S01.E04: In a Tree

[AnimeMania]

As the danger increases, Reacher and Roscoe grow closer and they make plans to meet with their contact from Homeland Security.


Original Airdate: February 4, 2022

[Morrigan2575]

Wow, this show is really addictive. I'm loving Reacher and I'm sad that will never get to know adult Joe.

[Raja]

So we have the Iraq back story, a commissioned  officer was out alone tracking down an AWOL soldier, UA in the Global War on Terror era., just no. The "South Americans" arrive again to try a drive by with pistols, so much for their special forces training. A second federal agent gets murdered and we are still talking about this staying in house run by a renegade cell inside the Margrave police.

[thuganomics85]

Well, I guess it is safe to say that you can definitely get a pass for killing civilians if said civilians were child molesters!  And even then, Reacher gave them a chance to turn themselves in and they apparently tried to take him out first.  Kind of reminds me a bit of Raylan from Justified in that way.

Reacher and Roscoe certainly aren't ones to take things slow, as they've now already gotten to the "hook up in the shower" phase of their relationship.  Of course, the pairing has other issues to deal with like Roscoe feeling like Reacher is being over-protective and his general lack of communication, which admittedly is just a bit of a problem with him.

Teale gets into Finely's face over him chewing out Kliner, but I'm still getting the sense that Teale is just a pompous blowhard and doesn't know the extent of what is going on here.

Is this Neagley character from the books?  The reveal for the character felt significant enough.  And the actress is being billed as a regular, so I imagine she'll come into play more for these latter episodes.

Picard giving Charlene/Kristin Kreuk that gun is totally going to come into play at some point!

[LadyIrony]

Roscoe will be Reacher's weakness for sure. He will start white knighting for her and she doesn't seem the type who will stay out of trouble. 

Reacher is also prettier than Roscoe. Although her chest puppies were cute. 

I like the humour in the show. 

 

[Netfoot]

5 hours ago, LadyIrony said:

Reacher is also prettier than Roscoe. Although her chest puppies were cute. 

LOL!

I actually think she looked cute from the start, even with her unrefined, scarecrow-straw hair. Although I have to admit I wasn't watching the show with any particular eye towards her figure, so I really didn't focus on any part of it. Except what was thrust into my face, so to speak.

[LadyIrony]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

LOL!

I actually think she looked cute from the start, even with her unrefined, scarecrow-straw hair. Although I have to admit I wasn't watching the show with any particular eye towards her figure, so I really didn't focus on any part of it. Except what was thrust into my face, so to speak.

She is cute and very petite, a natural petite rather than starved to death. They probably chose an actress that made him look even more Giant-esque! She looked good when she was (sort of) cleaned up in the jeans and sweater with her hair down. 

Edited February 6, 2022 by LadyIrony

[RedElf]

13 hours ago, LadyIrony said:

She is cute and very petite, a natural petite rather than starved to death.

She's only a couple of inches shorter than him when she's standing next to him.  Of course, she could have been wearing high heels, even in the shower, but still.

That's a big car trunk, if you can stuff three bodies in there, broken bones or not.

OK, so where did Reacher get the car, that they can just abandon it with three dead bodies in the trunk and not expect it to be traced, even if Roscoe did wipe it down?

I like the detail that he's still wearing the jacket he got stabbed through and the duct tape is still on the back of it.

Joe and Jack's father is actor Matthew Marsden, who's English, but an American citizen.

 

[Netfoot]

8 hours ago, RedElf said:

OK, so where did Reacher get the car, that they can just abandon it with three dead bodies in the trunk and not expect it to be traced, even if Roscoe did wipe it down?

From the Venezuelans themselves. When he opened the trunk to stuff them in, he found the body of their earlier victim, Spivey the Prison Guard.

8 hours ago, RedElf said:

I like the detail that he's still wearing the jacket he got stabbed through and the duct tape is still on the back of it.

Yea, that was good.

[Unclejosh]

19 hours ago, RedElf said:

She's only a couple of inches shorter than him when she's standing next to him.  Of course, she could have been wearing high heels, even in the shower, but still.

 

Willa Fitzgerald is 5'5" and Alan Ritchson is over 6'2". So she is 9 inches shorter unless she is in heels, using a box to stand on, or they are using camera tricks to have them both in frame.

[Netfoot]

13 minutes ago, Unclejosh said:

Willa Fitzgerald is 5'5" and Alan Ritchson is over 6'2". So she is 9 inches shorter unless she is in heels, using a box to stand on, or they are using camera tricks to have them both in frame.

In the LOTR trilogy Gandalf towered over Bilbo,  Frodo and the other hobbits, despite the fact that Ian Holm is only 15cm shorter than Ian McKellen, and Elijah Wood only 12cm shorter. They can do wonders with "trick photography."

