ReacherSeason 3’s big,bigfinale didn’t pull any punches—and neither didAlan Ritchson. In fact, the actor literally took one for the team during filming, revealing that he wasknocked unconsciouswhile shooting the brutal barn brawl between Jack “Just” Reacher and Paulie in the finale, “Unfinished Business.”
The finale showdown saw Ritchson’s Reacher take onOlivier Richters’towering Pauliein what might be the most physically intense fight of the series to date. Reacher is hung, beaten, thrown through wood, nearly drowned—yet somehow keeps coming back. And Paulie? The 7-foot bodyguard just won’t stay down until Reacher finally outsmarts him with a machine gun booby trap.
“I got in a huge fight with my team because I was like, ‘I’m doing it. And I won. Reluctantly, they’re like, ‘You better not die.’”
Alan Ritchson Knocked Himself Out In a Fight Scene
But the pain wasn’t all fiction, unfortunately. Ritchson, who’s known for doing his own stunts,pushed hard to performthe scene himself. This, as it turned out, would be a mistake. Against the advice of his stunt team, he insisted on being the one to get thrown through the barn table—with the camera staying locked on his face the entire time.
“The whole point is you just watch Reacher get ragdolled for five minutes straight,” he said. “I wanted the audience to know that I’m doing this for us. I’m taking one for Reacher.”
The result ended up being one hell of a shot—andone terrifying moment behind the scenes. And even worse for him, his kids just happened to be on set that day. Oops.
“He slammed me through the table so hard, I went through it into the seventh circle of hell,” Ritchson joked. “And I woke up a day and a half later. When I came to, I had to tell my kids that I felt great, because I didn’t want them to think dad died.”
The now-iconic fight took nearly a month to complete, with three full weeks of filming dedicated to what ended up being a relentless, nearly 30-minute sequence.
“That was one, three-second beat in 28 minutes of content, just to give you an example of what my life was like for those three weeks,” Ritchson said. “It was a hoot.”
Reacherseason 3 is now streaming in full on Prime Video. Just maybe keep a pillow handy if you’re watching that finale again. It hits hard.
When retired Military Police Officer Jack Reacher is arrested for a murder he did not commit, he finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy full of dirty cops, shady businessmen and scheming politicians. With nothing but his wits, he must figure out what is happening in Margrave, Georgia. The first season of Reacher is based on the international bestseller The Killing Floor by Lee Child.
