Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) has never been the warm and fuzzy type. He does, however, form deep attachments and is loyal to those he trusts and cares about. We see that with Neagley (Maria Sten) and saw that exemplified in Reacher Season 2 when Langston (Robert Patrick) targeted former members of Reacher’s 110th Special Investigators Unit.
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In Reacher Season 3 Episode 4, “Dominique,” we meet the protégée who predates Neagley, Dominique Kohl (Mariah Robinson). Her death at Xavier Quinn’s (Brian Tee) sadistic hands drives Reacher’s current vendetta. At the moment, with Reacher’s promotion to Zachary Beck’s (Anthony Michael Hall) second-in-command, things appear to be progressing well.
Reacher, “Dominique”
On the way back to Beck’s estate, Beck calls Julius McCabe (also Brian Tee) to tell him about Angel Doll’s (Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz) betrayal and Duke’s (Donald Sales) death. After hanging up, Beck tells Reacher about McCabe.
At the cabin, Duffy (Sonya Cassidy) and Villanueva (Roberto Montesinos) review the surveillance photos they took of McCabe’s operation. A car rolls up outside, and they move to the door, weapons drawn. Reacher comes in. He lets them know things went according to plan in Hartford. Duffy’s not happy to hear the DEA safe house got torched. Villanueva isn’t pleased that Reacher murdered Duke to take his place.
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Duffy tells Reacher about the shipment they watched arrive and shows him a picture of McCabe. He identifies McCabe as Quinn and admits that he thought he’d killed him.
Villanueva contacts some people and learns that the name Julius McCabe is a dead end. Duffy asks why Reacher wants Quinn dead. Reacher’s silent, and Duffy jumps down his throat, demanding he explain himself.
Backstory
Flashback to Reacher’s time as a solo Military Police Investigator. General Leon Garber (Andreas Apergis) checks in with him on the Gorowski file. He informs Reacher he’s assigned Sergeant First Class Dominique Kohl to help Reacher with the case as he’s got more work than he can keep up with. Garber floats the idea of what will become the 110th.
Kohl arrives and reports for duty. After telling her to address him only as “Reacher,” Reacher fills her in on the Gorowski file. It’s an espionage case with a weapons specialist, Roland Gorowski (Johnathan Sousa), selling top-secret weapons design blueprints. Reacher sees her looking around his office and asks her if something is wrong. She tells him that she asked around about him and based on his reputation for being demanding yet respectful, she deduces that he only just learned that she’d been assigned to him as there is no second chair in the room. He concedes that her deduction is correct.
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He hands her the Gorowski file to look over while he gets them coffee. As he pours, he asks her for her thoughts on why Gorowski would sell the blueprints. She immediately states that Gorowski is being coerced. Because Gorowski is in his 40s, has never engaged in risky illegal behaviors before and has a family, he doesn’t fit the profile of someone doing this of his own volition. Reacher calls out for a second chair to be brought in.
Not a Soup Sandwich
Reacher recounts how they staked out Gorowski’s dead drop in a park. While they wait, Kohl tells Reacher about hunting elk with her dad. Her dad passed five years earlier, but she still hunts. Reacher shares a bit about his father. The pick-up is taking too long, and they get out of the car to investigate the site. They discover the garbage can they were watching was a misdirect. The real drop happened at another can 30 yards away, and they missed the pick-up.
Reacher decides to bring in Gorowski for questioning and bluff. Under Kohl’s questioning, Gorowski admits he gave up the blueprints because they’d stolen his four-year-old daughter from her preschool to prove they could. From the observation room, Reacher is impressed by Kohl’s interrogation style. Gorowski refuses to give up a name. He still fears for his family’s life.
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Kohl plays hardball, pointing out that the criminals will keep squeezing him for intel until they don’t need him anymore, and then they’ll kill him and probably his family, too. Gorowski whispers the name Xavier Quinn and says he’s military intelligence with connections in law enforcement that would inform him if Gorowski told anyone about the situation.
