Diksha Sundriyal
The second season of Prime Video’s ‘Reacher’ comes to an end with its eighth episode, where Jack Reacher ties up all loose ends, avenging just on all the bad guys. What makes the episode interesting is how he goes about it and what he loses and gains by the end of it. The episode tests the protagonist physically as well as emotionally and presents the audience with a greater understanding of his character and, more importantly, what to expect from him in the future. SPOILERS AHEAD
Reacher Season 2 Episode 8 Recap
At the end of the last episode, Reacher walks in through the door of Langston’s lair and surrenders himself. Of course, this is just a ruse to buy time while help arrives. Initially, Langston believes that with Reacher in his captivity, he doesn’t have to worry about any more Special Investigators, but soon, he figures out that Neagley is alive. He tries to punch the truth out of Reacher, but he hurts himself more than he hurts his adversary.
On the outside, Neagley begins working, killing off guards one by one. In the meantime, the backup promised by Lavoy arrives, and together, they stop Langston and his men just in time. A minute’s delay would have had the helicopter, with Dixon and O’Donnell strapped to gurneys, flying away and leading its passengers to a death similar to their friends. A shootout ensues, and once again, Langston manages to slip away, and he flies away in the helicopter after all. As Neagley watches it fly away, she also can’t help but worry about Reacher, who tagged along at the last moment, hanging on to his dear life.
Reacher Season 2 Episode 8 Ending: Is Langston Dead? Does Reacher Get His Revenge?
When Reacher discovered that Franz, Sanchez, and Orozco were killed after being thrown from a helicopter, he vows to avenge his teammates by finding and killing the person who did this to him. When he gets in touch with Langston and the latter asks him what he wants (believing that Reacher would ask for money or something else in return for staying out of his hair), Reacher says he wants to throw him out of a plane. After missing this opportunity once in a previous episode, Reacher finally gets around to it in the finale.
When Neagley and the backup team show up, Langston knows he has no option but to run for his life. He decides to escape in the helicopter, meet AM at their rendezvous point, get the engineer to show him how to work the missiles, get his money, and retire to some tropical island and live in peace. But peace is not what Reacher has in mind. He knows it is his last chance to get Langston, so he clings to the helicopter and climbs up when Langston is ready to throw off Dixon and O’Donnell.
At first, the odds seem to be stacked against the Special Investigators. Dixon and O’Donnell are injured and tied up, and while Reacher is enough to fight Langston and his goon, he also has to keep his friends from falling off. At one point, Dixon is almost lost, but Reacher, despite being kicked by Langston, holds on to her. Dixon manages to free herself just in time, and after that, it spells nothing but the end for Langston, who pleads for mercy and assumes that he still has the info to make a trade with Reacher. The big guy, however, is not interested in any of that, and finally, taking revenge for what was done to his friends and making Franz’s final words come true, Reacher throws Langston off the helicopter, and the villain dies.
What Happens to AM and His 65 Million?
Once Langston is dealt with, Reacher, Dixon, and O’Donnell turn their attention toward AM. They know Langston was on his way to meet him, so they coax the pilot into taking them to that location while also updating Neagley about it. AM, completely unaware of what happened to Langston and his men, arrives at the meeting and is greeted by the Special Investigators. He tries to find a way out of his predicament, at first claiming to be innocent, then saying that he is just a middleman and has nothing to do with what the missiles are used for. Unconvinced by his excuses, Reacher shoots him, and then Neagley, Dixon, and O’Donnell also empty their bullets into him.
AM also came with 65 million in bearer bonds, which he was supposed to give to Langston in return for the missiles. Reacher and Co. keep the money instead of handing it over to law enforcement, and for good reason. Sixty-five million is a fortune, and while Dixon, Neagley, and O’Donnell wonder what to do with it, they leave it in Reacher’s hands. He gets to decide what happens with the money, and it turns out to be for the best. The first thing Reacher does is to give enough money to Franz’s wife to take care of her and her children. He also sends some money to Orozco’s sister and Russo’s family while also giving a car to Sanchez’s girlfriend, Milena, and donating some money to an animal shelter on behalf of Swan and his dog.
All of this still leaves enough money for Reacher to ensure round-the-clock care for Neagley’s father (something she’d been saving up for all this time), to set the money aside for O’Donnell’s children so they can have access to the best education no matter what school and university they attend in the future, and to give Dixon the money to start her own company because she is too talented to work for anyone else. As for himself, Reacher gets a toothbrush and a bus pass that is valid for the entire year.
What Happens to Senator Lavoy? Is He Arrested?
While Langston and AM had been the main villains, putting the missiles into the hands of the bad men, Senator Lavoy also played an integral role in the way things turn out. Lavoy claimed that he backed Little Wing because he thought it would be good for the country to have such a weapon and that he had never considered the possibility that it could find its way to the enemies of the state. However, Reacher knows that Lavoy was never thinking about the country or anything else. He was just thinking about the money and power it would bring him and only decided to help Reacher and his friends when he realized how much trouble he would land in if the truth about Little Wing came to light.
So, while Lavoy sent backup to help Reacher and Neagley, he only did it to serve his own purpose. Reacher knew that it was the senator’s way to ensure that all loose ends were tied up and that nothing would lead back to him and cause trouble for him. In the end, when Langston and AM are dealt with, his men were instructed to also take care of Reacher and his friends. Lavoy didn’t want them talking to anyone about his role in the entire case. When his men point their guns at Reacher and Co, they are surprised that they had already called for backup.
Having anticipated Lavoy’s move, Reacher kept his friends in Homeland Security (whom he knew through his brother) apprised of what they had been doing. He told them about the meeting with AM as well as about Lavoy’s involvement in the whole thing. As expected, they arrive just in time to save Reacher and his friends from the trouble of fighting Lavoy’s men. Meanwhile, another unit is sent to Lavoy’s office in Washington, DC, where he is arrested and held accountable for his crimes.
Where Does Reacher Go?
With all loose ends tied up and the case coming to a close, Reacher and his friends finally relax. They have avenged their fallen friends, ensured their families’ financial security, and ensured that all the bad guys (no matter how minuscule their involvement was in the Little Wing case) are brought to justice, one way or another. Now that all is said and done, they can return to their normal lives, which means that the band will have to break up.
O’Donnell returns to his family. Now that the danger has passed, his wife and kids can come back home. Moreover, now that his children’s future is secure, he can stop working sleazy cases for money and focus on the good things in life. Dixon also moves on to the new business that is waiting for her. She and Reacher their final night together and say goodbye, knowing that this might be the last time they see each other. Neagley, on the other hand, doesn’t want that anymore. She tells Reacher that she is not happy with the arrangement of only meeting in the case of a crisis and asks Reacher to stay in touch, no matter where he goes.
After having said goodbye to his friends, Reacher boards a bus out of New York. When a fellow passenger asks where he is going, he says he has no idea. This leaves the audience in a bit of suspense about where he is heading and what bad luck and trouble will befall him next. The great news is that the show has already been renewed for the third season, which is well underway. This means that the next season might arrive sooner than the time it took for Season 2 to land on Prime Video.
As for where Reacher might be headed next, the creators of the show have quite a few options to choose from. Actor Alan Ritchson, who plays the titular role, revealed that the next season will recreate one of the classics from the Reacher universe. Considering that the second season jumped directly to the eleventh book in the series, the third season might take a step back and adapt one of the earlier books and place Reacher in a situation that he doesn’t have a personal attachment to, unlike the first two seasons. In that case, we will find Reacher in unfamiliar waters the next time he is on our screens.
Read More: Why Doesn’t Neagley Like to be Touched?
