 Man, that has come a long way. Good for you, Thad. That's a hot mug, guys. Hey guys, this is my review for the first season of Reacher. This is the new Amazon original television show based on the first novel in the Jack Reacher series written by Lee Child. I actually read the book back in 2015. I thought the beginning was okay, the ending was okay, but a lot of the middle was quite middling and boring. Funnily enough, the show actually does follow that same kind of story arc. However it does something far better than the book did, in my opinion, makes that middle bit important. Talks a lot about Reacher's history. Goes into a lot of aspects from the novellas, from Jack Reacher's rules, all these little short stories that were written by Lee Child about this character. And of course, on top of that, they actually got the stature, the size, and the credibility of the character right. Now, I'm not gonna dismay the Jack Reacher films, at least the first one made by Tom Cruise. However, upon reading the first book and seeing, oh yeah, this guy is six foot, what? Two hundred and how many pounds? What the fuck? This dude is the Hulk in human form. So seeing tiny little Tom Cruise play him, I understood then why everyone was so against this character. Jack Reacher is essentially a superhuman sort of. And if there's a sentence that really goes along with this character in terms of the novels, it's Jack Reacher said nothing. He's able to go through a large bit of the opening first episode without saying a word, yet his presence is so well portrayed, so well enforced against everyone that he comes across because of the stellar performance by Alan Richardson. I am so impressed to see Thad, the asshole character that he was in Blue Mountain State, a very funny character, don't get me wrong. And then he comes over to this role and he just kills it. You are going to watch this show purely because of him. You might also be interested in the pretty decently well written murder mystery that has a lot of people on the literal killing floor in this book. The amount of people that die in this story is insane, considering it's supposed to take place in a kind of backwater, very out of the way town. Alan just brings the elements that have been so well liked about this character in his novel form onto the silver screen, well, onto the television screen, to the point where there's almost, if not nothing to complain about from his character. Maybe he's a little bit too superhuman at the end, particularly the really bad kind of final climax, where it's pretty clear that Amazon didn't want to spend anything more than $6 on the VFX. There's some flames here that, like, my god, I've got a candle here and this candle is giving off more of a realistic vibe, not just because it's a real flame. It looks better than anything that they did in that entire sequence. But there's also a really good arrangement of supporting characters. Roscoe, the takes no shit side cop slight kind of love interest of Reacher. The lawyer guy from Boston who is trying to escape his own demons, his own insecurities while thinking that he can come to this town and kind of be the higher up of everyone realizing that just because he is of this higher stature doesn't mean he's gonna get the respect of anyone. This character really goes from someone you don't like at first, you think is just this annoying know-it-all, to still being that annoying know-it-all, but you get to form a relationship with him just as Reacher is. This show really does take a lot of elements from the first novel despite the fact that there's got to be something like a 20 to 30 year difference, especially with the circumstance and the sort of behind-the-scenes bad guy plan that's going on is pretty much very similar to the book, which again, I'm kind of surprised about considering how technology has changed. But in the end, you really do get into the Reacher character. And like I said earlier, that is due to a lot of the backstory that we get about Reacher. This wasn't really in the book. Despite the connection with the investigation that was previously started by his brother, they didn't really talk about that as much in the book I felt. But this show talks about his history, his family, how he is the way he is, and it's a very welcome addition to this. So in the end, I would definitely say if you haven't watched Reacher, give it a go. It is a very fun opening season. Is it kind of in your ear and out the other again? Yeah, but it's still very credible, very well made, and I cannot wait for when they continue on with this series. There's 24 novels in total. I actually think this could be something that I actually would watch every season on Amazon. I'm happy that Alan has got consistent work because I imagine Blue Mountain State has been a slight black mark on his history. Not intentionally due to him, but just the way that the times have changed for a show that's just over 10 years old. Holy shit, it is not H.U.L. at all, but it actually did have a lot of smart to it, which I've got to give it credit for that. Then the end, though, I am going to give Reacher season 1 a 5 out of 7. Very enjoyable. Like I said, kind of popcorn candy, got some well-written stuff in it, but it's not like stuff you're going to keep and really hold on to, but you're going to enjoy every minute of it. You just might not remember it as much afterwards, but you're going to want more. But anyways, guys, those are my thoughts on the show. What did you guys think? Let me know in the comments below. Otherwise, hope you enjoyed this review. If you did, leave a like, and if you're interested in more, subscribe. And on a side note, for those of you who haven't watched my reviews, you'll notice that the camera has changed just a little bit. Let me know what you guys think of this, because maybe this actually might be something I do more often. I might use this piece a little bit more often. Like I said, let me know. Until then, though, I'll see you guys next time. Like the Bring Back Undergrads Facebook page. And with any luck, we'll see you guys soon.