Reacher Switching Genres Sets The Stage For Prime Video's Season 5

Published Sep 13, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

Faith Roswell is a Senior Writer on Screen Rant's Classic TV team. Since earning her degree in Creative Writing over a decade ago, Faith has written articles on film and TV from a variety of different angles. Faith now combines her knowledge of psychology with her love of monster movies to give more insight into what makes the best ones. 

You may have read her Screen Rant lists and features covering horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, or read her Amazon Top 10 book, "Movie Monsters of the Deep."

Faith has had an extensive career as a writer, appearing on BBC live radio, researching true crime for Rotten Mango podcast, and writing for publications including Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and The Daily Jaws before beginning here at Screen Rant. 

This article contains a description of a particularly gory death scene and a brief mention of suicide.

One moment in the penultimate episode of Reacher season 4 just swerved violently into horror, shocking viewers but setting the scene for what is to come next season. Ever since Prime Video adapted Lee Child's Jack Reacher book series, the resulting show has been a triumph, raising the bar for action series and proving that even a somewhat predictable formula can be reinvented over and over again, providing the acting and writing team are excellent. Most of Reacher season 4's cast are fantastic, with the series featuring veteran character actors alongside Alan Ritchson in the titular role.

While every season of Reacher has delivered explosive action, witty one-liners, some shocking twists, and a romance, one thing the show has not done before is change genres. Reacher has claimed a place among Prime Video's greatest action TV shows as the pacing has always been excellent, balancing out a genuinely exciting conspiracy or mission with stunts and chases, which inevitably involve some violent deaths. However, while the series has introduced the aftermath of torture before, season 4 has taken this to a different and unexpected level, with a scene that feels straight out of a horror movie.

Season 4 Just Gave Us Reacher's Most Shocking Death Yet

Image via MovieStillsDB

The plot of Reacher season 4 centers on a bioweapon created using the formula captured in a photograph during a top-secret mission years before. While we know that the rosary pea seeds in Lila's bracelet are essential to the formula and that Lila and Amisha are planning to auction off the weapon to the world's criminals, one thing that was kept under wraps until season 4's penultimate episode was how the bioweapon works. The episode "Vote for Sampson" reveals the truth in unflinching gory detail that may have even horror fans looking away.

When Lila tests the bioweapon on a subject, his eyes bulge and turn bloodshot, he bleeds from his eyes and mouth, and after convulsing a few times, he dies on the sheet of plastic that Lila and her team had placed on the floor. The scene immediately raises the stakes for the rest of the series as we understand what the bioweapon will do if unleashed on a large crowd of people as Lila and Amisha intend. It is extremely uncomfortable to watch, but there is a good reason why this genre switch may have been needed before season 5.

Reacher's Genre Change Is Essential For The Season To Come

Reacher's fifth season is based on the book Make Me, which is a fan favorite among Lee Child's novels, but it contains the series' most disturbing plot yet. Make Me is about a business that markets itself as a euthanasia clinic catering to people who wish to end their lives painlessly, but instead murders them brutally and sells the footage. The suicide plotline alone is enough to disturb many viewers, but the season is likely to include some of the book's most brutal deaths which are more upsetting than the one in "Vote for Sampson," in tone, if not method.

While some audiences have criticized season 4 as Reacher does not currently appear as invincible as he has in previous seasons, the fact that he is now demonstrating some emotion is a good thing in advance of what is to come. Reacher will never be the same again after the events of Make Me, which has a tone more suited to the horror genre than any of the other Reacher books. Without preparing for this shift, season 5 could not only be jarring, but draw scrutiny for the way it handles the subject matter.

Reacher's seasons and their equivalent books
Season	Year	Book	Rotten Tomatoes critics' rating	Rotten Tomatoes audience rating
1	2022	Killing Floor	92%	91%
2	2023	Bad Luck and Trouble	98%	77%
3	2025	Persuader	98%	74%
4	2026	Gone Tomorrow	94%	70%
5	TBC	Make Me	-	-

The Jack Reacher in Child's books is deliberately written to be a constant and stable presence, with Child telling The Big Thrill, "I try very hard to not change him." That said, the Reacher in Prime Video's adaptation has been changed for the better, with his internal monologues becoming conversations and his stoicism occasionally broken. This will be necessary for next season, as the horrifying subject matter cannot help but change a person, making the recent horror moment and Reacher's more human moments essential build-up for the future.

Source: The Big Thrill

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  Jack Reacher

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  Maria Sten

  Frances Neagley

Without a phone and traveling light, former military police officer Jack Reacher drifts between American towns, embroiling himself in local crimes and bringing justice in his wake. Based on the series of novels by Lee Child, Reacher's journey offers him an intimate understanding of the nation he once served.