Reacher, Prime Video’s small screen adaptation of Lee Child’s extensive book series, drops the first three episodes of its second season on Friday, December 15 to the streamer, with the remaining five premiering each week following. And if you thought the streamer’s first outing was a fun serialized action-packed surprise, you are in for a real treat with these new episodes.
When the show first premiered, audiences were introduced to Jack Reacher (played by Alan Ritchson), an ex-military officer who has committed himself to the life of a mysterious wanderer — visiting different parts of the country with no real solid place to call home. Through its freshman season, which follows the events of Child’s first book Killing Floor, Reacher became involved in some blood-soaked drama in the small town of Margrave. Begrudgingly working with local law enforcement, he helped eliminate certain corrupt influences in town, and by the end of the season, he hit the road yet again to find his next adventure.
Two years removed from that story, we pick back up with Reacher as he is faced with a new mission that is bigger in scope, with much higher stakes at play. Using Child’s 11th book in the series, titled Bad Luck and Trouble, a new case unfolds involving the 110th, a special investigative unit within the Army’s Military Police that Reacher hand-picked for their special skills to work together and investigate unique crimes.
(Photo by Brooke Palmer/Prime Video)
When one of their own is tortured and tossed from a helicopter, Reacher is tapped to investigate. As more of his military crew turn up dead, he reunites with the surviving members to find answers before they can be taken out.
Maria Sten returns as Frances Neagley, who made an appearance in the first season. She’s one of the members of the 110th and, according to Sten, “She is really the person who can understand Reacher in a way no one else can because of their friendship.”
The new season also features a whole new set of faces that will either throw fists alongside Reacher or do their best to survive the force that comes with his hulking 6’5″ stature. Serinda Swan’s Karla Dixon and Shaun Sipos’s David O’Donnell are the other key Special Investigators that join Reacher in this cat-and-mouse quest for answers.
Rounding out the main cast are Robert Patrick as Shane Langston, Ferdinand Kingsley as the villainous A.M., and Domenick Lombardozzi as Gaitano “Guy” Russo.
(Photo by Brooke Palmer/Prime Video)
Season 2 begins as a simple quest to find the ones responsible for the murder, but things get complicated the further Reacher and his crew get. Instead of simply bringing one criminal to justice, the group unveils a threat of global proportions. This is a far cry from Reacher’s simple times back in Margrave, for sure.
“The choice of leaping into Bad Luck and Trouble versus Killing Floor, the introductory book, was for exactly these reasons,” Alan Ritchson told Rotten Tomatoes over Zoom during the show’s official press day. “Thematically, we’re talking about family now. We got to see Reacher on an adventure in Season 1 where it was all new. Family, actually, was something that was taken from him. He lost his brother. And now we get the opposite of that.”
His military brothers and sisters is the family Ritchson is referring to. And the bond he forged with them out in the field is quite strong.
“There’s an allegiance, loyalty, and a sense of responsibility that Reacher has towards those individuals,” Ritchson continued. “So naturally, the stakes are going to be much, much higher when he cares about the people whose lives he’s putting at risk by making certain decisions.”
(Photo by Brooke Palmer/Prime Video)
One of the key ways Jack Reacher process high emotional stakes, as we saw in Season 1, is through varying degrees of punches, kicks and other such violence. The series brought action movie sequences to the small screen, and it goes without saying that audiences should expect more of the same. Except this time, the show will pack an even bigger punch (pun absolutely intended).
“It just escalates and gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger,” Sten revealed. “I can’t remember which episode this is, but there is a big sequence that has a big cinematic relay action tactical setup that I think is going to be really interesting and will hopefully earn us some street cred with the real guys.”
When it comes to the action sequences featured in Season 2, Reacher comes out miles ahead of other TV shows in the genre. These are fights that are detailed and creative without coming off choreographed or overly done. It’s a point of pride for Ritchson, who also holds a producer credit on the series.
“I gotta hand it to the phenomenal stunt team that we have,” he added. “They’re quietly whittling away at the scenes for weeks and weeks trying to get them perfect. When I finally arrive and we show up with cameras, we’ve got something different and memorable then what most action shows can produce.”
(Photo by Brooke Palmer/Prime Video)
Emotional stakes in the story are important for multiple reasons. The audience has to care about the heroes and stay fully engaged in whatever ride they go on. Another result, if the stakes are firmly in place, is the believability of the danger they face. And that danger is on full display here.
“I do think you do need those moments where you have doubt,” Sten continued. “Are they actually going to make it out alive? I think the more that you can have those moments to get people on the edge of their seats, the better.”
When all is said and done, the story of Jack Reacher progresses quite a lot in Season 2. From the show’s small-town beginnings to Season 2’s terrorist conspiracy, the series is laying the groundwork for an action-packed drama that can have staying power on Prime Video.
“We’re stepping into sort of the best of what the Reacher saga can provide us,” Ritchson revealed, “you know, with these big life-and-death international escapades.” With the streamer currently in production on Season 3, something tells us Jack Reacher will be around for some time.
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Reacher: Season 2
(2023)
premieres its first three episodes on Friday, December 15 on Prime Video; New episodes will drop each following week.
Thumbnail image by Brooke Palmer/Prime Video
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