‘Reacher’ Season 4 Star Officially Breaks Down His Character’s Shock Finale Decision

[Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Reacher Season 4]

Summary

• Christopher Marquette’s Jacob Merrick is Season 4’s emotional core and breakout performance.
• He spares Amisha, choosing arrest over death—fulfilling Jacob’s hero’s journey, not a breakdown.
• The season packs nonstop twists; Jacob’s pulled through CIA plots, betrayals, and tough losses.

Prime Video’s Reacher is guaranteed to pack a punch each season, but the Alan Ritchson-led series returned with a particularly strong beating heart at its center in Season 4. After a recasting incident and an unexpected 15-minute audition, actor Christopher Rodriguez Marquette was tapped to play police officer Jacob Merrick, who Collider’s David Caballero calls “the season's emotional core” in his review of the season. Amid a powerful ensemble, one of Marquette’s most dramatic roles to date made him one of the season’s breakout performances.

In Season 4, Merrick is embroiled in the twisted conspiracy Reacher has found himself in after a woman — who turns out to be Merrick’s sister, Anna (Karen Kwong-Chip) — takes her own life on a train in Philadelphia. This tragedy only scratches the surface of a mystery involving the CIA, double-crossing allies, and a flash drive, and their investigation puts Merrick through the wringer physically and mentally.

During a conversation with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Marquette talks spoilers, discussing Jacob’s decision to spare Amisha’s (Anggun) life, the biggest Season 4 twist that took him by surprise, and how Jacob’s hero’s journey connects to Reacher’s evolution. Don’t miss the full interview in the video above, with a transcript provided below.

Why Didn't Jacob Kill Amisha?

"I think that embodies the hero's journey."

Image via Prime Video

COLLIDER: In the last episode, you elect not to kill Amisha. Talk a little bit about your reaction to that. Do you agree with Jacob's decision? Did you want Jacob to shoot? Talk about filming that.

CHRISTOPHER RODRIGUEZ MARQUETTE: I do agree with it. I think that embodies the hero's journey, right? Especially his in particular. Jacob's journey is one where you're going to see a good person access the worst parts of themselves that they didn't know existed prior to this experience and become quite volatile for a person who's not volatile, who's actually quite peaceful. So, to me, that is the right culmination and ending to a hero's journey like that. If someone breaks, they're a villain. That's the idea. So, I do agree with it.

I found it was one of the big challenges for me as an actor doing it, though, because I had to do all of that reading of the Miranda rights to arresting somebody. It's not a dialogue scene. I had to do it by way of reading the cliché, like, “You have the right to remain silent,” that whole thing, which I had never done in anything before anyway. So, it was a really cool challenge to say, “Oh yeah, I'm going to try to embody that decision and that journey and that ending in that way, through this moment of arresting somebody with Miranda rights.”

But I do agree. Yeah, I do agree. I think if it's any other way, if it's some gangster thing and he walks over and just puts a bullet in her, for me, you'd go, “Why did we care about all of this stuff that he's…?” That's the hopeful thing in the whole journey of this character — and Reacher as a whole. I sort of thought the narrative of Jacob was how Reacher becomes Reacher. Alan [Ritchson] and I talked about that, and [Nick] Santora and I talked about that. It's the embodiment: a good guy who's going to go do bad things, and where does that put you? On what side of the line are you standing on? Good versus evil. That kind of stuff. So, I think that decision is reflective of what we were exploring with all of it.

Jacob Marquette on 'Reacher' Season 4's Most Shocking Twists

"The angst, the stress, the anxiety, the trouble, the villain, it does not stop."

Image via Prime Video

In general for the season, were there any other big twists or turns as you were reading the script that you were surprised by, or were you told the arc of everyone's characters?

MARQUETTE: No, I was really surprised by a few things. I was really surprised by a lot of Sampson's twists and turns. I was really surprised by his fate, and stopping the bomber and dying in the process. That was really unexpected for me.

I also really loved how Amisha and Lila’s storylines unfold and untangle. I like that it's not straight; it's not just good until wonk. It sort of goes like this for a bit. That stuff was really unexpected.

The big thing that took me by surprise was when Jacob's uncle picks him up, and you think he's finally safe, and he's not. That was really cool. I remember reading that, and I was like, “Oh, I really thought they were going to give this guy a break for a second.” I really thought he got a reprieve. So it was such cool thinking. I was like, “Right. Don't stop. This is Reacher. It doesn't stop. The angst, the stress, the anxiety, the trouble, the villain, it does not stop.” So, I love that twist as well.

Chris Marquette on Playing a Cop Who "Shouldn’t Be on This Journey"

He discusses exploring Jacob's trauma and transformation throughout Season 4.

Also, your character gets put through the wringer through the season. It's a great role on one of the most popular shows on television, so congratulations.

MARQUETTE: I really appreciate that, Steven. Thank you, man. Yeah, I feel really lucky and fortunate. I remember Nick Santora, toward the end, we were talking on the phone about the final-final scene with the funeral and releasing the ashes. He goes, “Yeah, man, so this is it. He's going to go out there, he's going to do this thing, and then he's going to go do massive amounts of therapy.” [Laughs] I was like, “Yeah, man.” This poor guy, man. This poor guy.

For real, though, he is put through the wringer. Also, as an actor, a role like this has to be gratifying because if you’re playing someone who's one-dimensional the whole season, that's hard. With this, at least you get to show so many different sides.

MARQUETTE: Totally. I appreciate that. It really was, man. I mean, it's my preference. Where I've found my usefulness as an actor has always been in sort of trying to bring some dynamic, layered performing to things. Historically, most cop shows, but definitely Reacher, who teams up with Reacher are two people, and while they're very layered, sophisticated characters always, they’re two people that are cops, and they're in already from the get-go. They're going to solve the crime. They're not necessarily going through trauma and crisis, and they're prepared for what they're doing to some degree. So, yeah, it was a really cool role to be able to play against all that, someone who actually shouldn't be on this journey and doesn't fit that mold. It gave me a lot of really interesting room to work.

Nothing was scripted where I started to find we'd be filming and Reacher would do Reacher things, and I started reacting like a normal person would. Like, at one point he gives us these burner phones and he's like, “Alright, here. I just memorized the numbers. I'm gonna call you guys in like two seconds.” It happened so quick, so every time we did it, I would just sort of shake my head and look around at everyone else, like, “Is that normal?” They’re like, “It's not normal.” And they kept a lot of these little subtle reactions throughout it, which was really nice. I was like, “That's what would happen.” All the other cops were like, “Cool. We got it. Yeah. Let's go. Let's go storm the building.” And this guy's just like, “Did you see this? The math he did was insane!” So, it was really fun to play with that, too.

Reacher Season 4 is available to stream now on Prime Video.