‘Reacher’ Recap: ‘Spoonful’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Three of ‘Reacher’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Normally in crime dramas… answers and revelations about the case in question are reserved for late in the book or late in the season. Simply because the storytellers want to engage the reader or viewer and truly build tension and interest and curiosity and well, this is a formula that works like a charm. Because when the mystery is engaging and intricate, we do indeed bury ourselves in the pages or lock our eyes on the screen. So, we can see how the mystery comes together moment by moment and well, this age-old way of handling a crime drama is so engrained in our hearts and minds, that it is downright shocking when we encounter one that opts to shift away from this format post haste. 
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Because there are stories in this vein that are eager to break free from the norms and try something new and exciting and wow the audience and one way to do that, is to tip their hand early and really… this type of twist is top of mind today, simply because the next episode of Reacher on Prime Video… put all of its cards on the table quite early in the game. For ‘Spoonful’ is an episode that informed us exactly what kind of case we are dealing with and gave us some idea of who the major players are in this mess, and it accomplished that feat by way to two key moments. The first of which, involved quite the uncomfortable and awkward phone call with the Secret Service. Since a colleague of Joe’s finally got through to the folks in Margrave and learned some bad news about him.

But once tears were shed and condolences were exchanged, Reacher and the team were able to learn that Joe was working on some kind of counterfeiting operation in Margrave, one foreign in nature and that forced the team to split up to uncover who the players were in this mess and that led to some ugly moments for certain. The kind that saw Roscoe be humiliated with busy work in order to keep the new Police Chief off their trail and this sequence also ‘treated’ us to a touch of down-home racism for Finlay to deal with. Since he went to talk with Spivey while Reacher went to check on a lead involving the truck driver that died alongside Joe and uh… despite having a gun and looking like a cop, he endured a beat down because of the color of skin. Which served as some fine commentary on the state of affairs currently, regarding how some cops treat Black people.

However, Finlay let it slide because there were bigger fish to fry in the moment. Such as the fact that all roads in this case led to Kliner Industries. Because Spivey called the company before he disappeared into thin air, since Finlay didn’t find the man inside his own home, and Kliner Industries also had ties to the truck driver in question. And a tense meeting between Reacher and Finlay and the asshat that is Kliner, made it clear that this company is dirty and responsible for everything. But of course, in order to bring them to justice, evidence will need to be gathered and that will be no easy task. Since Kliner is eager to cover his tracks and put down those poking around, as evidenced by the harrowing ending of this tale. Where Reacher had to sneak about to bring down a pair of assassins before coming to learn that Spivey… is dead.

If anything, having the show tip its hand now, is a brilliant stroke of genius storytelling wise. Since it invests us in a different manner. Because now we know that a good old fashioned, Americana southern town has been propped up by dirty money from a dirty dude and that’s un-American and disgusting and demands justice. As does what happened to Joe. But despite coming to understand what’s at stake here three episodes in, there is still some mystery for us to invest in, since we are eager to learn who is behind the printing of the fake money. But above all else, what truly has us eager to continue the journey now that we are in the know, is Reacher. For this show has established the fact that he will punish the wicked in an epic manner and stop at nothing to get what he wants… and watching him fight to bring down Kliner and all involved, is going to lead to some epic and satisfying moments. Until next time.  

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