< Don't underestimate the power of Dad TV: 'Reacher' is the genre at its best

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

A new season of "Reacher" drops on Prime Video today. It's the mystery thriller based on the hero from Lee Child's successful series of novels. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says it's also an example of an important pop culture trend - dad TV.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Jack Reacher is a distinctive, down-to-Earth action hero. Created by novelist Lee Child, he's sharply perceptive and strong, a former military police investigator roaming the country using his training and experience to solve crimes. And, as he's played by Alan Ritchson in Prime Video's crackling thriller series, Reacher is bold enough to take action after noticing someone following him and his friends during an investigation.

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ALAN RITCHSON: (As Jack Reacher) There's a black sedan across the street a couple houses down - same one as yesterday.

MARIA STEN: (As Frances Neagley) Guess you were right. You're being followed. How you want to play this?

RITCHSON: (As Jack Reacher) I'm going to go introduce myself.

DEGGANS: What follows...

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RITCHSON: (As Jack Reacher, grunting).

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DEGGANS: ...Is the sound of Reacher's stomping on the car bumper hard enough to set off the airbag, beating up the goons sitting in the driver's seat. The show's second season features lots more of Ritchson's note-perfect embodiment of Reacher, a giant-sized, super-smart hero that Tom Cruise couldn't quite nail in two past films. But it's also a great example of a genre some critics are calling dad TV. One reason why it can be found in the show's first season, when Reacher explains to a friend why he doesn't have a fixed address or home base.

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RITCHSON: (As Jack Reacher) Grew up in the military, worked in the military, always told where to go and when to be there. I want to see my country on my own terms.

WILLA FITZGERALD: (As Roscoe Conklin) What about money?

RITCHSON: (As Jack Reacher) Pension's wired to a Western Union each month.

FITZGERALD: (As Roscoe Conklin) Don't you miss your family?

RITCHSON: (As Jack Reacher) I guess so. They're all dead.

DEGGANS: I've always defined dad TV as programming appealing to and reflecting the perspectives of middle-aged men who are often, as it turns out, dads and the people who know and love them. In Reacher's case, that means a show centered on a take-charge guy who often solves problems with his fists without a lot of the pressures that many average dads face - no mortgage, no car note and no full-time job or boss to worry over. Reacher makes that notion pretty plain in a scene from the second season where he explains his perspective to some Army buddies who've all settled down.

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RITCHSON: (As Jack Reacher) Home ownership is like keeping snakes as pets or ballroom dancing competitions - fine if that's what you're into. I just don't see the appeal.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) The appeal of a steady job.

RITCHSON: (As Jack Reacher) Corporate world doesn't seem that different from the Army, and that always felt a little like a cage.

DEGGANS: In the show's second season, Reacher reunites with members of the old investigative unit he used to lead in the Army. They know one of their old crew has been murdered and fear they're all on some kind of hit list. The crisis gives Reacher a chance to reunite with a beautiful female member of his old unit who is slow to answer telephone calls.

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SERINDA SWAN: (As Karla Dixon) How'd you know I was undercover?

RITCHSON: (As Jack Reacher) Considering the circumstances, you would have come right away. But you didn't, which can only mean you didn't get our messages until recently. If you were on vacation, you would have checked in with your office periodically. So you had to be working undercover.

SWAN: (As Karla Dixon) Same old Reacher.

RITCHSON: OK. Trust me. Their chemistry gets steamier as the season rolls along. But that exchange also shows off Reacher's analytical skills and smarts. The great fun of Prime Video's "Reacher" series is the way it balances the hero's military-trained fighting expertise and pragmatism with a sharp investigator's intellect, which is fun for everyone to watch, not just dads. And, sure, dad TV sounds like one of those pop culture terms invented as an insult, but turns out it's also the perfect description for a series like "Reacher," which offers an entertaining ride taking a compelling character to an adventure packed with wish fulfillment, fistfights, a dollop of romance and a righteous hero crusading for justice. I'm Eric Deggans.

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