Who dies in the Reacher Season 3 finale?

The Reacher Season 3 climax is a bloodbath, so here’s who dies in the Episode 8 finale, plus how they meet their respective ends.

Reacher Season 3 has been building to something of a crescendo, with the climactic Episode 8 needing to deal with Teresa’s proposed rescue, Zachary Beck’s reckoning, the big Paulie fight, and a showdown between Jack and his nemesis Xavier Quinn.

You can head here for our Reacher Season 3 Episode 8 predictions, while to find out what we got right – and more importantly who dies – check out our Reacher Season 3 finale recap or read on, but be prepared for massive SPOILERS ahead…

Episode 7 ended with Reacher caught in a trap, and Episode 8 – titled ‘Unfinished Business‘ – begins with the a bunch of bad guys taken out in the crossfire, and multiple ATF agents also killed. Those are minor characters who lose their lives in the finale, while terrorist Nasser and his henchmen also get killed by Susan Duffy midway through proceedings. But the three major deaths are as follows…

Paulie’s efforts backfire

Prime Video

Season 3 of Reacher has been building up to what we billed the “fight of the century,” as gigantic bodyguard Paulie is nearly a foot taller than Jack. And they’ve been beefing throughout the series, with Jack humiliating Paulie in the gym, and Paulie knocking the wind out of Jack with a single slap.

All that pent-up aggression explodes in Episode 8, where the two go toe-to-toe, smashing each other into trucks and shelves and tables. There’s also some strangulation and eye-gouging, as well as an underwater brawl.

Then it ends in a shed, where Paulie gets hold of a massive gun, and points it at Jack while saying “You shouldn’t have f**ked with me. I’m bigger than you. I’m stronger than you.”

He then pulls the trigger, but rather than killing Jack, the gun fires back into Paulie’s torso and face. “You might be bigger and stronger, but I’m smarter,” says Jack. “I pulled a bullet from the belt and plugged the barrel.” On hearing those words, Paulie bleeds out.

Zachary Beck dies saving his son

Zachary Beck appears to be the villain of the piece in early Season 3 scenes, running a rug business that’s a front for something more nefarious. But as the series progressed, it became clear that Beck was being controlled by Xavier Quinn.

Finding himself in a no-win situation, Beck does what Quinn demands to keep his son Richie alive, until he finally confronts his puppeteer in Episode 8.

In Beck’s office, Zachary pulls a gun on Quinn. Unfortunately, it’s the broken toy gun that Richie gave him, and when the end starts to break off, Quinn sees his chance, grabs an Uzi, and shoots Beck senior multiple times in the chest. But it’s a noble death, as Richie saw the good in his dad before the end.

Xavier Quinn gets shot in the head, again

Apple TV+

Via flashback in Season 3, we learned Xavier Quinn was a traitorous military man who sold secrets to America’s enemies. He also murdered Reacher’s friend and colleague Dominique Kohl. In response, Jack shot him in the head.

So it comes as something of a shock that his nemesis is still alive, which is why Jack’s Season 3 mission is to kill him again. And he gets his opportunity at the end of Episode 8.

Quinn needs money from an arms deal to pay the Russians he owes, and when that money isn’t forthcoming, they take him hostage. But Jack’s friend Neagley knows how much murdering Quinn means to her buddy, so she locates said money, and threatens to blow it up unless the Russians hand Quinn over to Reacher. They agree to the deal, so Reacher gets his man, to do with him what he will.

Quinn tries to reason with his new captor, but Jack isn’t interested, and only wants justice for his dead friend. “All that matters is, her name was Dominique,” says Reacher, before shooting Quinn in the head, and actually killing him this time. Which is the final death, and means all three of the major villains in Season 3 are taken out in Episode 8.

Jack will return in Reacher Season 4, while for more on the big guy, here’s how to read the Reacher books in order, and how many Reacher movies Tom Cruise made, while we’ve also got a Season 3 finale recap and ending explained. Alternatively, check out our list of the best TV shows of 2025 so far.