It definitely is, but doesn’t his brother send Reacher a message talking about the dead blues musician? I always interpreted that as his way of sending Reacher a coded “come help me” message, fitting with how his brother is depicted
So far I like it! Like most of the books, I think the middle is a little slow, but with 2 episodes left I’m looking forward to the finale.
I think Alan Rutchson is doing a good job. However, whenever I see him I think of Thad from Blue Mountain State, and it’s really really hard for me to unsee Thad.
Well, I finished it. I thought it was excellent. Yeah, there are some stretches of credibility but this is a larger than life hero story. The books are constantly guilty of this. You either go along for the ride or not. If you want a true crime documentary, this is not that. Its fantasy revenge porn.
Reacher reminds me a bit of Amos from The Expanse, especially in his matter-of-fact threats and descriptions of violence ("… or I would have killed them in 10 seconds"). I am enjoying this quite a lot!
Yeah, three episodes in and I’m in for the full ride. Very well made.
My brother and I came to that same conclusion. I was half expecting an “I am that guy” scene in Reacher. As it was they came pretty close.
Can someone explain the appeal of the show/books because this sounds like a really boringly competent protagonist.
Like I mentioned above, its revenge porn. When people get into messes that they have no way of surviving, Reacher is the best tool you can find for that. He is extremely competent, which matters because the things he goes up against would not be survivable by 99.999999% of the people in the world.
He’s a pretty boring protagonist. That said, I enjoy the books (and show). The appeal isn’t “will he get out of this situation”, but “how will he get out of this situation” (and it’s one issue with any film/TV adaptation; many scenes will have a long internal dialogue of Reacher assessing a situation, and then a few seconds of action).
And, I wouldn’t say the books always portray him in a flattering light. He’s a loner. He has somewhat stone age views on humans. Sometimes he leaps to conclusions. He doesn’t cooperate well. But yeah, he’s going to win any fight he’s in.
I would say the only real comparablr character in fiction I can think of is the Parker novels by Richard Stark (I don’t know if Child has talked about them, but they’re a clear inspiration).
I find both series enjoyable reading, but not because of compelling interpersonal drama. They’re formulaic, but there’s a place for that.
But, like, is it because the answer is wizz bang action, or McGuyver-esque cunning improvisation, or martial arts? All of the above? And what’s the tone?
Think Taken, best way i can think of it. Hypercompetent investigator and savant level fighter/combat specialist, and kinda Amos in every other way
Mary Sues can be effective. There’s a reason the trope has its own name. :)
-Tom
What if Sherlock Holmes was also Drax the Destroyer?
Hmmm a mix. Definitely a fair amount of improvisation. He almost never uses any proper martial arts; it’s usually brawling. Head butts, stomping knees, leveraging his size.
As for tone. It’s pretty pulpy. Closest character I would say is Jack Bauer (and, similar structure in terms of plots maybe not hanging together amazingly well). The show seems to play up his detetective skills more than a lot of the books.
Not for everyone, definitely not high literature. But I’ve read all of them.
I think that’s underselling the pulpiness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in, but come on - within 10 minutes of the first episode he and the pretty blonde are already flirting with each other. It’s full of cliches and tropes, but they pull them off without it being eye-rolly, at least for me.
It’s the kind of turn-your-brain-off fun TV that I enjoy.
Are you telling me you didn’t roll your eyes when the Mary Sue* suggested the coroner “enchance” a crime scene photo? I mean, I know he’s played by Harvey Guillen, so he’s got a lot of work, what with tending all those loveable vampires on What We Do in the Shadows. But it never occurred to him to use the “enchance” function on his crime computer to determine the murder weapon? That’s some sloppy writing right there! What kind of coroner doesn’t know to enhance his crime scene photos?
-Tom
* I think it was Reacher. It might have been Roscoe, but she’s a bit of a Mary Sue as well, otherwise they wouldn’t be soul mates.
The kind who spends most of his day playing videogames, seems like.
That was no videogame! That was the original Centipede.
-Tom
But would Magical Enhancement impress the audience nearly as much if the coroner simply enhanced an image without comment? How would you work it in instead? Serious question. (Well, the second question; the first question is rhetorical, needless to say.)