S02.E06: New York's Finest

[jenrising]

Quote

As the mystery continues to unfold, Reacher and his team set a trap to even the score.

Available 1/5 on Prime Video. 

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, Reacher definitely strikes me as someone who would not get the appeal of video games, heh.  I know one of them joked that he might like first person shooters somewhat, but I feel like if he was ever going to try one out, he'd probably prefer fighting games since he can beat people up.  Granted, what I really want to see him play is a RPG with choices, because he would always, always, always just pick the attack options and not bother with any of the persuasion options!

So, is Russo actually dead?  He was moving a little bit at first, but I can't tell if that final shot was him slipping away.  Either way, I figured something bad was going down once he and Reacher had something resembling showing one another respect (by promising they'd have an epic fight when this is all over, naturally), so I'm guessing he's a goner.  At least he went out proving he wasn't corrupt like his chief/Marsh was.

Reacher and the gang track down Marlo/the runaway executive and surprise, surprise: it sounds like Shaw might not be dirty after all.  Turns out, he was actually working undercover with her this entire time to bring down Langston, but it's likely Langston caught wind of it.  I'm guessing he's captured right now.

A.M. now just killed some poor state trooper, but not before she radioed in his fake ID.  For a supposed evil sleuth, he's kind of providing an easy trail for law enforcement.  I have to imagine he'll be on Reacher's radar soon.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I don't really want Russo to be dead but they played the sad music of dying,  him asking for Neagley's hand is indicative of him knowing that he's a goner, the genre convention pretty much says there has to be an ally who falls, and it doesn't seem like there's much else for him to do. So until shown otherwise, I'm presuming he's dead. Even if it would have been nice to have a Rocky 4-like ending with him throwing that first punch at Reacher and a freeze-frame.

I know that one should not try to nitpick a show like this, but it's just unavoidable for me. Pretty much everything that happened was avoidable and/or nonsensical.

Once Russo figured out who from NYPD snitched on Team Reacher, the absolute stupidest thing to do was to confront that dude in his home solo. Dude could have shot him right there, or informed New Age to do the job.

Why not just tell Bent Dude's boss or investigate him on the downlow? Last season there was a reason that Finlay and Love Interest couldn't go through conventional law enforcement channels: it was a small town and there was no telling who was part of the conspiracy. In this case, there's presumably some people in NYPD who would be interested in some of their own being complicit in a number of murders, attempted murders and a terrorist plot.

If you have to confront Bent Dude, why not have wear a wire? Given who plays Russo, the character should know: When you walk through the garden, you got to watch your back. (Get it?) Anyway, if the thought was to get information about New Age or what it was plotting, it might have been nice to have it on tape. 

There is absolutely no reason for Team Reacher to put Janie with Russo except to potentially put her in danger. No one knew where Marlo was, so Janie would be safe at Sassy Friend's if they still need to use Marlo as bait. Which, by the way, they didn't really. It shouldn't be too tough to figure out where Langston is and to grab and kill him if that's all they want to do. But anyways, assuming that Sassy Friend no longer wants anything to do with Marlo (a fair possibility), why is it not fine to just put the teen up in any no-tell motel in the greater NY area (or even on a plane to wherever) using the infinite resources and fake IDs of Team Reacher not a better option? Janie definitely seems old enough that she can be on her own for a few hours.

Team Bad Guys thinks that the best way for them is to start spraying with their automatic weapons from a distance over the course of miles, when there's no indication Russo is on to them. Why not drive up much closer and make sure you've got a kill shot? How is it possible that the cops aren't alerted to the use of automatic gunfire in a residential neighborhood and again for miles, or at least do not intervene and do not get on the scene until after Team Reacher do?

How do the bad guys not manage to kill Russo way earlier when he's pinned in? Why does Russo go from a place of relative safety to the open?

After you summon a helicopter with two guys with automatic weapons, you shouldn't have to be like Run away! Run away!. Take those new resources and take Reacher out.

[dleighg]

My nitpick is the naming of the town where Marlo's car was abandoned. Russo said "north of Manhattan in Cortland."

Now, I live in a NYC bedroom community called Cortlandt, that one would reasonably describe as "north of NYC." It looks nothing like the kind of run-down town with a sad convenience store as pictured. Now if they said it was north of Manhattan in Mount Vernon, or Elmsford, I might believe it. (And once again, giant Reacher finds clothes that fit on a rack 3 feet wide). Apparently this show is shot in Canada.

There is a real town called Cortland, near Ithaca (3 and a half hours north of NYC), and perhaps it looks like that. But they wouldn't just hop on up there and then hop on back to NYC to get the gamer tag. Why do they make those of us who know the area question this stuff?

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

A.M. now just killed some poor state trooper, but not before she radioed in his fake ID.  For a supposed evil sleuth, he's kind of providing an easy trail for law enforcement. 

that was so ridiculous. Any bad guy with a tiny bit of intelligence would have killed her before handing over the ID!

