Reacher Season 3: Ángel Dole was smarter than we thought, here's why

Reacher Season 3 is brimming with villains. If you thought Reacher had it tough in the first two seasons, this time he’s up against even bigger and badder enemies, both physically and mentally.

Ángel Dole, or Angel Doll, the guy who claimed to have a "seventh sense," might not have looked like it, but he was smart. Until now, he’s been the only one to figure out Reacher’s truth.

If you thought Ángel Dole was just another forgettable henchman in Reacher Season 3, think again. The guy might have had a shady past, but he was no fool. He was sharp, suspicious, and a little too smart for his own good. And in Reacher’s world, being too smart is a dangerous thing.

Played by Manuel Rodriguez Saenz, Ángel was a man who might have been just another grunt in Beck’s organization. But he surely had a knack for figuring things out… well, until he figured out the wrong thing.

Disclaimer: The article contains spoilers for Reacher Season 3 and also reflects the author's opinion. Readers' discretion is advised.

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Reacher Season 3: Who was Ángel Dole?

Ángel Dole wasn’t just any lackey. He was a former U.S. soldier turned communications technician working for the rich and powerful Zachary Beck.

Unfortunately, his military career didn’t exactly end with a salute. After being dishonorably discharged for sexually assaulting a lieutenant colonel, he landed in a prison for eight months. Post-prison, he found a new calling. He became a smooth-talking, street-smart criminal.

In Reacher Season 3, Ángel and Reacher start off on similar footing. They are both working under Beck. Ángel, though he was a blabbermouth, picked up on the smallest inconsistencies. Sadly for him, knowing the truth came at a cost.

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Reacher Season 3: Ángel Dole was suspicious about Reacher's story

Reacher was tasked with accompanying Ángel on a little field trip to identify a pickup truck involved in Beck's son's kidnapping attempt.

On that trip, when Reacher asks him how he ran his prints so fast, Ángel, with an ear-to-ear grin and a cocky smile, says:

"I got more hookups than Central Maine Power Company."

Well, now that it was established that Ángel had connections, Reacher asks him how he plans on getting inside the impound lot. Ángel chuckles and tells him about his plan, which involves killing the 'rookie' night shift police officer at the impound lot, if he doesn't accept the 500 bucks bribe. Not really, smart. But hold on. Let's not be too quick to judge the poor fella.

They both finally reach the place. Ángel cooks up a story on how his 'side piece' left her underthings in his car, and now he needs to remove that 'incriminating evidence' before his fiancée finds out. But the officer is unmoved by his story.

This is when Ángel reaches out for his gun, but Reacher pulls a punch on the officer and knocks him out. Cut to the two lads searching for the car. Ángel finds it, takes a few snaps, and they're on their way out of the lot.

Suddenly, Ángel spots the Audi that belongs to Beck's son's bodyguard, who's currently being held captive by the DEA agents. Reacher seems visibly worried as he realizes that if Duffy doesn't manage to do something about the car, he's screwed.

Fortunately, Duffy manages to change the number plate of the car. However, Ángel is not a fool. He says:

"You said a bodyguard blew up in here? Cleaner than my f*cking car. Doesn't make any sense."

He adds:

"Crazy. It's the same exact make and model, even all f*cked up in the side. It's like that car hit this car."

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Reacher Season 3: Ángel Dole was much sharper than he got credit for

Later, after making the assigned delivery, Reacher goes to the warehouse and finds a paranoid Ángel, who was, by the way, tracking his route.

Ángel had questions. Too many questions. He was trying to piece together why Reacher was "stalling in the gas station" and why he didn't let Ángel shoot the police officer in the impound lot. He also said:

"Then I was dumping the minivan-- You know, the one you hot-wired. I decided to take a closer look and there wasn't even a scratch on the steering column. You didn't use a screwdriver to break into it."

He further added:

"Also, there wasn't any insulation on the mats from stripping the wires either."

To this, Reacher replied that he threw it away. However, nothing was going to convince Ángel. He started breaking into a laugh and said:

Okay, so, while you were in the process of stealing a car, you picked up the tiny pieces of insulation and threw them out? What the f*ck for?"

Just then Reacher is saved by Duke's loud and consistent car horns. He turns away to go, but Ángel isn't done with him yet. He knows Reacher is hiding something. He finally says:

"I have, like, a seventh sense for these things. You're a cop."

Ángel figures out that Reacher is working as an undercover informant. But before Ángel could go and tell the truth to Duke, Reacher did what he does best. Using his brute strength, he smashes Ángel's head on the desk, ending his suspicions and his life in one go.

Well, that's a norm in the Reacher universe: when you know too much, you don’t last long.

However, the fact that it was Ángel who figured it out first is simply undeniable. We've got to give him that. Unlike many other henchmen, he actually used his brain. He figured out something wasn’t right with Reacher long before anyone else did.

His biggest mistake was acting on his instincts. If he had played things a little slower, maybe he could’ve outmaneuvered Reacher. But then again, outsmarting Jack Reacher is almost impossible.

So, while Angel Dole may have been just another villain on paper, in reality, he was much sharper than he got credit for. Too bad for him; he just wasn’t sharp enough to survive Reacher Season 3.

Also read: Is Jack Reacher autistic?

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