‘Reacher’ Recap: ‘Burial’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher in Episode 205 of ‘Reacher’ – ‘Burial’. (Photo Courtesy of Brooke Palmer/Prime Video.)

​Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘Reacher’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
 
Something that genuinely brings us great hurt in this life, is having someone we admire, someone we trust and call a dear friend… turn their back upon us and harm us. For that brings forth a genuine sense of betrayal in our hearts. The kind that does devastate and puts us in a dark place. Where we don’t trust others and fight to reconcile what has just happened to us. But coming back from betrayal such as that isn’t easy, and it takes some hard self-work to help us understand we’re not in charge of what other people decide to do or who they are, and that all we can be… is the best version of ourselves. Only then does the hurt stop, and that can be so daunting a lesson to learn to learn, that it also takes a support network to get us there, similar to the one that Jack Reacher has.
 
For the next chapter in his incredible journey, brought about that kind of hurt, and that level of support. A feat that the next episode of Reacher on Prime Video accomplished by having the team make quite the discovery in Denver. For it was revealed in ‘Burial’ that not only did Dixon and Neagley miss the pickup of the mystery weapon, but that the gunfire they were about to endure in chasing it… came about by order of Tony Swan. Who truly seemed quite dirty and that put Reacher in that tough spot. Because he simply could not believe that a man that once took a bullet for him in the midst of a sting operation, was capable of ordering people he worked and fought alongside, to their deaths. But alas, all signs pointed to the reality that Swan was indeed a villain now, and that was further confirmed by way of what happened at a funeral for a friend.
 
Because Reacher’s grief detached him on such a somber day, since he was reconciling the reality that a good man, he trusted had gone bad, and it even prompted him to act out a little bit against Detective Russo. Who showed up and played nice and made Reacher suspect and the focus of his ire. But some hard words form Russo, and some good side words from his former unit about the reality of the situation, softened Reacher’s stance a little bit, and what came forth in the midst of the twenty-one-gun salute… finally helped Reacher reconcile the hard truth about his former friend. Because a pair of assassins bore down on the group with their deaths in mind, and after one hell of a firefight and after one epic chase, Russo and Reacher were able to corner one of the assassins and learn that Swan ordered the death of the group, and that he was ready to kill anyone involved with this order. Since that pawn of a man died, badly. 
 
All of which hammered home, how hard it is to really understand that someone we care for, can become something dark and something frightening. But we all have our paths to walk, and we all make choices that take us down our paths, and we do need to take a moment and understand that when this happens. Which should help Reacher recover and move forward, as will the other surprise that took place in this tale. Because it turned out that Reacher’s actions in Boston, did not go unnoticed. In fact, it brought about more good than harm. Because Senator Lavoy pieced together who taught his aide quite the lesson and realized, that he and Reacher could work together on this. So, he offered resources for Reacher and his team to use to stop this madness by any means necessary, and that will serve the team well. Because New Age has deep pockets, seemingly endless resources and of course… some slimy minds. Since we also learned their security detail is composed of some dirty, former, NYPD officers.
 
But while we wait to see what kind of resources Reacher will get hold of… we can celebrate one smart and fascinating tale. One that challenged Reacher emotionally in a manner that he hasn’t been challenged yet in this saga, and that’s saying something since he’s had to grieve the death of his brother while saving a town from evil greed. But that’s what makes this show so delightful. It finds new ways to go deep and wow us every step of the way, and that made for one engaging story as well, since we simply had to see how Reacher would process such emotions… while dealing with bad people hellbent on causing trouble in the most disrespectful ways imaginable and well, the disrespect will likely end soon. Because Jack Reacher can only handle so much of that kind of abuse before he transforms it into fury and unleashes it upon those who made the poor choice to wrong him and people he cares about. Until next time.

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