Warning: spoilers ahead for Reacher season 3's finale.

Jack Reacher meets John McClane, with Reacher season 3 paying tribute to one of the action genre's all-time great movies. 1988's Die Hard remains one of the defining pieces of high-octane action cinema, and its influence remains visible on both the big and small screen. Since Prime Video's Reacher is arguably the genre's current champion as far as TV output is concerned, it comes as no surprise that Reacher and Die Hard share certain strands of DNA.

In many ways, Reacher season 3's ending makes that comparison far more direct.

Reacher Season 3's Finale Turns Villanueva Into Die Hard's John McClane

Villanueva Copies A Famous Fashion Choice In Reacher Season 3's Finale

In a clever nod, Reacher season 3's finale transforms Roberto Montesinos' Guillermo Villanueva into the show's version of John McClane - all with one simple costume change. The moment comes after Reacher's gang infiltrates Zachary Beck's mansion on their final mission to thwart Xavier Quinn. Neagley decides to go undercover as a server, which requires borrowing Villanueva's white shirt as a makeshift disguise. Left without a replacement, Villanueva is then left to complete the entire mission in his white vest, which gets progressively bloodier and dirtier across the remainder of the episode.

Any action hero who has saved the day while wearing nothing on their top half but a white vest is almost certainly paying tribute to Willis' action hero.

A relatively small detail it may be, but the sight of a vest-clad Villanueva playing action hero cannot help but evoke memories of John McClane roaming around Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard. McClane's rough-and-ready attire is an iconic image burned onto pop culture's eyelids, and just as the bandanna came to symbolize Rambo, the white vest became a trademark of Willis playing John McClane in Die Hard.

Since Die Hard's release, any action hero who has saved the day while wearing nothing on their top half but a white vest is almost certainly paying tribute to Willis' action hero. Villanueva in Reacher season 3 is no exception to that.

Villanueva & John McClane Actually Have A Lot In Common

In Another Life, Villanueva & McClane Would Get On

Just as Reacher's Die Hard Easter egg feels unlikely to be coincidental, the fact that Villanueva is specifically chosen for the white vest treatment also carries a deeper level of significance. While Jack Reacher and John McClane are quite distinct as individuals, the Die Hard protagonist shares far more in common with Villanueva.

Both men get the happy endings they desire.

Unlike Reacher, Villanueva and McClane both possess the aura of an every-man figure - a cop or agent who just wants to do their job, do the right thing, then go home at the end of the day. When circumstances call upon them to step up, however, both characters beat the odds by rising ably to the challenge.

Roberto Montesinos also appeared in the 2011 Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson movie We Bought a Zoo.

Villanueva and McClane are also both motivated by love for their respective wives. In Reacher, the veteran DEA agent is desperate to get through season 3's Xavier Quinn case in one piece so he can spend a peaceful retirement with his spouse at home. In Die Hard, John McClane is desperate to spend Christmas with his estranged wife, Holly, who is one of the many hostages being held inside Nakatomi Plaza. Both men get the happy endings they desire, but only after shedding plenty of blood and sweat along the way.

Reacher Season 3's Finale Turned Villanueva Into A Real Action Hero

Villanueva Shares More With John McClane Than Just His Choice Of Undergarments

Villanueva is a valuable ally throughout Reacher season 3, and while he's never afraid to dive headfirst into the action, the veteran typically fails to cover himself in glory when doing so. Reacher protected him during the warehouse shootout in episode 5, and he fumbled behind Duffy when shots started firing at the scrapyard at the outset of the finale. In Reacher season 3's ending, however, Villanueva finally earns the right to wear John McClane's vest, fully embodying the spirit of a movie action hero.

The character's standout scene comes during a claustrophobic bathroom scrap against a much younger, fitter, deadlier opponent. Villanueva defies his age to overcome the villain, ultimately using a toilet's ceramic cistern lid as an impromptu weapon. It's the kind of dogged win John McClane himself is notorious for, and proves beyond any doubt that Villanueva is not on Reacher's team just to make up the numbers and look handsome. Like Die Hard several decades prior, Reacher season 3 proves the value of grit, heart, and determination in a fight between justice and evil.