Alan Ritchson's hero in 'Reacher' fights a 7-foot villain in the season 3 finale. Here's what to know about season 4.

• Alan Ritchson's Jack Reacher fights a 7-foot bodyguard at the end of 'Reacher' season three.
• The season revolved around the criminal organization behind a rug merchant.
• Here's what to know about "Reacher" season four.

Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) finally fought Paulie (Olivier Richters), the 7-foot tall bodyguard, at the end of "Reacher" season three — showing there's plenty left in the tank for the show ahead of "Reacher" season four.

The third season provides new challenges for Reacher, as he goes undercover to find a confidential informant working for Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall) whose rug company is a front for smuggling guns.

The real mastermind behind the operation is Francis Xavier Quinn (Brian Tee), an old enemy of Reacher's who tortured his former military colleague, Dominique Kohl (Mairah Robinson) to death — as seen in flashbacks.

So not only does Reacher have to dismantle a criminal organization, but he also has some revenge to attend to. The story is a change of pace for the hero, who usually solves his problems by punching them in the face, not working undercover.

Here's how the final episode wraps things up, and what to know about "Reacher" season four.

Reacher's fight with Paulie lasts for over 14 minutes.

The episode revolves around Reacher and his ally, Frances Neagley (Maria Sten), working with Susan Duffy (Sonya Cassidy) and Guillermo Villanueva (Roberto Montesinos), who are agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The team infiltrates Beck's mansion to extract Duffy's informant, Teresa Daniel (Storm Steendon) and use the businessman's 50th birthday party as a cover. While Reacher sends his team inside to look for Quinn, he faces off with Paulie.

The fight takes place over 14 minutes in the episode, as the pair trade blows, choke each other with chains, and Reacher hits Paulie with a rake. At one point, the pair even tumble into the ocean and try to drown one another.

In February, Ritchson told Business Insider that Olivier Richters accidentally punched him for real during the fight.

Ultimately, it comes to an end in Paulie's office where he keeps a giant machine gun. Knowing that the hulking goon will try to shoot him with it, Reacher sneakily jams the barrel — which causes part of the weapon to explode when Paulie pulls the trigger. It sends chunks of metal flying into the villain's throat, killing him.

So while Reacher is absolutely ripped, he's also smart enough to use his surroundings to his advantage and not just his strength.

Neagley and the ATF take down Quinn's operation.

After Paulie's death, the rest of the episode is fairly straightforward as Neagley and the ATF agents fight Quinn and Beck's henchmen and take out the group of thugs trying to buy the weapons shipment. Duffy also saves Daniel, her informant, from being abused by one of the people buying the weapons.

But as Reacher arrives to finally get his revenge on Quinn, the villain's Russian employers arrive to get the money he owes. Neagley offers them the bag of cash in exchange for Quinn's life, knowing that Reacher wants to kill him to get justice for Kohl.

After the Russians depart, Reacher shoots Quinn in the head with a shotgun — just to make sure that he stays dead.

From there, it doesn't take long for the authorities to arrive and seize Beck's house, and Reacher rides off into the sunset on a Harley Davidson motorbike. Like the previous seasons, the finale wraps up the story but doesn't tease what's next.

'Reacher' season four doesn't have a release date yet, but the 'Neagley' spinoff is already filming.

Amazon gave the green light for "Reacher" season four back in October 2024, but it does not have an official release date just yet. Presumably, if production starts soon it will arrive in early 2026.

Lee Child's "Jack Reacher" series includes 29 books, but the company has not announced which story the fourth season will be based on. However, Child told BI he'd like the show to tackle his book about the opioid crisis in America, "The Midnight Line."

Regardless of which book the show uses, "Reacher" fans don't have to wait too long for more stories from these characters. The "Neagley" spinoff series is in production, and Maria Sten is reprising her role as the title character.