Reacher Delivers a Shocking Death Halfway Through Season 3 (And It’s a BIG Change From the Book)

Believe it or not, we’re already into the second half of Reacher Season 3. Thursday marked the debut of the fifth episode of Reacher‘s third season, and “Smackdown” delivered perhaps the most surprising moment of the season to-date. As Reacher continues his undercover work inside Beck’s mansion, one of his most important allies has lost their life in a moment that marks yet another enormous change from the Lee Child novel this new season is based on.

WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the latest episode of Reacher! Continue reading at your own risk…

While undercover at the mansion, Reacher only has a couple of people he can rely on. The DEA team he’s working with (off the books) is made up of Susan Duffy, Guillermo Villanueva, and Steven Eliot. The latter of that list is a rookie who has probably made more mistakes than great calls over the course of the season, but has been trying his best to keep up when the entire team is in over their heads.

Eliot is a relatable, well-meaning character who is just trying to do right by everyone around him. That’s why his death in Episode 5 is such a gut-punch. Eliot has been tasked with watching a kidnapped bodyguard at the DEA safe house. In this latest episode, both Duffy and Villanueva are away, leaving Eliot alone with the prisoner. By appealing to Eliot’s kind heart, the bodyguard asks Eliot to help him with a cigarette. When Eliot isn’t looking, the man takes a swig of rubbing alcohol and holds it in his mouth until Eliot fires up a lighter. He spits it Eliot, burning him, and proceeds to beat the young agent to death.

On top of it all, Eliot’s death will really hit home for Duffy, who has basically taken our her frustrations on him all season long. He was her verbal punching bag a lot of the time, and she’ll almost certainly blame herself for the loss.

For Reacher fans that have read Persuader, the book that Season 3 is based on, this moment probably came as an even bigger shock than if you were just watching the series on its own. It represents another major change from the source material.

Eliot is a key character in Persuader as well, though the book version isn’t a rookie like he is on the show. In the book, the DEA team has two other young agents in addition to the main trio, and those guys are usually the ones asked to hang back with the kidnapped bodyguards. The big difference is that the book version of Eliot is actually a part of the entire story.

[RELATED: Reacher Already Has Great News About Season 4]

The Eliot on the Reacher series is now gone just over halfway through the story. In the book, Eliot stays alive to see nearly the entire mission unfold. He still dies, unfortunately, but it’s not until close to the end.

On the show, it seems as though Villanueva is something of a mix between the Eliot and Villanueva book characters. It’s a similar tactic the show used for Richard Beck, who has elements from his book character as well as Richard’s mother, who isn’t a character on the show at all.

What do you think of Reacher Season 3 so far? Let us know in the comments!