These days, incompetence and weaponized meanness appear to be everywhere. You can’t turn on the news without being without finding a not-so-short catalogue of Horrors. To say nothing of the horrors being lived at close-range every day. Every time we turn around in the US, there’s a recall of something—and it usually reads like mad libs, except it’s real.

Soap that is supposed to protect against bacteria actually containing bacteria. Cheese that contains allergens. The recall list is long and ever-growing, and we’re all goddamn tired. (None of us can sleep well, and we’re all surviving on an appalling amount of coffee. **clutches Bialetti**

Anything or anyone who appears competent and compassionate immediately sees a shift in our attention. Like the dog from UP going SQUIRREL! Sometimes, it’s in fiction, such as in Reacher, where a well-muscled giant of a man stands up for people who cannot stand up for themselves and who has an unfailing sense of right that really resonates. He’s a walking HULK SMASH Libra, if ever there were one. (Canonically, he’s a Scorpio, but that also tracks.)

Right now, I think it’s everyone’s emotional support show/character.

You can argue that Reacher is just fiction, but the character reminds us of things we badly need right now. For one thing, Reacher could’ve been a one-note meathead. Instead, Reacher is thoughtful, has a sense of humor, and tends to move with a sense of righteousness that is impossible to dismiss or write off as anything but sincere.

This is in no small part because of Alan Ritchson’s portrayal of Reacher, which is delightfully nuanced, layered, and emotionally grounded. This season has him in Philly, which has amused me. As a Jersey girl, some lines made me laugh out loud, in between fight scenes and unraveling bits of the plot/mystery, layer by layer. Every season has its own formula and slow-burn reveal, but the constant is this: big man does good things because he can and knows he should.

And yes, Reacher/Ritchson is hot as hell. But it’s not the muscles that make the character that appealing. It’s that the ethos and gravitas of Reacher is fundamentally and functionally good in a way that doesn’t feel artificial or cheesy or impossible. It’s that Reacher reads as unwaveringly sincere and capable, moving through life with all the force of a heat-seeking missile, but with compassion.

It is refreshing to see a good guy with a gentleness to him, even if that gentleness isn’t readily apparent in a scene. It’s the softness that you can see in Reacher’s eyes that shows the audience the kindness underneath—along with his actions.

The character’s sarcasm and mistrust of authority are both pitch-perfect and serve to further ground him as someone the audience roots for. He doesn’t make empty threats ever. And he is only the threat to people who aren’t good, who show themselves to be untrustworthy, and who do harm. He only menaces when the situation calls for it. (One TINY spoiler: the visual of GIANT REACHER holding a fluffy kitten is one of my favorite things.)

If you haven’t watched the show yet, it’s really about a big gorilla of a man who does does good things. Is he perfect? No, and it’s that imperfection that also makes him interesting. Like any of us, his flaws and mistakes fuel him to do better and be better. Like any of us right now, looking at a world on fire, we can all do one thing that helps. That makes things better.

Sure, we probably can’t smash through a wall like the Kool-Aid Man. But we can pick a fight and dedicate ourselves to that fight. We can refuse poor examples of authority and dig our heels in when we know something is wrong. We can use humor to disarm and dismantle. We can square our shoulders and reach out a hand and help. Even if it’s just one person.

Just don’t order a cheesesteak without fried onions. Because then I’ll throw hands. **wink**

• ICYMI, Reactor had a really great review of my poetry collection, Offerings for Ordinary Gods.

• Cassandra Khaw has a new book coming out. The dog does not die, but the dog is also death.

• There’s an ongoing fight to save the Academy of Natural Sciences Museum in Philly. You can read more about here: https://www.instagram.com/savetheacademy/.

• Celine Dion has returned to performing, and all the clips are making me cry.

• The Night Circus by the incomparable Erin Morgenstern is fifteen years old. What even is TIME? I think I’d due for a re-read. Also? If you’re a tarot person, the Phantomwise Tarot deck is exquisite.

• Alex Segura, with drawings by David Hahn, has created a comic about knowing your rights. You can download it here: https://www.weteachnyc.org/resources/resource/know-your-rights/.

• Alanis and Brandi Carlile performed together, and I’ll never recover (complimentary).