Reacher Season 2's Rotten Tomatoes Score Is A Huge Win For Prime Video
Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is back for "Reacher" Season 2 on Amazon Prime Video, and he's doing more than just gathering some old allies to solve a murder. He's bringing some good tidings that are bound to make the creatives behind the scenes happy, as the second season currently stands at a highly coveted 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 27 reviews as of this writing. Viewers also seem happy with what they're seeing in the pulpy action series, as "Reacher" Season 2 has an audience score of 84%.
While those numbers can and likely will change as more reviews come in, it does suggest the series remains on solid footing. After all, "Reacher" Season 1 has a 92% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes with 75 reviews on the board. Season 2 keeps the good times rolling, with reviewers enjoying an action-packed show that doesn't take itself too seriously. Gabriel Tate of The Daily Telegraph lauded the new season, "While the investigative work is absorbing and the badinage lively enough, it boils down to the ultraviolence, which is relentlessly inventive and overblown."
By the sound of it, "Reacher" does precisely what it sets out to do — offer fun entertainment that aims to get fists pumping rather than make viewers think too hard.
Reacher Season 2 continues the reign of 'Dad TV'
The secret of "Reacher's" success is that it doesn't pretend to be something it's not. The show offers a good ol' murder investigation, with plenty of people getting beat up in the process. As many reviewers have noted, it's a prime example of "dad television," i.e., a TV show that feels like something your dad would watch and then try to talk to you about when you visit for the holidays.
Eric Deggans of NPR goes all in on the "Dad TV" descriptor and how Amazon Prime Video has cornered that market with shows like "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan" and "Bosch." That same goes for "Reacher," which Deggans praises as "an entertaining ride that takes a compelling character through an adventure filled with wish fulfillment, fistfights, a dollop of romance and heroes crusading for justice. And, in the end, that's pretty much the core mission for most successful examples of Dad TV."
Nick Clark of the London Evening Standard was of a similar opinion, saying, "If dad rock was a TV show, this would be it. And it's rocking amazing." "Reacher" doesn't pretend to be anything it's not. It's the kind of show to turn on at the end of a long week with a cold drink in hand to unwind for a little bit. And while some fans think Jack Reacher needs more realistic opponents, it doesn't seem to be hurting his reputation among critics or audiences very much.