Every A**hole Brings Roses
In the present day, Duffy points out Quinn used the same method to leverage Beck — kidnapping and coercion. Villanueva asks how Reacher and Kohl played it. Flashback to Kohl reviewing Quinn’s file, including parentage and a half million dollars hidden in Aruba. Private Anthony Frasconi (Robert Bazzocchi) brings in phone records and informs them Quinn’s been calling Safwan Qasim (Farhang Gahjar), a Syrian national with ties to the military.
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The three of them stake out a club. While they wait, Reacher advises them on what they can and can’t do to Qasim to avoid raising Quinn’s suspicions. From the backseat, Frasconi comments on how much he likes dancing. Reacher picks up on Frasconi’s interest in Kohl.
As Frasconi makes his pitch, Kohl spots Qasim and his security detail leaving the club. They follow them into an alley and tell Qasim they’d like to speak to him. After scaring off the security detail, Reacher convinces Qasim to help bring in Quinn. Kohl takes Qasim into custody. Reacher keeps Frasconi back and gives him some advice about keeping safe in a combat situation as well as how to approach Kohl on a personal level.
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Parallels
In the cabin, Agent Eliot (Daniel David Stewart) interrupts Duffy and Reacher to ask if he can let Cooper (Ronnie Rowe) have a smoke. Duffy reminds him what the regulations say about the treatment of detainees and sends him back to watch their prisoner.
Flashback to Reacher and Kohl presenting their case to General Masuda (Jay Wong). They need Matsuda to get the blueprints authenticated ASAP once Quinn passes them to Qasim. Matsuda agrees and leaves, wishing them luck. Kohl suggests she and Reacher go to a bar and get a drink while they review the file. Reacher points out that the optics of that could be problematic. He pulls out two beers from his fridge, and they share a drink.
Reacher narrates the sting going down. Quinn and Qasim exchanged money for blueprints with Fasconi recording it. Fasconi followed Quinn. Qasim met Reacher and Kohl and handed over the blueprints. Back at the office, Kohl gets the blueprints authenticated and lists the pieces of the case they’ve put together to nail Quinn. Reacher tells her it’s her win and she deserves to go arrest Quinn.
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In the cabin, he tells Duffy and Villanueva, “There are very few people you meet in life who do everything right. The way they think, attack problems, conduct themselves. How they keep things loose when a joke is needed. Or keep their powder dry when things get tight. Dominique Kohl cared about doing the right things the right way. She was gonna be great.”
“Sir”
An hour later, Garber brings Reacher a mug and reassures him that Kohl’s probably en route still. Reacher runs down the timeline, which adds up to 49 minutes. Garber suggests texting her. Reacher points out he doesn’t text, and she’ll think he’s micromanaging her. Nevertheless, he texts her, “All good?” The reply comes, “Got him. Cuffed. Heading in, sir.”
When Reacher sees the “sir,” he knows Quinn’s captured Kohl. He leads a team to break down Quinn’s door. Reacher finds Frasconi dead on the kitchen floor. They find evidence that Quinn took Kohl somewhere alive. Back at HQ, Garber gets Quinn’s unsealed juvie report with a therapist’s diagnosis of malignant narcissistic personality disorder and sociopathology with paranoid and ego-syntonic aggression.
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Reacher realizes Quinn took Kohl alive to torture her for the name of her commanding officer. Knowing the depths of Quinn’s sadism, the torture will be brutal. Working the facts of the case, they realize he’s taken her to his farmhouse in Lytton. Reacher starts driving, telling Garber to call him when they find the address of the property.
Do It Once, Do It Right
Garber calls and gives Reacher directions to the property. Reacher says he’s about 20 minutes out. Garber’s contacted county police, but they’re half an hour away. Reacher replies it doesn’t matter as he doesn’t plan to arrest Quinn. Garber advises him to do it once and do it right.
