Diksha Sundriyal
The second season of Prime Video’s ‘Reacher’ delivers some much-needed answers to the audience as the season inches toward an end. With only two episodes left to wrap up the mystery of this season, the sixth episode of the series sheds light on the mysteries that have been building up since the first episode. Some shocking revelations are made, but Reacher and his friends don’t have much time to process that because, by the end of the episode, they are left grieving for an important member of their team. SPOILERS AHEAD
Reacher Season 2 “New York’s Finest” Recap
Following the explosion at the end of the last episode, suspicion grows on Tony Swan, but Reacher still refuses to believe that Swan is dirty. Russo gives them a lead on finding Marlo Burns, and while Reacher and his team track her down, Russo visits a fellow NYPD officer. Meanwhile, AM is cautious about his footprints and kills a cop to keep himself from landing in trouble with the law. Once Reacher and Co find Marlo Burns, they use her as bait to lure Langston out in the open, hoping to squeeze the answers out of him. If not that, then Reacher hopes to kill him, and he almost succeeds. But then, something terrible happens, which ends the episode on a somber note.
Reacher Season 2 Episode 6 Ending: Detective Russo Receives an Honorable Death
Previously, Reacher doubted Russo, believing him to be a dirty cop. He already had mistrust towards the detective, which only worsened when Reacher and Co were attacked in Boston when they hadn’t told many people about their plans. Russo assures him that he didn’t rat them out, but this only leaves one other person who knows of their whereabouts: Marsh.
When Russo confronts Marsh, the latter confirms that New Age reached out to him. They offered him money in return for passing on information about Reacher and his investigation into New Age. Marsh doesn’t seem to have any regrets about it and claims that he had to accept the money because it was more of an order than an offer. By the time Russo leaves the house, he realizes that Marsh is bound to rat him out to New Age, and that’s exactly what happens.
Marsh tells Langston how close Russo is to getting to them, and they send people to kill Russo, whom Reacher has entrusted with Burns’ daughter, Jane. Russo anticipated the attack and tried to get Jane out of danger, but Langston’s goons were already at his door, and they attack him the moment he starts the car to drive away to somewhere safe. As the bullets rain down on them, Russo realizes he needs backup and calls Reacher.
Neagley, O’Donnell, and Dixon rush to find Russo but don’t reach in time. Russo realizes that if he doesn’t act in time, the goons will probably kill Jane as well. To help her run away from the scene, Russo brings himself out into the open and is shot multiple times. Jane is saved by Neagley and the others, who arrive just in time to run over the shooter. But by then, Russo has already sustained fatal injuries.
The fact that Neagley holds his hand and tries to comfort him shows how concerned she is about his well-being. While the police sirens sound in the background, it’s clear that help won’t arrive in time. This was Russo’s sacrifice, trying to save an innocent girl and giving his life in the process, a tragic fate similar to his father, who was also a cop and probably died under similar circumstances. While there is a bit of hope about Russo surviving the events of this episode, the possibility is not that good. We’ll most likely not see Russo again, and his death will further fuel Reacher to find Langston and kill him.
How is Tony Swan Involved in the Case?
After trying to maintain trust and doubting Tony Swan, Reacher and Co finally discover what Swan was involved in at New Age. The conversation with Marlo Burns confirms that Swan has not become a bad guy. He is the same person that Reacher knew and trusted when they worked together, and he is glad that this was finally cleared out so that he and the others won’t have to debate it anymore. Burns also reveals some things that put a lot of things in perspective.
As expected, the technology that New Age had was not as safe as they’d let people think. They were not bothered about who they were selling the missiles to, which was what Reacher had been concerned about when he first heard about what the missiles could do. While working for the company, Swan noticed some discrepancies and decided to take a closer look. He brought his friends into the fold, but things didn’t end well for them. What Swan discovered was that there were a number of chips that go into the missiles that malfunctioned but were not considered a cause for concern by the company.
Even when the thing with the chips was reported, they were told to continue business as usual. Dixon guesses that the number of chips is 650, and she turns out to be right. This shows that the malfunction was just a front to get those 650 missiles out without anyone becoming suspicious of New Age’s secret transactions with people like AM. They could put those missing missiles under the ones that didn’t work due to faulty chips when, in fact, they’d be selling it to the highest bidder, in this case, AM.
Swan figured out their plan and tried to stop them, but it cost him and his friends. Langston also made it clear to Burns that associating with Swan could land her in trouble, and there are any number of things he and his associates could do to her and her daughter. So, when Neagley and Dixon showed up at New Age, she realized that she’d be considered a liability by Langston, so she decided to run before they got to her and killed her.
