For “Reacher” season 1, showrunner Nick Santora made a concerted effort to adhere to Lee Child’s original novel, “Killing Floor.” Not only did we get the most familiar, book-accurate version of Jack Reacher as a result, but the season’s plot largely followed the book’s. This time around, things have been switched up a bit more. Rather than being set in L.A. like “Bad Luck and Trouble,” season 2 is set in New York City. What’s more, not only have Santora and his writing team conceived of the Shane Langston character specifically for the show, they’ve made sure to sneak in a nice little homage to Robert Patrick’s past, too.
Patrick is, of course, best known for playing the T-1000 in “Terminator 2,” — and in a surprising amount of other things. In James Cameron’s 1991 action classic, Patrick’s liquid metal killer robot is on the hunt for Edward Furlong’s John Connor, the future leader of the human resistance. Unfortunately, the T-1000 didn’t reckon with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 Terminator or Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor, John’s mom and all-around badass. By the end, John, Sarah, and the Terminator destroy Patrick’s villain in a vat of molten steel.
Fittingly, then, when Langston is first introduced in “Reacher,” there’s an immediate homage to “T2.” The moment comes when one of the security boss’s lackeys calls to reveal that Reacher and his comrade Neagley (Maria Sten) checked into their hotel under the names Sarah Connor and Starling Castro. Langston explains that the latter “played for the Yankees six or seven years ago.” But when asked about the name “Sarah Connor,” he dismisses the inquiry with a curt “I don’t give a s**t.”