5 Action Thriller Shows Better Than Reacher

Aug 01, 2026 - 20:17

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5 Action Thriller Shows Better Than Reacher

Jacob Pitts as Tim Gutterson in season 5 of Justified

Published Aug 1, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT

Padraig is a Senior Features Writer and has been part of Screen Rant since 2017. Padraig is a writer, editor and retired Game of Thrones extra who has been writing about movies and TV online for over a decade. He has also written for The Irish Times, Den Of Geek, Little White Lies and many more. It's pronounced Paw-rick, BTW.

Reacher is one of the most addictive action thrillers on TV right now, but there are a handful of shows that edge it out in terms of quality. The trailer for Reacher season four, which adapts the novel Gone Tomorrow, has only confirmed that Prime Video has another hit season on its hands. Since it debuted in 2022, the show has only grown in popularity.

That's also why it's first spinoff, Neagley, will be arriving right after season 4 wraps up. Prime's adaptation of the Lee Child Jack Reacher books has practically become a byword for the action thriller genre, where rival shows are typically dubbed as "It's Reacher meets Jason Bourne!" and so on. The show itself is compulsive viewing, with its unique blend of procedural thriller and '80s action movie, where there are few problems Alan Ritchson's title avenger can't overcome by punching.

That said, Reacher isn't flawless either. The second season, in particular, suffered from wobbly plotting, lame villains and action sequences that felt overedited. While "better" is obviously subjective, fans of Reacher are advised to check out the shows below if they need a new action thriller fix in between seasons. All of them combine great characters and writing with intense action, and there's a good reason they all ran so long.

24

There is a solid case that this real-time show is the best action thriller series ever made. It followed CTU agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), who races against time to prevent various terror threats from being carried out. The central gimmick that powered 24 is that each episode represented an hour in a single day, which added a constant, ticking clock element.

The show also excelled at genuinely shocking twists and deaths, and it always felt that - outside of Jack himself - nobody was safe. Each season of 24 is an intense ride, with the pacing rarely letting up. As it grew more popular, the stakes and action sequences got much bigger too. The series had its issues, though; it sometimes struggled to pad out entire episodes, resulting in flimsy storylines, such as Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert's) infamous encounter with a hungry cougar in season two.

At its best though, 24 is unbeatable. Putting the suspense and action to one side, it was always grounded by a strong cast, including Sutherland, Dennis Haysbert, Jean Smart and Mary-Lynn Rajskub. It wrapped up after eight seasons in 2010, though it was followed by sequel miniseries Live Another Day and the spinoff Legacy, which only lasted a single season.

Strike Back

This action series had a strange history, beginning life as an adaptation of former SAS sergeant Chris Ryan's novel, and it was fronted by Richard Armitage. This season was funded by Sky in the UK, before season two onwards became a co-production with Cinemax. From then on, it became a globe-hopping thriller punctuated with lots of action and other spiciness.

The setpieces are Strike Back's big selling point, as each episode features a bevy of fistfights, shootouts or chases, with the show having an impressive commitment to practical stunt work. Of the show's three distinct eras, the Scott/Stonebridge years tend to be fan favorites, thanks to the breezy chemistry between stars Philip Winchester and Sullivan Stapleton.

Like any long-running program, there are a couple of seasons where the energy dipped (2017's Retribution, for instance), but even then, Strike Back is never less than good fun. It wrapped up in 2020 after eight seasons, and while there was once talk of a movie spinoff, this has yet to come together.

Miami Vice

Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as Sonny and Rico at the beach.

Whilst many shows have been labeled groundbreaking, Miami Vice is one of the few truly deserving of that title. This Michael Mann-produced procedural brought a slick, cinematic sheen to television that had never been attempted before, and set a new standard.

All five seasons followed vice cops Crockett (Don Johnson) and Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) as they navigated Miami's seamy underbelly. While certain aspects of Miami Vice have definitely aged (though the fashion remains timeless), even 40 years on, it's a gripping thriller.

The line between right and wrong often blurs for its protagonists, and Miami Vice usually has a gunfight or chase sequence to break up the casework. It also has an incredible, retro soundtrack, with the show being renowned for its innovative use of music and editing.

Alias

Before Lost or his reboot of Star Trek, Alias was the spy show that put J.J. Abrams on the map; in fact, it was Tom Cruise binge-watching episodes that convinced him to hire Abrams for Mission: Impossible III. The show cast Jennifer Garner as CIA agent Sydney Bristow, who joins a Black Ops unit to avenge her fiancé's death.

Alias is really a showcase for Garner, who got to don a whole host of cool disguises and personas, in addition to performing lots of action. Later seasons would get tangled up in bizarre plotlines and twists, but Garner and her co-stars (Victor Garber, Bradley Cooper, etc) always kept the emotional stakes feeling real.

Alias also suffered somewhat from Abrams' "Mystery Box" formula, sometimes resulting in cliffhangers or plotlines that went nowhere. It still remains one of the best espionage thrillers of the 2000s, and it's easy to see why Garner became a star in the aftermath.

Justified

Maybe Justified doesn't fulfill the "action" side of the action thriller label like other outings on this list, but it has enough punch-ups and shootouts to justify (heh) the label. This Neo-Western gave Timothy Olyphant his greatest character in Marshal Raylan Givens, who is forced to return to his Kentucky hometown and deal with all manner of drug runners and gangsters.

Outside of Olyphant's wildly charismatic leading turn, Justified works so well because of the stellar writing. Every episode is filled with quotable dialogue, and even the supporting players get a chance to shine. It also must be said that Walton Goggins' Boyd Crowder is one of the great TV villains of the 2010s.

While not overloaded with setpieces like Strike Back, when the action hits in Justified, it tends to hit hard. The show itself lasted for six seasons, and returned for a miniseries sequel dubbed City Primeval in 2023.

Reacher

8/10

Release Date February 3, 2022

Network Prime Video

Maria Sten

Frances Neagley
Reacher - Season 4

Release Date August 12, 2026

Network Prime Video

Episodes 8