Reacher arrives at the property. The door to the house is locked, but he hears a sound and notices a light in the barn. The door swings in the wind, creaking, as seen in a previous memory. Wind chimes sound faintly. Reacher enters. Kohl’s bare feet dangle in the air, blood running down her legs and dripping off her toes. She hangs by bound hands from the rafter. Reacher turns around and leaves the barn, stumbling slightly in grief. He walks past Kohl’s uniform on a pile on the barn floor.
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Hearing a sound, Reacher creeps around to a sublevel door. Through the window, he sees Quinn packing money he’s digging out of bins of grain. A jingling noise catches Quinn’s attention. He walks to the door where Reacher’s hung a chain of bells. Stepping outside, he’s caught off-guard by Reacher, who puts a gun to his head and disarms him. Quinn tells Reacher that he and Kohl were working together. He admits to killing her, blaming her for getting greedy. Saying he’s okay with serving time for killing her, he tries to cut a deal with Reacher.
Say Her Name
Reacher asks Quinn what Kohl’s first name is. Caught in his lie, Quinn moves to attack, and Reacher punches him in the face. At gunpoint, he marches Quinn to a clifftop overlooking rough water. He tells Quinn that Kohl’s first name was Dominique before shooting him in the head. Quinn falls over the cliff’s edge into the churning water below.
In the cabin, Reacher explains that he used Quinn’s .22 to shoot him. Unfortunately, the small round lodged in his skull and didn’t kill him.
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Flashback to Reacher bringing Kohl’s body down from the rafter in the barn. He covers her in a blanket before the county police arrive. They find Reacher kneeling next to Kohl’s body with his hands up. When asked about Quinn’s whereabouts, Reacher claims to have no idea where he’s gone.
Duffy Comes Clean
In the present day, Villanueva sympathizes with Reacher for his loss and promises they’ll get Quinn this time. Duffy seems to be at a loss for words. Reacher asks her what’s wrong. She admits that she forced Teresa (Storm Steenson) to go undercover by threatening her with a prison sentence. Duffy feels guilty and needs to make it right. Reacher replies they have that in common. He leaves and returns to Beck’s estate with a takeout container of food.
In the kitchen, he sits down to eat and asks for a cup of coffee. Agnes (Helen Taylor) asks where Duke is, and he informs her Duke no longer works for Beck. Annette (Caitlin McNerney) asks if he’s okay. He says it’s been a long night. She replies that it’s been a long night for them as well, preparing for Beck’s 50th birthday party. He asks if they know who the guests are. He takes the coffee and leaves, thanking Agnes on the way out.
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In the morning, Annette knocks on Reacher’s bedroom door. He opens it, dressed only in his underwear, surprising her. She hands him a bag of fresh clothes. As he’s getting dressed, he hears something and peeks out a window to see Richard (Johnny Berchtold) working a heavy bag by the carriage house.
Boxing Lessons
He joins Richard and tells him to hit him in the chest as hard as he can. With a sigh, he starts giving Richard fighting tips. From the house, Zachary Beck watches them until his phone rings. Out in the yard, Reacher realizes Richard doesn’t have the instincts or ability for a fair fight and teaches him to fight dirty.
In a car, Villanueva voices his concerns to Duffy about working with Reacher. Using Angel Doll’s laptop, they’re looking into places where Teresa might be being held. Their first stop is a tubing facility. Duffy picks the lock to get them in.
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At the Beck estate, Zachary Beck grabs Reacher and tells him McCabe’s tracked Angel Doll’s laptop to a tubing facility. McCabe’s sent three guys to retrieve it. Beck gives Reacher the address and orders him to go help kill whoever has the laptop. En route, Reacher tries calling Duffy, but it goes straight to voicemail. He leaves a message. In the facility, Villanueva realizes his phone has no bars. Duffy notes the steel roof is probably blocking the cell signal. McCabe’s men arrive, planning to kill anyone they find in the facility.
Reacher streams on Prime Video. New episodes drop on Thursdays until March 27.
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