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Reacher's Near-Death Experience In Season 3 Has A Deeper Meaning You Probably Didn't Realize
Warning! This article contains spoilers for Reacher season 3’s finale.A close examination of Jack Reacher’s near-death experience in Reacher season 3 finale reveals a darker truth about his overarching purpose and history. Although Reacher season 3 gives viewers a lot to look forward to, one of its biggest highlights is Jack Reacher’s brewing rivalry with Paulie. After paving the way for their one-on-one showdown almost throughout its runtime, the Amazon Prime Video detective series finally delivers a slam-bang battle between the two characters in its finale. Even though the fight takes up almost half of the episode’s runtime, it does not disappoint.
Despite Reacher’s best efforts to take Paulie down, he initially struggles to hurt the giant. Paulie manages to eat all of Reacher’s attacks while retaliating with some brutal blows. The fight even reaches a stage where Paulie nearly wins and leaves Reacher hanging by a chain in the shed on Zachary Beck’s compound. The hanging scene not only highlights Paulie’s brutality but also points toward something far deeper in Reacher’s season 3 story.
Paulie Hanging Reacher In Their Season 3 Battle Mirrors How Dominique Kohl Died
Quinn Had Killed Kohl In A Similar Manner
Paulie and Reacher’s battle almost ends when Reacher gets knocked unconscious, and Paulie takes the opportunity to give Reacher a slow, painful death. Instead of killing him off there and then, Paulie takes a chain and hangs Reacher by his neck in the central mansion’s shed. Jack Reacher almost meets his doom as he struggles to break free from the chain around his neck. Although Reacher eventually manages to free himself from the chain’s noose, it is hard not to see how his near-death experience is reminiscent of how Dominique Kohl was killed by Xavier Quinn.
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A flashback in Reacher season 3‘s early moments reveals that the titular Alan Ritchson character had attempted to save Kohl from Quinn. However, when he finally tracked Quinn down and arrived where he expected to find him, he discovered Kohl hanging by the ceiling. Before Reacher could have saved her, Quinn had killed her in the most brutal way. Reacher, too, would have met a similar fate in the shed sequence from Reacher season 3’s finale, but he manages to channel his rage toward people like Quinn and Paulie and breaks free before it is too late.
The Hanging Easter Egg Is A Brutal Reminder Of Reacher’s Motivation In Season 3
It Highlights That Reacher Seeks Vengeance
Image via Prime Video
In season 3’s early moments, Jack Reacher does not even agree to help the DEA with their undercover mission until they mention Xavier Quinn. This establishes that even though Reacher has a strong sense of justice, he only agrees to get embroiled in the DEA’s operation because it gives him the opportunity to seek vengeance. Reacher realizes he missed his chance to kill Quinn for good the first time he encountered him, but he must do everything to ensure he does it right the second time.
When Paulie hangs Reacher by his neck in Reacher season 3’s finale, the scene becomes a brutal reminder of how ruthlessly Quinn killed Kohl. It highlights how Quinn deserves no better fate than what Reacher planned for him.
Even towards the end of the season, Reacher makes it evident that he wants revenge when Duffy tries to convince him to back off and allow the ATF to take over. When Paulie hangs Reacher by his neck in Reacher season 3’s finale, the scene becomes a brutal reminder of how ruthlessly Quinn killed Kohl. It highlights how Quinn deserves no better fate than what Reacher planned for him. This reminder of his motivation even gives Jack Reacher the strength to free himself and exact the revenge he sought throughout the season.
