Warning! This article contains spoilers for Reacher season 3's episode 4.

All Reacher seasons have featured compelling and fairly formidable villains, but season 3's Xavier Quinn is clearly worse than the ones from the previous seasons. Since Jack Reacher is portrayed as an overpowered character who is far bigger and stronger than an average person, the franchise's biggest challenge has always been to find worthy enemies for him. Season 1 did a decent job of gradually raising the stakes for the character and putting his fighting and investigative skills on full display by initially introducing many minor antagonists before featuring the main ones.

Reacher season 2 raised the stakes for Amazon Prime Video detective series, however, has introduced some intriguing story developments that make its villain even more detestable than the previous ones.

Quinn Enjoys Violence & Isn't Just Motivated By Money

Quinn Does Not Need A Reason To Hurt People

All previous villains in Reacher have been driven by a desire to acquire more power and money. For instance, Reacher season 2's Langston does not unnecessarily wage war against Jack Reacher and former team . He only hurts them when he has no other options. Even later in the series, Langston keeps warning Reacher to step back and even tries to strike a peaceful deal with him. This establishes that, as ruthless as Langston might have been with Reacher's team , his ultimate goal was only to finish his deal with A.M.

He wanted to achieve his goal without resorting to unnecessary violence or complications. Reacher season 3's main villain, however, is not the same. As Dominique Kohl's backstory establishes, Quinn genuinely enjoys hurting people and derives pleasure from inflicting pain. While he, too, carries out unlawful operations to earn more money, he shows little to no mercy towards anyone who stands in his way. Unlike Langston, he never tries to reason with anyone and cares little about settling for peaceful deals. This makes him way more dangerous than all previous Reacher villains.

Reacher Season 3's Flashbacks Reveal Quinn Has Been Violent Since Childhood

Quinn Has A Long History Of Violence & Was Diagnosed With Sociopathy

When Dominique Kohl interrogates Gorowski in Reacher season 3 episode 4's flashback and asks him about the man he works for, Gorowski seems fearful. He gradually opens up about how Quinn took his daughter from him to coerce him into working for him. Gorowski also reveals that he has never been paid a penny and only agreed to work for Quinn because he feared he would harm his family. He emphasizes that Quinn is an "evil man," prompting Kohl and Reacher to check his background.

Quinn's long history of violence paints a disturbing picture of his character.

After a background check, the two military police officers do not find much about his criminal history but notice how he has a little too much wealth for someone who worked in the military. Much later, Reacher's senior, Leon Garber, gets his hands on a file on Quinn, which reveals he attacked a teacher when he was much younger. His juvenile records also highlight that he harmed animals and showed "persistent antisocial behavior." His therapist also diagnosed him with "malignant narcissistic personality disorder, sociopathy, paranoid and ego-syntonic aggression."

Brian Tee plays Xavier Quinn in Reacher season 3.

Quinn's long history of violence paints a disturbing picture of his character. His repeated patterns of cruelty and sociopathic tendencies make him a true threat to Reacher, which is why the Alan Ritchson character races against time to catch him after he abducts Kohl. Unfortunately for Reacher, by the time he discovers Quinn's whereabouts and finds Kohl, it is already too late.

Quinn's Violent Streak Makes The Stakes For Reacher Season 3 So Much Higher

Quinn's Past Shows There Is No Limit To How Far He Would Be Willing To Go

Reacher has encountered some formidable villains in the past, but all of them showed some hesitance towards pushing their malicious plans too far when the Alan Ritchson character opposed them. As the flashback in Reacher season 3's episode 4 suggests, Quinn is nothing like Reacher's previous enemies. Even when Reacher catches him red-handed, Quinn tries to manipulate him by claiming that Kohl was secretly working for him. When that does not work, he attempts to attack Reacher but fails to inflict any harm on the colossal hero.

Quinn's sadistic nature highlights that even if he gets the slightest hint of Reacher and the DEA's plan, he will resort to extreme methods to take them down. With terrifying and equally savage villains like Paulie on his side, Quinn also seems to be equipped with the resources and manpower to deal with any challenge that comes his way. Owing to this, it is hard not to see Quinn as one of the most relentless and violent adversaries the Alan Ritchson character has faced in Reacher.