Self-control is the name of the game. Those who have it and choose to exercise it have a better chance of survival. Those who don’t have it or choose not to exercise it are either dead or lucky. On Reacher Season 3 Episode 6, “Smoke on the Water,” Reacher (Alan Ritchson), McCabe/Quinn (Brian Tee) and Duffy (Sonya Cassidy) all have chances to demonstrate their level of self-control. It’s a fascinating spectrum of ability.
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Our running Reacher body count takes a dramatic leap this week. Considering how deep into the business they are now, it shouldn’t be a surprise. For those playing along, as of the end of “Smackdown” with ambushing Cooper (Ronnie Rowe), the score stands at five.
Reacher, “Smoke on the Water”
Our titular lead and Beck (Anthony Michael Hall) stand in McCabe/Quinn’s warehouse, surrounded by men inspecting and packing weapons. Carrying a gun in the back of his waistband, Reacher also has a phone in his pocket left on so Duffy and Villanueva (Roberto Montesinos) can hear everything going on at the meeting.
McCabe/Quinn arrives and berates Beck for hiring an ATF agent to clean his house. He threatens to kill him before he can take the whole operation down with him but admits that the buyers know Beck and expect to be dealing with him.
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Outside, a car rolls up, and Duffy notices the man who gets out is carrying a green dress in a garment bag from Atelier Avrielene Dressmaker. She crows that it must be for Teresa (Storm Steenson), so Teresa must still be alive.
Face To Face
McCabe/Quinn strides over to Reacher, commenting that hiring him was the only smart thing Beck’s done in weeks. He asks for Reacher’s name and shows no recognition when Reacher tells him. Instead, he offers a hand and introduces himself as Julius McCabe.
The man with the dress bag walks by. Reacher realizes what that means. He shakes McCabe’s hand. McCabe notices his attention to the dress and comments that the dress is nothing compared to what he’s putting it in. Reacher fishes for more information on the girl. McCabe shares she’d be fish food, except that she’s a redhead, and the client has a thing for redheads.
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Outside, a motorcade arrives. They honk loudly. McCabe tells Reacher to stand behind him and look scary. He orders the others in the warehouse to stand ready but warns them not to pull a weapon unless they see him do it first.
The Money
McCabe leads his entourage outside to where Taktarov (Aleks Paunovic) sits in his car, finishing a call on his phone. He tells Taktarov that the bag Harley’s placing in the trunk is only interest, no principle. Taktarov reminds him that wasn’t the agreement. McCabe apologizes, explaining the sale was delayed. Taktarov expresses a Russian proverb which McCabe translates to, “Give a man a fingernail, he’ll take the forearm.”
Taktarov and his cars leave. McCabe tells Reacher to get Beck out of his sight. Walking back to the warehouse, McCabe tells Harley to reach out to his contact in Arlington and trace anyone who has been looking into him.
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Driving back to Beck’s house, Beck explains to Reacher that McCabe borrowed his seed capital from the Russian mob. Reacher establishes that McCabe’s life depends on paying back Taktarov’s people on time.
It’s Gotta Be a Green Dress
Duffy and Villanueva find the Atelier Avrielene dressmaker and ask about the green dress they saw at the warehouse. He tells them he was hired to make a sexy dress for a redhead. He doesn’t have a name for the client but gives Duffy and Villanueva the contact phone number.
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Parking the car in Beck’s carriage house, Reacher sees Richard heading down to the water’s edge. After sending a message via his cell phone, he follows and convinces Richard to come into town with him for some epoxy to fix the toy gun he bought his dad for his birthday on Saturday. Reluctantly, Richard agrees.
Dropping Richard off at the shops, Reacher says he’s going to get a coffee. In an alley, he meets up with Duffy to return her badge. She shares that they got a number from the dressmaker. There was no answer, but Villenueva has a contact with the cell provider. They’re hoping to get the call log on that number.
Reacher tells Duffy about Taktarov and McCabe’s debt to the Russian mob. Duffy thanks him for not killing McCabe/Quinn when he had the chance. When he explains his reasoning, she kisses him. He kisses her back.
Mixed Signals
Suddenly, she pushes him away, stating emphatically, “That is NOT happening twice!” Reacher’s understandably confused. Villanueva arrives, explaining loudly he had to move the car. Reacher’s surprised to see him and tells Duffy to get Villanueva out of there now. She doesn’t understand the issue until Richard walks into the alley and recognizes Villanueva as the cop Reacher “killed” during the staged kidnapping.
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Driving back to Beck’s, Richard demands to know the truth. Reacher pulls over and yanks him out of the car. Holding Richard still so he’ll listen, Reacher apologizes for the lies but tells him about being recruited to find Teresa. He also tells Richard about his plans to kill McCabe.
In the kitchen, Agnes (Helen Taylor) brings in a couple of tuxedos for Richard and Reacher. Beck thanks her and asks her to look in Annette’s (Caitlin McNearney) old room for the list of RSVPed guests. Richard and Reacher come in after she heads up. Beck sees that something’s bothering Richard. Richard claims it was the town bullies again but says Reacher dealt with it.
As Reacher is about to leave, Beck accuses him of trying to be Richard’s father. Reacher claims he’s just looking out for the kid, the same way he does for Beck. It’s his job. Beck points out that people in that job catch a lot of bullets.
Turning Over Rocks
In Rock Creek, Virginia, an elderly neighbor knocks on Warrant Officer Powell’s (Owen Roth) door, asking if his water pressure is okay. Powell opens the door to find the neighbor being held at gunpoint by two of McCabe’s goons. They kill the old man and turn on Powell. One of them calls McCabe to tell them they’ve captured Powell and that the team in Chicago will make their move soon.
