Reacher Season 3 features a big moment between hero and villain, but thanks to a dumb contrivance beloved of soap-operas, the scene doesn’t play out as it should.
Reacher Season 3 has been all about Jack seeking revenge for a tragedy from his past. In Episode 4 – via flashback – we learn that a ruthless psychopath whom Jack was investigating murdered his friend and colleague Dominique Kohl.
That man was a military intelligence officer called Julius McCabe, whom reacher believed was dead. But at the start of the Season 3, he clocks McCabe, and embarks on an undercover operation to track him.
Turns out McCabe now goes by the name Quinn, and is using a business that imports and exports rugs to deal weapons. Jack is now working for that company, meaning the pair are on a collision course. But at the start of Episode 6, that doesn’t play out as expected. Meaning SPOILERS ahead.
McCabe has amnesia, which is just plain dumb
McCabe (left) and Paulie.
In those aforementioned flashbacks, we see Reacher take McCabe to a cliff, shoot him in the head, and watch him fall into the water below. The fact that Jack’s a crack-shot means the villain should be dead. Which is why Reacher looks like he’s seen a ghost at the start of S3.
The show tries to explain his survival, with Reacher and his new DEA colleague Duffy saying stuff like the “small round was the problem,” and claiming the bullet lodged in McCabe’s skull, but never made it to his brain. Which apparently puts that to bed.
At the end of Episode 5, Reacher is summoned to meet with “Quinn,” and when asked if he’s ready for the boss, puts hand to gun and says “Yes, I’ve been waiting for this moment for sometime now.” With Jack preparing to kill McCabe, again.
But the big bad then has no idea who he is, saying “What’s your name again?” Which comes as something of a surprise, until Duffy explains this away by stating: “Retrograde amnesia wasn’t bullsh*t, Quinn doesn’t remember him.”
Which is useful to prolong the story, via a trope that’s frequently used in General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful, and the odd superhero or spy movie. But on top of McCabe surviving that head-shot at close-range, just seems ridiculous.
It remains to be seen just how selective his amnesia is, and a bit more information might make this plot twist more convincing in the final two episodes. Alternatively McCabe is pulling a fast one and pretending that he doesn’t recognise Reacher, which would certainly be a surprise move, for reasons that aren’t currently clear.
Either way, the show needs to do some explaining, or the amnesia storyline will remain a contrivance that’s letting a solid season down.
For more on the big guy, here’s how to read the Reacher books in order, plus how many Reacher movies Tom Cruise made. Alternatively, check out our list of the best TV shows of 2025 so far.
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