Who is Harley in Reacher season 3? Character role explored
Reacher season 3 is only two episodes away from its finale. Episode 6, titled Smoke on the Water, premiered on Prime Video on March 13, 2025. The episode follows the intense storyline that this season has developed so far with Jack Reacher still on a mission to rescue DEA agent Teresa Daniels.
While many characters from the past seasons reprised their roles in season 3, several new characters were also introduced. One such character is Harley, portrayed by Brendan Fletcher. Harley is a member of Zachary Beck's security team and is involved in the criminal operations of Beck and his superior, Francis Xavier Quinn.
Reacher season 3: Harley's character role explored
Harley's character turns out to be significant in Reacher season 3 episode 5, titled Smackdown. In a warehouse shootout in which many of Quinn (Brian Tee) and Zachary Beck's (Anthony Michael Hall) men get killed, Reacher (Alan Ritchson) spares some of the henchmen.
Reacher tells Susan Duffy that he did this to make the entire ordeal less suspicious, considering the doubts that would arise if he was the only one to survive yet another gun fight.
One of those henchmen is Harley, a bearded and ponytailed man. As Harley and Reacher dispose of one of the bodies from the shootout, the former brags about how he let a crippled man drown once while the man begged Harley to shoot him. His story poses him as a formidable villain who is truly ruthless. He uses the euphemism 'The Neptune Society' for waterborne body disposal.
When Reacher is given the responsibility of disposing Annette's (Caitlin McNerney) body into the water, Harley accompanies him. Throughout the journey, he complains about the hassle of posting an ad for a new maid for the Beck household.
Tired of Harley's blabber, Reacher punches him just like he had punched Paulie. The punch seems to have much better effect on Harley than it did on Paulie whose retaliation punch had put Reacher on all fours.
Harley's brutal fate in Reacher season 3
In Reacher season 3 episode 6 Smoke on the Water, after Reacher's cover blows up, he teams up with Duffy (Sonya Cassidy), and they begin looking for Teresa Daniels. Earlier in the episode, when Reacher accompanies Beck to his meeting with Quinn, he finds out that Teresa is being used as an escort in Quinn's dealings. This meant that she is still alive.
While looking for Teresa, Reacher and Duffy meet Villanueva, who manages to help them learn about the missing DEA informant's whereabouts. Villanueva traces their calls and concludes that they came from a location called Port Rome. Reacher was quick to point out that it was Harley's number and Teresa might be on a boat named Sweet Marie.
Reacher and Susan go to Port Rome to find that a boat is isolated away from the port. They swim to the boat and find evidence that Teresa was being held there previously. Meanwhile, Harley returns to his boat to find watermarks on it. He pulls out his gun, but gets slammed to the floor by Duffy in the clash that follows.
During the clash, a stray hits a lantern which starts a fire on the boat. The fire grows when it comes in contact with the cans of inflammables on the boat. As Harley tries to escape, Duffy punches him repeatedly. When Harley attacks Duffy, Reacher hits him with an axe. With no other choice left, Harley finally divulges the information he has about Teresa.
The information is not of much use to Duffy and Reacher because Harley reveals that Quinn took away Teresa when Reacher's cover blew up. Duffy and Reacher ultimately leave an injured Harley to blow up with his boat.
Reacher season 3 is available for streaming on Prime Video.