Humorous aside: When I attended TARCon 20, I met and was photographed with "The Twins", Liz & Marie from TAR 19. They are both quite tall, so I had to stand on tippy-toes to avoid only the top of my head showing in the photo! How's that for "trick photography?"

[LaylaGirl]

On 2/6/2022 at 12:11 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Is this Neagley character from the books?  The reveal for the character felt significant enough.

Yes, but she is not introduced until the 6th book, "Without Fail." She plays a much larger role in the 11th book, "Bad Luck and Trouble" - which involves several people from Reacher's old military unit. They have a close friendship, and there is some suggestion that Neagley might have some romantic feelings for Reacher, but as far as I remember nothing ever develops between them.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, LaylaGirl said:

Neagley might have some romantic feelings for Reacher, but as far as I remember nothing ever develops between them.

Neagley has an aversion to being touched. (Reacher briefly mentions it on the show.) It makes it difficult for her to be romantic with anyone.

[LadyIrony]

On 2/7/2022 at 4:50 PM, RedElf said:

She's only a couple of inches shorter than him when she's standing next to him.  Of course, she could have been wearing high heels, even in the shower, but still.

mmm naked Roscoe in high heels only.... .

[dleighg]

On 2/6/2022 at 10:07 AM, LadyIrony said:

They probably chose an actress that made him look even more Giant-esque!

I was surprised though when they were dancing that she seemed only about 6 or so inches shorter-- which would make her rather tall, or he's not as tall as he looks! I don't think high heels are her thing, either, though I didn't notice what she had on her feet. But she is overall quite dainty looking.

Edited February 9, 2022 by dleighg

[Netfoot]

According to google, Alan Ritchson is 1.88 m tall, while Willa Fitzgerald is 1.65 m tall.

That's a difference of 23 cm, or just a hair over 9 inches.

At 1.88 m, Ritchson may be big, but still 7½ cm or 3 inches short of Reacher.

[johntfs]

36 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

According to google, Alan Ritchson is 1.88 m tall, while Willa Fitzgerald is 1.65 m tall.

That's a difference of 23 cm, or just a hair over 9 inches.

At 1.88 m, Ritchson may be big, but still 7½ cm or 3 inches short of Reacher.

I'm not that worried about it.  I recall that in The Expanse the character of Bobbi is described as being like two supermodels put together, so maybe like eight feet tall.  In the TV show she's played by Frankie Adams who is 5'11" and it's fine.  Book authors have an unlimited actor/SFX budget.  Actual movies and TV shows don't.

[Unclejosh]

There is almost no one outside of professional wrestlers and athletes that are book Reacher's size. Even the ones who do act successfully are not his size.  John Cena, The Rock, Dave Bautista are all smaller in real life than book Reacher as a few examples.

[dleighg]

11 minutes ago, Unclejosh said:

There is almost no one outside of professional wrestlers and athletes that are book Reacher's size.

In this series he's plenty big for me (not trying to be dirty). Just think that it showed up in certain scenes that he didn't actually look that huge compared to Roscoe. I think they probably cast a lot of folks (like Finlay) who were relatively short.

[Unclejosh]

Yeah they definitely hired people who were shorter and used camera angles to make him appear even bigger. However some shots will make the height differences appear smaller just like they can look bigger.

At the premiere you can see the heights of the main cast.  Willa is in pretty high heels.  Looks like Alan is wearing boots that have a heel as well.

 

Edited February 9, 2022 by Unclejosh

[LadyIrony]

On 2/10/2022 at 7:05 AM, dleighg said:

I was surprised though when they were dancing that she seemed only about 6 or so inches shorter-- which would make her rather tall, or he's not as tall as he looks! I don't think high heels are her thing, either, though I didn't notice what she had on her feet. But she is overall quite dainty looking.

I noticed that too and yet in other scenes she looks much shorter. It never occurred to me that the actor himself isn't that tall! They have done pretty well with the illusion.

[Sweet-tea]

On 2/6/2022 at 9:07 AM, LadyIrony said:

She is cute and very petite, a natural petite rather than starved to death. They probably chose an actress that made him look even more Giant-esque! She looked good when she was (sort of) cleaned up in the jeans and sweater with her hair down. 

I was thinking the same thing, because when he was standing next to the other actress he wasn’t much taller. She must be tall. I looked up Alan Ritchson’s height and he’s 6’2, but Reacher is supposed to be 6’5”. They keep making comments about his size so they are trying to make him appear bigger than he really is. He’s definitely a better fit than Tom Cruise though.  Rosie is so tiny she almost looks child-sized next to him. 

