Having long since established itself as a show that justifies a subscription to Amazon's streamer, "Reacher" recently broke Prime Video ratings records with its third season. The basic formula of a large man beating people senseless for eight episodes in a row has surprisingly resonated with, well, dads probably. But there's a pulpy charm to the show that appeals to any action fan. Star Alan Ritchson is also a big part of the show's success, finally gifting fans of Lee Child's novels, on which the show is based,
a book-accurate depiction of the titular hero.
As such, it might seem as if the writers have it easy: adapt an already popular book, write some cool scenes that give Alan Ritchson a chance to punch people, and watch the views roll in. But things are obviously not as simple as that. For one thing, those fights themselves are incredibly complicated and take immense amounts of planning and rehearsal to get right. What's more, the writers are constantly working to meet fan expectations, which given how many of them reacted with outright hostility to Tom Cruise's depiction of Jack Reacher in his two 2010s films, is surely a stressful way to work.
But according to Child, there's one really big problem that plagues the hit series, and it's not necessarily something that will ever go away. Rather, it's an issue that's inherent to the show and the books on which it's based.
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Jack Reacher's Roaming Nature Is A Pro And A Con For Lee Child
The Jack Reacher of the novels is an itinerant former military policeman who essentially wanders the United States with nothing but a T-shirt and a toothbrush. He just so happens to find trouble wherever he goes, which means there are now 29 books that find the hulking hero in different debacles. Much like the books, "Reacher" is an anthology series, which means fans have had to say goodbye to some beloved characters with each new season that arrives. This has already caused problems. Even Child himself was evidently devastated that Willa Fitzegerald's Roscoe Conklin wouldn't be returning after "Reacher" season 1, and fans enjoyed Malcolm Goodwin's portrayal of detective Oscar Finlay so much, the writers brought him back for an episode of season 2.
For Child, who spoke to Fortress of Solitude in 2023, the anthology approach is both a blessing and a curse. Asked about how each new season features a brand new cast, the author said, "I see the advantage in it, because that's the way I wrote it. I want something new every time. I don't want to be trapped into one particular lane or channel." He went on to explain how he envisioned Jack Reacher specifically as a roaming one-man army, and not as "a cop in a certain city, or a private detective in another city." For Child, Reacher being able to go wherever he wants means that each season "will be new and fresh, and a whole different context of storytelling." But it seems the drawbacks of such an approach aren't lost on the writer either. "The disadvantage in that is that you have got to kind of reinvent the wheel every time," he continued. "You have got to have a new cast and a new location. Nothing carries over. So, everything needs to be redone each time, which means that the new cast has [doesn't have] familiarity. It's not a soap opera; they have to be introduced. But that's down to the skill, primarily of the screenwriter and primarily the actors."
Reacher Has Handled The Pitfalls Of An Anthology Series Well So Far
During his Fortress of Solitude interview, Lee Child noted that, with season 2 of "Reacher," fans were introduced to the hero's former investigative team from his Army days — the 110th Special Investigators. For the author, this was a great way to transition fans into a new season as it adds a sort of superficial appearance of familiarity. "Reacher is back together with his old unit," said Child, "the people whom he worked with so intimately and so intensely. So, it was really important that immediately we had that ensemble feel from the very first minute." For the writer, then, the fact that fan-favorites Roscoe Conklin and Oscar Finlay didn't return for season 2 was made somewhat easier to take simply by virtue of the new ensemble introduced in season 2 and their easy camaraderie. "Immediately, they look like best friends," he said. "That is their talent. And that was what was important, and that's what we see on the screen."
At the time Child was giving his interview, season 2 of the series was just about to drop on Prime Video. Unfortunately, some fans felt there were some big problems with "Reacher" season 2. Even Alan Ritchson himself admitted that he felt something went wrong with season 2, though in that case it had more to do with the combat than anything else. Still, it's hard to make an anthology series and keep fans' interest without having the familiarity of fan-favorite characters to rely on. Thankfully, season 3 proved the show was more than capable of overcoming those issues. Plus, Maria Sten's Frances Neagley — the only real constant beside Alan Ritchson's Reacher — has proved to be an anchoring force for the series, with the character appearing in every season so far and helping ground a show which could easily give fans a sense of whiplash with its anthology style. If the sneak peek of the "Neagley" spinoff we got in "Reacher" season 3 is anything to go by, she won't need much help making her own series a success. Meanwhile, "Reacher" is now set to move to Philadelphia, where season 4 is currently filming. That will be a bit of a change from the Maine setting of season 3, but the show has proved it can handle such changes thus far so this shouldn't be any different.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
