Diksha Sundriyal
As the fourth season of Prime Video’s ‘Reacher‘ inches towards its end, some major mysteries are resolved. The previous episode ended with Reacher and Tamara in the back of a van, staring at the guns pointed at them. Just when the shooters are ready to finish the job, someone drives up to them, distracts and then kills them. It turns out to be Springfield, who confirms that Sampson identified the chemist in the video soon after their call. Now, Reacher has the chance to finish the conversation he started with Leo Ahlquist, though what he finds out turns everything into a much higher-stakes game than he’s expected. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Truth About the Photo Comes to Light
Docherty drives Jacob to a secluded location, but while Jacob thinks he is going to get killed, Docherty lets him go. It turns out that he has picked up enough details from the CIA and the FBI snooping around, without giving any answers, to know that something bad is going on. He is also concerned about Tamara, so Jacob brings him up to date on the whole thing. When the chemist is mentioned, Docherty remarks that they found beakers and other things to make chemicals at the restaurant where the shootout took place. This means Lila and Amisha are working on something dangerous. Meanwhile, Reacher catches up with Leo Ahlquist, and this time, the man is forced to reveal everything.
It turns out all those years ago, the US government and the CIA were involved in a secret operation called Mongoose. The idea was to create a dangerous chemical weapon and then to find its antidote. Since chemical weapons were banned by the UN, it was an off-the-books operation, and even the American soldiers like Sampson were not aware of it. Ahlquist was a young chemist who joined the operation to make some money, but he had to tell everyone that he was working on malaria. Even Putra and his people were unaware of it, and Cahill was the only one who knew. One day, Putra took the picture with Cahill and Sampson. In the background, a whiteboard displayed the formula for a chemical weapon of mass destruction.
Later, the project was scrapped, or at least ended before they could find an antidote. The photo was sent into the archives, where it remained useless for years. But as technology developed, the photo became an important asset. The reason Lila and Amisha wanted it now was to use an AI tool to extract the formula from the photo and recreate the chemical weapon. They must have targeted Anna, considering she was a single mother; they could force her into doing their bidding. But when she stole the photo, she triggered an alarm that alerted Ahlquist’s office. They shared this information with Sampson’s office, which is how Cahill found out about it. He likely thought about solving it on his own, which is why he was on the train that night. Reacher knows what happened after that.
The True Scale of Lila and Amisha’s Plans is Revealed
The news of the leak was also shared with CIA’s Agent Foster, whose ears Reacher had ripped off earlier. But Ahlquist didn’t think they were equipped enough to do the job, so he hired his own assassins to get it done. When Operation Mongoose was shut down, he used the formula and tweaked it to turn it into pesticides. If it came out that his business was built on the back of a potential weapon of mass destruction, he would be ruined. He also recognizes Amisha, who was there when the photo with Putra was taken. He thinks that she and Lila are going to recreate the weapon. However, to do that, they need the toxin from the rosary beads, which only grow in Indonesia. Reacher realizes that he has seen the beads before in Lila’s wristband, which means they have everything they need to make the chemical.
What makes things worse is that the weapon can be turned airborne, which means it can kill thousands of people. Since they never got to make an antidote, they won’t be able to stop what comes next. The impact of the weapon has already been seen before when Putra used it on his people, leading the government to terminate the program, pack things up in Indonesia, and cover it all up. Since Ahlquist has already turned the technology to his advantage, he fears that Amisha and Lila might come looking for him. Knowing that they would easily torture him into giving up the information they need, Reacher finds it best to permanently shut him up. He kills Ahlquist then and there and moves on, though Springfield is not happy about it.
Meanwhile, Lila and Amisha’s efforts prove successful. The chemical is made, and they trust it on a homeless person who dies a horrible death. Now that it’s confirmed to be working, Lila asks her people to make enough to kill thousands. Elsewhere, Jacob gets a concerning message on Plum’s phone. It turns out Plum put out feelers in case the contents of the drive show up on the dark web, and he was right. There is an auction call for the weapon on the dark web. Not only have Amisha and Lila put it up for sale, but they have also offered to demonstrate the weapon’s power. This means they will soon target a densely populated area. He promptly shares this information with Reacher and Tamara.
Sampson Discovers the Target of Amisha and Lila’s Attack
A quick Google search reveals an orchestra performance in an open field with 14k people in attendance. Reacher thinks this will be the target, so they contact Docherty to get the cops to sweep the place. However, the search comes up empty, and the fake alert angers Docherty; he leaves. He also tells the trio that Plum is currently in surgery. When he asks about Ahlquist and the dent on their car, Reacher says it’s because he hit a deer. An annoyed Docherty leaves, but the question of the imminent attack remains. The next location that makes sense to them is the highway, which is expected to be jam-packed with people who will have nowhere to run when the attack happens.
But they have run out of Docherty’s goodwill. So, Reacher calls Sampson. At the time, Sampson is at his wife’s fundraising program. He meets with a man who has donated a lot of money to his wife’s charity, though Sampson points out that the donation will not sway him to help the man with his political motivations. Rather, he is more concerned with the man’s kid and devises a plan to help the kid spend more time with his father. In between this, he is bombarded with phone calls. When he eventually picks up, Reacher updates him on the situation.
However, just then, Sampson discovers a problem with the security guards at the function, leading him to realize that this will be Lila and Amisha’s target, not the highway. It turns out that when the US government turned against Putra, they had the Delta team attack him. He was killed in the process, and it was Sampson who put the bullet in him. Since Amisha saw it happen and she was Putra’s loyal follower, it makes sense that she would want revenge on him. While Reacher and Co make their way to the charity event, Reacher prompts Sampson to identify the suicide bomber.
They list down all the symptoms of a suicide bomber, and eventually Sampson locates a strange man who ticks all the boxes. This man turns out to be the same person Amisha and Lila met in the previous episode, whom they thanked for his service. Since it is still a few minutes for Reacher and Co to arrive, Sampson decides to handle the situation himself. He keeps an eye on the guy. Meanwhile, Reacher runs into the venue, alerting the guards at the front gate, which in turn alerts the suicide bomber. Before he can do anything, Sampson jumps at him, and they both fall into the river. An explosion happens in the water before Reacher can reach them, leaving Sampson and the bomber’s fate uncertain.
Read More: Who is the Chemist in the Photo? Who is Leo Ahlquist? Who Plays Him in Reacher?
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