By other actress, I meant Maria Sten. It says she’s 5’10 so it makes sense. 

Edited February 11, 2022 by Sweet-tea
Added Maria Sten’s name

[LadyIrony]

5 hours ago, Sweet-tea said:

I was thinking the same thing, because when he was standing next to the other actress he wasn’t much taller. She must be tall. I looked up Alan Ritchson’s height and he’s 6’2, but Reacher is supposed to be 6’5”. They keep making comments about his size so they are trying to make him appear bigger than he really is. He’s definitely a better fit than Tom Cruise though.  Rosie is so tiny she almost looks child-sized next to him. 

By other actress, I meant Maria Sten. It says she’s 5’10 so it makes sense. 

With heels on the women match his height, Sten due to her afro actually is taller lol. 

I think Tom is blissfully unaware of his lack of height! Very bad choice of actor for Reacher, not saying the actor has to be 6ft5 but at least normal tall?

In the cast show, the women in heels aren't far of Reacher's height, the actress who plays Roscoe is much taller than I thought she was and I know she is wearing heels but I still thought even in what appears to be platform heels, she would be much shorter. I kind of pegged her as being 5ft 8 at most. Reacher is also wearing heeled boots. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by LadyIrony

[mledawn]

Pleased to see Lara Jean Choristecki - she's great in everything but loved her as Freddie Lounds in Hannibal. Speaking of teeny, she's only 5'2" so if there are scenes with Reacher that should be a fun visual.

16 hours ago, Sweet-tea said:

I looked up Alan Ritchson’s height and he’s 6’2, but Reacher is supposed to be 6’5”. They keep making comments about his size so they are trying to make him appear bigger than he really is.

To me the other characters aren't necessarily strictly commenting on his height per se (still tall btw!) but how he is built. He is big. 

Those "South Americans" must have been the worst of their special forces.

[Raja]

11 hours ago, LadyIrony said:

With heels on the women match his height, Sten due to her afro actually is taller lol. 

I think Tom is blissfully unaware of his lack of height! Very bad choice of actor for Reacher, not saying the actor has to be 6ft5 but at least normal tall?

In the cast show, the women in heels aren't far of Reacher's height, the actress who plays Roscoe is much taller than I thought she was and I know she is wearing heels but I still thought even in what appears to be platform heels, she would be much shorter. I kind of pegged her as being 5ft 8 at most. Reacher is also wearing heeled boots. 

Even on the show with Neagley in combat boots she was towering over the other men and with all the talk about Reacher's size I was asking myself "what about her?" Was her size a thing in the books or just a result of casting.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Raja said:

Was her size a thing in the books or just a result of casting.

I don't recall anything being made of Neagley's size. But they suggest that generally, the MP officers have to deal with bad dudes specifically trained at hand-to-hand combat. Which does imply that a larger frame would be an advantage. No matter what Jessica Chastain and the 355 mob think.

[LadyIrony]

8 hours ago, Raja said:

Even on the show with Neagley in combat boots she was towering over the other men and with all the talk about Reacher's size I was asking myself "what about her?" Was her size a thing in the books or just a result of casting.

From the Reacher fandom site https://jack-reacher.fandom.com/wiki/Frances_Neagley

Quote

Neagley is of medium height, slim, and has dark hair and eyes. She spends large amounts of time in the gym and has a purely platonic relationship with Reacher. However, in Night School, NSA senior Deputy Marian Sinclair notes Neagley's attraction to Reacher, and her refusal to sleep with him. Reacher points out that Neagley has haptephobia, which is a fear of being touched. When Sinclair asks if the condition is as a result of assault, Reacher responds, "She says she was born with it."

So from that it seems she is meant to be strong physically but not tall. I have never read the books but I think the actress they have chosen is a good representation of that sort of character. Unlike a lot of on screen tough women, Sten looks more convincing than most.

Edited February 12, 2022 by LadyIrony

[kassa]

There's a real difference between 6'2" and 6'5" in terms of perception. My Dad was 6'3 and growing up somebody had to be at least that tall for me to think of them as a tall person, but then I had a roommate whose boyfriend was 6'5" and it was *distractingly* tall.  Yes, you have the true giant people, but in broad terms there really aren't that many people over 6'3" either.  (And the super tall folks we see tend to be gathered together in sports.) If the actor is only 6'2" they've done a great job disguising it, and let it be a windfall for short actors to get work!

When this series was done it led into the Tom Cruise movie which I had boycotted on principle because you can't take the size out of the character - it's a fundamental element of the books. Now that the series has redeemed Reacher, I gave it a try. Mediocre action movie, but amusing to see the female lead contorting her body in various slouches to appear smaller, and how much they had to shoot Cruise from below to make him appear towering.