‘Reacher’ Recap: ‘Papier’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Six of ‘Reacher’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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There is no moment more enjoyable, in a story that is mired in mystery, then when the truth begins to come to light. Because that moment, is in essence… the grand reward for the viewer or reader. Where all of their questions are answered and the plot begins to kick into overdrive to bring everything together and well… that’s top of mind today, simply because that’s precisely what fans received in the next episode of Reacher on Prime Video. For ‘Papier’ is a story that took the time to explore backstories and origins of good and evil and most important of all, it truly made clear what Kliner’s operation was all about and all of this was set in motion, courtesy of an emergency stakeout. 
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Because following Kliner’s death, Finlay was quickly sidelined by Chief/Mayor Teale. Since word got out that Finlay and Reacher stopped by Kliner’s office and stirred things up a bit and that… brought forth the stakeout in question. Because Reacher was convinced that a change in leadership at the plant, could bring about mistakes and trouble and who better to help keep watch than a sidelined cop? And while they watched the plant, Finlay finally opened up to Reacher and explained what made him so hardened and eager to embrace small town life. In that, his beloved wife died and being around landmarks that reminded him of her, was too much. So, he made his escape here and decided to basically pay a penance for not being able to save her from a terminal illness. A move that Reacher called dumb, because he has no chill… but it was nice to finally learn about Finlay and see he and Reacher get along at last and it’s a good thing this happened then and there. Since the two had to head out on the road to Tennessee, to trail one of Kliner’s trucks.

While the duo dealt with that, we were able to catch up with Roscoe, who was handling her new duties as babysitter to the Hubble family in a fine manner… until that is, a couple of assassins showed up. Forcing Roscoe to put them down and hit the road with Charlie, and when they finally settled in and enjoyed a moment of quiet and safety, Charlie opened up about how she knew that Paul was involved in something shady and why she kept quiet about it. And it relates back to the fact, that her husband was basically trapped and blackmailed into helping the operation by Kliner and when Paul showed any signs of resistance to the plan, he was treated to a live crucifixion to ensure compliance. Which definitely helped us to understand why Charlie said nothing, since it was the only way to keep her family safe, and well, this sequence and the ending, definitely hammered home how Kliner operated and how he managed to get a guy like Paul into the fold when he clearly had no desire to do so, and this too… was a nice reveal. 

But it did pale in comparison to that aforementioned finale sequence. Which saw Reacher fly to New York City to speak with a Professor Mary Castillo post haste, at a police station no less. For while he was in Tennessee with Finlay, he came to learn that this organization was bringing down more people that Joe talked to and getting her on the phone and arranging this meeting in a safe space no less, saved her life and allowed for the hard truth to come to light about Joe’s mission. In that, Joe did such a fine job of shutting down counterfeiting in the United States by controlling the paper supply critical to making it happen… that he had to head down Margrave way when perfect bills with the perfect paper showed up again. Meaning that Margrave is indeed… the source of this mess after all, and the true boss of this operation is likely down there as well.

Which means, a grand showdown and the last of the answers we seek await us back there and now that Reacher has the answers he needs, we are likely heading back south for the final two episodes of season one to watch Reacher bring forth justice for Joe and so many at last. But while we wait to dig into those particular tales, we can definitely bask in the wonder of a story that finally answered so many of our questions and grew the characters like never before and that’s a wonderful thing. Since it means the story is now free and clear to just let loose and let everything come together in a powerful and epic manner and well, that means it is time to swing back online and tear through the next two episodes, post haste. Until next time.

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