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Jack Reacher is a man of few words, and even fewer personal possessions, but he has one souvenir from World War II of tremendous importance to him.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Reacher, streaming now on Prime Video.
As no-nonsense and tough-as-nails as they come, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is the type of protagonist that is more apt to scorn and ridicule sentimentality than he is to embrace his own emotional vulnerabilities. This character trait is true for Reacher both in the literary source material by author Lee Child, the two cinematic adaptations, and the new Prime Video original series Reacher. However, underneath that gruff exterior there is a surprisingly sensitive side to Reacher, a side that is completely encompassed by an old World War II medal he carries with him at all times.
Reacher is something of a walking ghost, completely off the grid as he drifts from town to town, with no permanent place to call his home. Reacher similarly carries few personal possessions during his wanderings. When he’s taken into police custody under suspicion of murder in the small Georgia town of Margrave, Reacher has a couple hundred dollars and a WWII combat medal among his few belongings. And though Reacher doesn’t divulge the origins of the combat medal to those he quietly befriends in Margrave, a flashback in the Reacher season finale reveals why exactly the small bit of metal and cloth is perhaps his most prized possession.
Reacher and his older brother Joe had an especially close relationship with their mother Josephine, who eventually succumbed to cancer while both of her sons were in the midst of their military service. On her deathbed, Josephine gave Reacher the old medal, informing him that his grandfather earned the medal for combat valor during World War II. Leaving their mother’s side, Joe gives his younger brother permission to cry in a rare, emotional moment for Reacher as he silently sheds tears over his mother. In the wake of Joe’s murder, Reacher reflects on this familial moment and contemplates the family heirloom that he has held for years before burying it at the spot where Joe was killed on the outskirts of Margrave.
For Reacher, the WWII medal is an heirloom that represents his entire personal history and sense of family. Both of Reacher’s parts died years before the start of the Prime Video series’ story, which adapts Child’s debut Reacher novel, Killing Floor. Upon Joe’s death, Reacher’s family line now comes to an end with him, with Reacher burying the medal a clear sign of Reacher laying his past to rest at the scene of the crime before walking alone to wherever his wandering road takes him next. It’s a bittersweet moment for Reacher, and as tragic as it gets for the stoic badass. Though Reacher succeeding in bringing his brother’s killers to justice, he is now completely alone in the world.
As much as he would hate to admit it, Reacher does have a degree of emotional vulnerability and nuance to him, with much of his life informed by his complicated dynamic with his family and past. At the start of the series, Reacher reveals that he hadn’t been in contact with his brother for years, but Joe’s murder visibly shook Reacher, causing him to launch a vendetta that left Margrave’s criminal underworld dead. And with this bust officially closing out Reacher’s connection to family, the warrior leaves his keepsake behind, more of an unmoored drifter than ever.
Developed for television by Nick Santora, Reacher is available to stream now on Prime Video.
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