[TV Diva Queen]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

 

 

 Why does Russo go from a place of relative safety to the open?

 

I think Russo's plan was to sacrifice himself for the girl.  Maybe that's why before he ran out in the open and was sitting on the ground outside the car - he was huffing and puffing.  at first I thought it was legit he was out of breath - but now I think he was struggling mentally with what he was going to do....go and get himself killed.  

[Irlandesa]

My silly nitpick is that Dixon went into the room to seduce Reacher and she doesn't close the door even though there are others in the house who'd come looking for them once the code is cracked.

Like, you know this woman and her daughter's life is in danger and yet you fuck in her bed with the door open for the woman who hates touch to find you?

And while I'm liking this season better than last season, the "romance" angle is as pointless this season as it was last and I wish they'd just ignore that part of the stories.  It adds nothing.

And spoilered for book talk but only in the generalist of terms--not plot spoilers.

Spoiler

That every book has some new woman wanting to jump Reacher is why I stopped reading the series pretty quickly. 

 

[Raja]

9 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

My silly nitpick is that Dixon went into the room to seduce Reacher and she doesn't close the door even though there are others in the house who'd come looking for them once the code is cracked.

Like, you know this woman and her daughter's life is in danger and yet you fuck in her bed with the door open for the woman who hates touch to find you?

And while I'm liking this season better than last season, the "romance" angle is as pointless this season as it was last and I wish they'd just ignore that part of the stories.  It adds nothing.

And spoilered for book talk but only in the generalist of terms--not plot spoilers.

  Reveal spoiler

That every book has some new woman wanting to jump Reacher is why I stopped reading the series pretty quickly. 

 

As I am understanding from the not Tom Cruise critic's Reacher is such a force of nature that when women see him they feel the biological urge to try to make sure  his genes survive to a next generation, for the good of all mankind.

[jah1986]

My post got deleted yesterday. I enjoyed this episode despite a lot of stupid choices made by folks. Poor Russo, when I saw the title of the episode I knew things wouldn't go well for him. That last scene with Neagley holding his hand was just sad. He's a tough guy though, him confronting his boss like that was crazy. Al Sapienza never plays a good guy, I'm surprised he didn't kill Russo right then and there.

I too was offended for Marlo at Reacher and Dixon having sex in her bed while she's trying to stay alive with her daughter.

I'm glad Marlo is not evil and that Swan is seemingly not a bad guy.

I guess all roads are leading to the showdown with A.M., who I am almost bored by when he shows up on the screen.

[Raja]

On 1/5/2024 at 6:20 AM, TV Diva Queen said:

I think Russo's plan was to sacrifice himself for the girl.  Maybe that's why before he ran out in the open and was sitting on the ground outside the car - he was huffing and puffing.  at first I thought it was legit he was out of breath - but now I think he was struggling mentally with what he was going to do....go and get himself killed.  

That was the plan however they blocked out a scene where the  detective could have given the girl more time to run by staying behind cover and keeping the bad guys pinned by his gun firing 

[mledawn]

5 minutes ago, Raja said:

That was the plan however they blocked out a scene where the  detective could have given the girl more time to run by staying behind cover and keeping the bad guys pinned by his gun firing 

But wasn't Russo already flanked by the one bad guy who showed up in front of Jane (only to then be mowed down)? He just didn't know it yet.

[Ottis]

Not much of this makes sense, least of which is the entire Reacher Gang deciding to sit around and wait for Jane to pop up gaming online. Really? All of them?

i know the books, and therefore this show, are simplistic. But this is verging on just bad. I can enjoy a formula, if it is done well. This isn’t that.

[Raja]

On 1/5/2024 at 4:40 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

After you summon a helicopter with two guys with automatic weapons, you shouldn't have to be like Run away! Run away!. Take those new resources and take Reacher out.

No, those mercenaries were smart. They hired on as door gunners, not to get on the ground with a world class shooting human tank like that foolish hit man who climbed a building into an ambush in Atlantic City. To paraphrase the Chief in Apocalypse Now, "don't ever get off of the bird".

13 hours ago, Ottis said:

Not much of this makes sense, least of which is the entire Reacher Gang deciding to sit around and wait for Jane to pop up gaming online. Really? All of them?

Not all of them, Reacher was trying to bank some sleep time while Dixon was banking some Reacher seed.

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, Raja said:

No, those mercenaries were smart. They hired on as door gunners, not to get on the ground with a world class shooting human tank like that foolish hit man who climbed a building into an ambush in Atlantic City. To paraphrase the Chief in Apocalypse Now, "don't ever get off of the bird".

They wouldn't have to get off the helicopter. The helicopter would just have to hover to a height within range of their semi-automatic rifles but out of the effective range of Reacher's handgun. Reacher was IIRC in the complete open with no cover. It should be an easy kill. 

