Spoilers for the first three episodes of Reacher Season 4 (and what could come based on the book, Gone Tomorrow, and Alan Ritchson’s comments) are ahead! You can stream the show with an Amazon Prime subscription and catch new episodes on Wednesdays.
I’m used to Jack Reacher fighting off hulking men and dealing with his issues through brute force and his intelligence. However, in the critically acclaimed fourth season of Reacher, it would seem brute force won’t get him the win this time, because the villain (at least for now) is seemingly someone he does not expect. And because of that, I’m actually terrified to see what happens next in the season of Reacher that just premiered on the 2026 TV schedule.
Lila Hoth Seems Harmless
When we meet Lila (Agnez Mo) in the premiere, she introduces herself and her mother to Reacher, and they talk about a jump drive. Lila tells Reacher she has leukemia, and her mother has a kidney disease. So, when she was calling around trying to find information about her estranged father who could help her with said medical issues, she met Anna Merrick, the woman who shot herself at the start of Season 4. Lila claims her father could be Congressman John Sampson, and she’s trying to get in contact with him to get a DNA test.
Then, in Episode 3, we learn that Lila is claiming to be a journalist, and she shows up after a violent incident to give Reacher new clothes. It’s during this scene that she apologizes for lying to him and talks about her drive to get to the truth and the story that made her lie. It’s also where she says that she’s the reporter who put Anna on that subway.
However, based on Ritchson’s comments about Lila from San Diego Comic-Con and the basic knowledge I have of Gone Tomorrow, which is what this book-to-screen adaptation is based on, I’m pretty sure Reacher still does not know the truth about Lila. And it’s the fact that he hasn’t clocked her that makes me nervous.
Alan Ritchson Warned Us That Reacher Sleeps With The Enemy
Now, if you’ve read Gone Tomorrow, or if you heard Alan Ritchson at Comic-Con this year, you know that Reacher sleeps with Lila. At SDCC, the actor specifically said that “in the book” Reacher gets “a little romantic with Lila Hoth.” He then went on to say that this is great for the show, because it really differentiates this story from previous seasons of Reacher.
So, going forward, Jack Reacher has “a different kind of relationship with the villain in this story,” according to Ritchson, and that makes it all the more enticing to watch. It also makes it a lot scarier. That’s because it seems like Reacher is unaware of the fact that Lila might be bad…
I’m So Scared To See How Lila Challenges Reacher
During the scene in the hotel, Reacher notes that he’s a 250-pound former soldier and Lila is a 110-pound reporter with average security. He implores her to go home, but she refuses, and that’s scary. She’s clearly not afraid of a challenge; she’s not going to run, and she’s certainly not afraid of Jack Reacher.
Plus, so far, we’ve seen a man fall from a roof and some brutal kills. So, it’s obvious that the villain of this season is ruthless. Now, I don’t know exactly what Lila will do next, and that unpredictability makes me anxious. However, I do know from these three episodes that Reacher seemingly doesn’t suspect her, but probably should.
She easily lied to him, and it seems like she’s very capable of manipulating him. So, while Paulie was Reacher’s biggest physical challenge last season, I have a feeling Lila will prove to be an even scarier adversary who forces Alan Ritchson’s character to work in a way he never has before.
