10 Best Jack Reacher Quotes From The Show

Amazon Prime’s new hit series, Reacher, is captivating a large audience of viewers. It currently reigns as the streaming service’s top show and was renewed just two days after its premiere. Reacher is based on the series of novels by Lee Child and follows Jack Reacher, a former U.S. Army military policeman that roams the U.S., solving cases and taking down bad people.

Reacher is an introvert that uses little words and simple vocabulary to get his point across. This makes him even more intimidating and enjoyable to watch. Reacher however does have a collection of lines that perfectly capture his personality. Some are funny, some are emotional, but what makes his lines the best are that they are honest and easily quotable.

He’s Environmentally Friendly

“You Guys Recycle?”

Before Reacher can enjoy his piece of peach pie at a local diner in Margrave, he is arrested on account of a murder. He explains to the police captain character, Oscar Finley (iZombie actor Malcolm Goodwin), that he is innocent and proves it through a meticulous rundown of how the murder happened.

Eventually, Reacher is released from holding. Reacher breaks the zip-tie cuffs with little effort. He turns to everyone staring at him to ask if they recycle, as they look on with their jaws dropped. The disbelief people have from seeing Reacher’s strength is amazing. It’s a hilarious line with an elegant simplicity that ends in Reacher smiling, much like at the end of every fight.

He Doesn’t Make Idle Threats

“Now I’ll Count To Three.”

This line is another example of being short, concise, and representative of Reacher’s personality. In the first episode, “Welcome To Hargrave,” Reacher says this line twice — both times before a fight ensued. Actor Alan Ritchson, who played the DC hero Hawke on HBO Max’s Titans and plays Reacher, is 6-foot-2, according to Super Stars Bio, but his character is 6-foot-5 and taller than every other character in the show.

Everyone he mentions this line to doesn’t know he has a military background and has him heavily outnumbered. However, Reacher always makes the first move before reaching “1” in his countdown. This gives him the element of surprise with just five simple words. The line is a warning that he’s going to beat you in a fight and there is no escaping.

He’s Just A Simple Guy

“I Don’t Need Anything That Fancy. Just T-Shirt And Jeans.”

After being released from holding the second time around in a bigger and much deadlier prison, Reacher gets picked up by Officer Roscoe Conklin. Roscoe, played by Willa Fitzgerald, who played the character of Emma starred in Scream: The TV Series is the only one in town at this point that believes in Reacher’s innocence and underlying goodness.

Reacher asks if they could stop to pick up a new outfit. He tells Roscoe that he only needs a “t-shirt and jeans.” Reacher is an easy person that is satisfied with getting the necessities that he has grown accustomed to from a military lifestyle. He doesn’t need the finer things in life, just the basics. Much like his lifestyle and fashion, this line is basic but gets the job done in capturing who he is.

Details Matter

“Frankenstein Is The Doctor. They Went After Frankenstein’s Monster. Details Matter.”

Towards the end of the second episode, “First Dance,” Reacher, Roscoe, and Finlay convene at the police precinct to discuss the case. Reacher simply wants to blow off steam, which is understandable for a person who lost their brother, especially a person hated by nearly the entire town.

Finlay compares it to the Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein but incorrectly characterizes Reacher as the doctor and not its creation. Reacher points out that the details matter and reiterates this consistently through the season to Finlay. Similar to the monster in Frankenstein, Reacher appears as this large figure and just that, when he is also highly intelligent and aware of his surroundings.

It’s A Law To Dance To Patsy

“I Don’t Dance.”

While it might seem like Reacher is one for dancing, it’s quite the opposite. Much like his character Hank Hall in Titans, Ritchson’s Reacher typically fights after he asks someone to dance. In a flashback, viewers see what Reacher means by “dance.”

However, in this instance, Reacher dances. Roscoe states that it’s a crime not to dance to the legendary Patsy Cline and they share an intimate scene. Seeing Reacher make the effort warms the hearts of the audience because he is more than just a brute emotionless man with high intelligence. Roscoe brings out the best in him.

Time To Load Up

“I’m Gonna Really Need A Gun.”

This simply incredible six-word quote concludes “First Dance.” Reacher and Roscoe had come back from their out-of-town excursion to find Roscoe’s house broken into. Roscoe is frightened a bit because it is her family’s house.

The camera goes to a close-up shot of Reacher when he delivers this line. Reacher can easily take out multiple people with his sheer strength, but he knows that he will need a gun with how big this case is. This line is short but fires on all cylinders because it is one tough line said by a tough man with a fire in his belly.

A Phone Can Be A Weapon

“I’ll End Your Life With One Call.”

In the third episode, “Spoonful,” Reacher visits Zacarias Perez to obtain Pete Jobling’s file. He goes undercover as Brian Doyle, someone hit by a truck, to see Perez and get the file. Perez threatens to end his life with a phone call.

Reacher stops Perez from calling security in, chokes Perez with the phone cord, and has him print out the Jobling file. The idea that Reacher is so deadly that even a phone can be a weapon is impressive and frightening, and classic traits of Reacher in the novels. The quote is scary and honest, two of Reacher’s qualities.

A Brotherly Tribute

“He Was The Only Man I Ever Felt Small Next To.”

Reacher and Roscoe are in a hotel room speaking on the phone with U.S. Treasury worker, Molly Beth Gordon, who worked with and loved Joe. During their call, Reacher begins to open up and share his feelings.

While he is a reserved person when it comes to emotions, Reacher tells Molly Beth that Joe was the only person he “ever felt small next to.” For a person of Reacher’s size, that is something. Reacher looked up to his brother and misses him. For him to say it aloud it is important for him not to lose himself.

Reacher’s Cattle Obsession

“Or Animal Feed?”

Beginning in “Spoonful” and into the fourth episode, “In A Tree,” and beyond, Reacher becomes obsessed with the fact that the wealthy Kliner Sr. is hauling in an abnormally large amount of cattle feed. Roscoe tells him that it’s not uncommon for people with cows, especially ones with large farms.

Reacher still feels something is off and that is a good thing. Never do his instincts fail him and the funny part is that everyone but his friend Neagley, played by Maria Sten, who starred as the character of Liz in Swamp Thing, is right that the feed is a misdirection. Unlike most of his other quotes, this is one of the best because it’s hilarious watching him obsess over cow feed.

Honoring Joe

“It Takes Bravery To Solve The World’s Problems, Too, Joe.”

In the final moments of the season finale, “Pie,” Reacher lays his grandfather’s war medal on the site of Joe’s death. It is one of the most emotional moments of the series and everything that he and Joe went through clicks into place for the audience.

The medal was given to Jack as his mother was dying in France. Before he was given it his mother had Joe recite what she always told him: “I don’t need to solve all the world’s problems. Solving some is more than enough.” When Jack later uses Joe’s quote to honor him, it causes even him to tear up. It took bravery for Joe to fight and bravery to finish Joe’s fight.

About The Author