[Raja]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

They wouldn't have to get off the helicopter. The helicopter would just have to hover to a height within range of their semi-automatic rifles but out of the effective range of Reacher's handgun. Reacher was IIRC in the complete open with no cover. It should be an easy kill. 

This reminds me of Miami Vice. In the pilot Calderon flies away to freedom but in the second season premiere Crockett and Tubbs shoot down a helicopter with a pistol and sawed off shotgun. A professional and not a zealot you want nothing to do with Reacher's plot armor 

[Morrigan2575]

I just assumed it was because Langston was a coward and, was more concerned with saving his own ass over attempting to get Reacher even with the helicopter and gunners.

[Raja]

17 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I just assumed it was because Langston was a coward and, was more concerned with saving his own ass over attempting to get Reacher even with the helicopter and gunners.

He was warned, Reacher wants to throw him out of one. You  would think he wouldn't get near a helicopter. 

[Morrigan2575]

1 hour ago, Raja said:

He was warned, Reacher wants to throw him out of one. You  would think he wouldn't get near a helicopter. 

That is true. I fully expect pay off on that one

Edited January 7 by Morrigan2575

[Lone Wolf]

On 1/5/2024 at 4:40 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

I don't really want Russo to be dead but they played the sad music of dying,  him asking for Neagley's hand is indicative of him knowing that he's a goner, the genre convention pretty much says there has to be an ally who falls, and it doesn't seem like there's much else for him to do. 

I know that one should not try to nitpick a show like this, but it's just unavoidable for me. 

Welp, he was comforted by the one team member who has an aversion to human contact, thus honoring his bravery and sacrifice, so I'm inclined to think he ded.

My nitpick is that in all the flashbacks to when the team was active Army, Reacher looks like the same scruffy hobo he's destined to become. In this episode his immediate superior comes in to lay down the law and apparently doesn't even notice that Reacher's barely in uniform (fatigue pants and an undershirt) and badly needs a shave. I would think that especially as an officer in charge he'd need to be squared away.

On 1/5/2024 at 7:47 PM, Raja said:

As I am understanding from the not Tom Cruise critic's Reacher is such a force of nature that when women see him they feel the biological urge to try to make sure  his genes survive to a next generation, for the good of all mankind.

 

Without a doubt. In almost every book Reacher "gets the girl" , at least one girl, at least one time, barely trying.  He's irresistible.  

And not for nothin', but I'm sorry, muscle-bound guys don't look in suits - they look like they're suffocating.  The Rock had the same problem in Ballers, and he didn't even wear a tie.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Lone Wolf said:

In almost every book Reacher "gets the girl" , at least one girl, at least one time, barely trying.  He's irresistible.  

So, like the protagonist of every single novel written  in the last 50 years?  Yeah. 

[Raja]

2 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

My nitpick is that in all the flashbacks to when the team was active Army, Reacher looks like the same scruffy hobo he's destined to become. In this episode his immediate superior comes in to lay down the law and apparently doesn't even notice that Reacher's barely in uniform (fatigue pants and an undershirt) and badly needs a shave. I would think that especially as an officer in charge he'd need to be squared away.

To expand upon my post that went missing Saturday I think Tom Cruise's director did a better job of covering up the fact that Lee Child knows nothing about the US Army while the Amazon showrunners didn't care to actually Americanize his base stories. My stopping point was the Officer's Club fight. As for the uniforms CID agents wouldn't necessarily wear them, but when they do they would be correct  in their wear from the Warrant Officers and Master Sergeants to their commander. 

Major Reacher should be squared away and look like Lt Colonel Mann of NCIS, the possible Jethro Gibbs girlfriend.  Since the show's timeframe for  the 110th's active duty the  US Army CID is now looking more like NCIS with civilian Special Agents joining the soldier detectives.

[Capricasix]

3 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

And not for nothin', but I'm sorry, muscle-bound guys don't look in suits - they look like they're suffocating.  The Rock had the same problem in Ballers, and he didn't even wear a tie.

I couldn’t help wondering what the menswear Twitter dude (@dieworkwear) would think of Reacher in a suit 😄

[SharonH58]

The killing of Russo made me so mad I am taking a break from watching the rest of this season.  The only new character I liked this season was Russo.  I don't like any of the new special investigators.   I agree Reacher has gotten too bulky and looks like he can barely move.  I think Dixon is going to be the bad guy.  

[dleighg]

1 hour ago, SharonH58 said:

I think Dixon is going to be the bad guy.  

do we know there's a bad guy in the group? maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention.

[Raja]

23 minutes ago, dleighg said:

do we know there's a bad guy in the group? maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention.

No it is just speculation.

[Meedis]

22 hours ago, dleighg said:

do we know there's a bad guy in the group? maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention.

Either the bad guy or dies.   Still think it could be Neagley.   Two more episodes to find out.