Welcome to Margrave
In the first episode of the new Reacher movie, a man is running away from a strange figure with a silenced gun. After shooting their victim, they brutally beat him to the ground and cover him in cardboard. ..
We follow Reacher as he is taken into custody and questions are asked of him. He doesn’t answer any of them. He’s just sitting there, looking at the ground. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, a detective comes over to him and asks if he knows anything about the murder. Reacher just looks at him and doesn’t say anything.
Chief Detective Finlay confirms that the man we saw at the start of this case is our victim, and Reacher is being accused of murdering him. The deceased was a 30-year-old male who was unfortunately hit with two 9mm 95-grain close-range shots to the back of the head. He was also badly beaten too.
Reacher finally speaks, confirming that he is not the killer. He believes there are three killers here- the professional shooter, a psycho to beat the body post-mortem, and the third? Someone methodical enough to cover the body with cardboard. It’s an interesting theory but Finlay is not so sure. Interestingly, the victim happens to have a scrap of paper in his shoe, with a number and the word “Pluribus.”
The alibi for Reacher needs to be checked so for now he’s stuck in a holding cell. While he’s behind bars, Finlay is led to a tip-off, a man by the name of Hubble.
With a black car outside his house, the man is nervous and immediately takes the blame for the murder. He claims it’s self defense but the details don’t match up. Finlay intentionally distorts the facts to call him out, and it works an absolute peach. Although Hubble is arrested too, the case has taken an intriguing turn.
When Hubble is arrested, Reacher amusingly breaks his own cable ties and goes on to give a full profile of Finlay, right down to the little details about his nicotine withdrawal. It’s a great way of showing how intelligent and methodical Reacher is, but unfortunately he too is sent to lock-up alongside Hubble.
After reaching jail, Reacher warns Hubble that he will need his strength, but for Reacher he quickly establishes himself as a bad guy. After saving his skin, Hubble opens up and confirms what we suspected. He is being forced into taking the blame for this crime. ..
The men responsible for running the business have a financial scheme that would leave them powerless if they were to cross them or disrupt their operation.
Hubble and Reacher are transferred to a new prison, but they’re not the only ones. A group of inmates have been set up to fail, on purpose. The guard that night was specifically chosen to do this, and he knows it.
Roscoe is relieved that he and Margrave can finally leave in the morning, thanks in part to the thorough work done by Roscoe. However, Roscoe realizes there is something wrong going on in Margrave. ..
In 1998, Jack and his brother Joe were attacked by a group of bullies. This event seems to have started trouble for the two boys.
When Reacher returns to town, he learns that the current make-up of Margrave is a result of 5 years ago when a man named Kliner came to town and set up his company there, dealing in real estate, trucking and machine parts. In exchange for a sweet deal on some land, Kliner poured money into the town.
KJ, the son of the man outside, warns Reacher to watch his back.
Finlay quickly arrives at the station and demands that Reacher help with the investigation. Unfortunately, this one is going to hit close to home. The victim is Jack’s brother. Because of this, Reacher intends to find those responsible and make them pay. ..
The Episode Review
The opening episode of Reacher is a great start to the show. It mixes action, drama and mystery together well, making it a great introduction to the show. Quite who killed that man is unknown but I’m sure we’ll find out more about this financial scheme and how Hubble ties into it soon.
The bathroom brawl in the prison was absolutely brutal and easily one of the best parts of the episode. The action here is quite reminiscent of The Punisher with a solid introduction to Jack Reacher and great characterization to boot. ..