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In Chicago, Illinois, in Neagley’s (Maria Sten) office, she gets up to make a hot drink in the kitchen, leaving her sidearm at her desk in a holster. In the elevator on the way up, two men attach silencers to their weapons. The elevator dings when they arrive. Neagley hears it and gets cautious. The men check her office first. The microwave beeps, alerting them that she’s in the kitchen. She ambushes the one that comes to the kitchen, knocking him to the ground.
She gets under some desks and logs into a computer to send a print job to the photocopier. The noise draws both men to the copier room. She takes the opportunity to run to her office. They pursue, shooting at her. Somehow, they both miss her completely, taking out the glass wall of her office instead. She gets her gun and does not miss the guy running in front. Grabbing her phone and a fresh clip, she tracks the surviving assassin to the kitchen.
In Rock Creek, the goons are beating on Powell with McCabe watching on video chat. He realizes Powell’s never going to talk and orders his men to gut Powell and let him bleed out.
Okay, You’re an Ambulance
In Chicago, Neagley finds the other guy sitting on the floor in the kitchen, holding a gut wound. Looks like she didn’t miss him either. He asks her to call 9-1-1. She scoffs and makes herself a bowl of cereal. When he asks again for a doctor, she says if he gives up the name of whoever hired him, she might call for some help. He tells her they were sent by Kostopolous because she was looking into Angel [Doll] (Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz) and Paulie (Oliver Richters).
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Neagley calls Reacher to tell him what just went down. Realizing McCabe tracking down anyone Reacher used to look into his dealings, he hangs up on Neagley. In the kitchen, Neagley calls an ambulance for the guy. She informs them the ambulance will be there in five minutes, but he’ll be dead in one. She finishes her cereal.
At the 110th Investigators, Wade (Eileen Li) answers Reacher’s call. Learning that Powell’s half an hour late to relieve her, Reacher tells her to send three armed personnel to check his house.
McCabe Makes a Move
Beck’s in Richard’s studio, looking at a painting, when he spots a fast-moving car drive onto his property. McCabe, Paulie, and a few others march into the house. Beck meets them in the foyer, where McCabe tells him that two military members from the 110th Special Investigators have been checking into them. Beck admits that Reacher was 110th. McCabe orders Paulie to go kill Reacher.
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Paulie finds Reacher’s room empty. Sticking his head out the window, he sees Reacher running across the lawn. In the carriage house, Reacher grabs the plow keys and shoots the tires on all the other vehicles. As Paulie and Harley approach, Reacher bursts out through a garage door in a snowplow. He barrels past them and manages to evade the machine gun fire from the gatehouse.
In their hotel room, Duffy and Villanueva discuss the case. Reacher calls to tell Duffy to come get him because his ride’s shot out. He doesn’t have time to explain fully because McCabe’s men are pursuing on ATVs. Running into the woods, he picks off one of the ATV riders and then shoots out the lights on the other two ATVs. (Reacher body count: 6)
Using mud as camouflage, he sneaks up on one guy and breaks his neck. The next guy gets stabbed in the neck. The last guy gets garrotted using the retracting cable on one of the ATVs. (Reacher body count: 9. Well, that escalated quickly.)
Getting His Bearings
Emerging from the woods, Reacher finds himself on the edge of town. He goes to a laundromat and offers a wad of cash to the elderly Asian owners if they close early.
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In the woods, Paulie finds the bodies of his guys. He walks into town the same as Reacher, but, looking around, he has no idea where Reacher’s gone. Swearing, he heads back to home base.
In the laundromat, Reacher waits for his clothes to wash, wrapped in a single inadequate blue towel. The owners return with a wet facecloth for him to clean his face and a cup of coffee. He thanks them and tells them the coffee is much better than the cat butt stuff.
Monster
In the kitchen, Paulie comes in and whispers in McCabe’s ear. McCabe tells him to bring Richard down over Beck’s protests. McCabe pulls out a revolver and empties the chambers. He places the empty revolver in front of Richard and one bullet on the table. When Beck protests, Paulie threatens to shoot Richard in the head.
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Richard points the revolver at him, but McCabe points out he’s got a 20 percent chance of killing him, and Paulie’s going to kill his dad immediately and then shoot him. With a look at his dad, Richard puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger. McCabe orders him to pull it again. Richard pulls it. Beck begs, offering McCabe anything if he’ll stop. McCabe tells Beck he wants a matching set, meaning ears.
Sweet Marie
In the hotel room, Reacher debriefs with Villanueva and Duffy. Villanueva’s phone company contact comes through and gives them a number from Port Rome. Reacher realizes it’s Harley’s number and Teresa’s being held on his boat, the Sweet Marie.
Duffy and Reacher swim to the Sweet Marie. Below decks, they find evidence that Teresa was there, tied up and drugged. Outside, Harley steers a motorboat to the Sweet Marie. Noticing the water on the deck, he gets his weapon out. As he comes below, Duffy grabs his weapon, directing the shot into a lantern that sets the cabin on fire. He tries to run. She and Reacher follow.
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On the deck, Duffy beats Harley up while Reacher keeps feeding flammable fluids into the fire below. Harley refuses to tell Duffy anything, so Reacher spears Harley’s foot with a fish gaff hook. Realizing the boat’s about to blow, Harley tells them McCabe’s changed everything — moving Teresa, switching the time and location of the weapons sale. Satisfied he’s told them the truth, Reacher and Duffy take the motorboat and leave him to blow up with the boat. (Reacher body count, with a Duffy assist: 10)
Back in the marina, Reacher and Duffy change out of their wetsuits. Reacher accuses Duffy of sneaking peeks at his naked body. She gets mad and asks him what they’re supposed to do now that their last lead literally blew up. He tells her to pack her sunscreen. They’re going to L.A.
Reacher streams on Prime Video. New episodes drop on Thursdays until March 27.
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