The Incompetent Villain in Reacher Season 2

The Underwhelming Antagonist

Reacher season 2's main villain is far less competent than he appeared in the original novel. Just like the James Bond movies, there's little doubt that Jack Reacher will overcome the villains of any given adventure. Reacher might be wounded or placed in jeopardy, but he always wins the day. Some of the antagonists in Lee Child's Reacher books can seem underwhelming since even the author often has little interest in pretending the title character is going to lose. Reacher season 1 adapted Child's Killing Floor, and while it had enjoyably slimy villains, they didn't leave much impact either.

Ferdinand Kingsley as A.M. burning a passport in Reacher season 2

Reacher season 2 adapts Bad Luck and Trouble, where Alan Ritchson's titular wanderer reunites with the 110th Special Investigators to avenge the murder of their friends. The second season has a two-for-the-price-of-one special on antagonists. The first is Robert Patrick's Langston, the head of security for defense contractor New Age. Langston plans to sell the experimental 'Little Wing' missile to terrorist arms dealer AM (Ferdinand Kingsley) and will kill anybody who gets in his way.

Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher and Ferdinand Kingsley as AM in Reacher season 2

Reacher's AM Is Leaving Behind A Trail Of Dead Bodies. Season 2's AM is a departure from his Bad Luck and Trouble counterpart. AM is the more mysterious foe of the duo, since little is known about his past or where he came from. He's known as AM because all of the pseudonyms he uses, like Azhari Mahoud or Alan Mason, begin with those initials. He's often described as a ghost since he moves through the world practically unseen, and in some ways, AM is a dark mirror to Reacher himself. While he was far more enigmatic in Bad Luck and Trouble, Reacher season 2 has had to juice up AM's screentime, which has seen him commit several murders to cover his tracks.

Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher Sitting in a Diner in Reacher Season 2

The Inept Actions of A.M.

This makes him more threatening than his novel counterpart - but it also makes him appear sloppy. In episode 6, for instance, AM kills a cop because she's about to give him a ticket. In one sense, it was bad luck on his part, since he stopped off in a restroom and came out to find a police officer looking over his vehicle. That said, the only reason this is an issue is that AM murdered a plastic surgeon - alongside his secretary - in a previous episode to steal his identity, so once his vehicle details are entered into the system, he has little choice but to kill the police officer too.

Ferdinand Kingsley as A.M. burning a passport in Reacher season 2

There's almost a dark comedy to be made out of AM's list of errors on Reacher, and how his body count mounts because of them. AM was forced to travel incognito when the authorities became aware of his presence, but there had to be a less convoluted way to slip under the radar than killing a prominent surgeon. Part of what's supposed to make AM a threat is nobody knows what he looks like and that he can move around undetected, but with his latest killing, that claim is becoming harder to accept.

Robert Patrick as Shane Langston talking on the phone in Reacher season 2

AM's cover being blown is the fault of the 110th exposing his fake identities, which forced him to improvise a new route to New York to complete the 'Little Wing' sale. Even so, if AM is the 'ghost' everyone keeps claiming, leaving multiple corpses in his wake is the worst possible way to travel undetected. He may still be ahead of his pursuers, but he's leaving a very obvious trail in his wake.

Maria Sten as Neagley and Alan Richtson as Jack Reacher in Reacher season 2

The Evolution of A.M. in Reacher Season 2

Making AM more of a physical threat is one addition Reacher season 2 had to make. In Bad Luck and Trouble, he's this looming threat deep in the background who only really appears in the final chapters. If the show was true to the source material - where AM travels under false identities and generally not doing much - viewers would likely forget there's another villain besides Langston.

Alan Richtson as Jack Reacher, Serinda Swan as Dixon, Shaun Sipos as O'Donnell, Dean McKenzie as Lowrey in Reacher season 2

Reacher had to make AM more lethal - even at the cost of undoing his smooth operator reputation. To the show's credit, it's not peeling back the curtain on his backstory either. Some filmmakers might have been tempted to give AM an origin or even link him to the 110th in some convoluted way, but Reacher has - so far - avoided that route. Now they've made him more of a physical opponent, the question remains whether he and the titular hero will clash in the finale too.