The Prime Video television adaptation ofReacherhas finally premiered and with the first season being packed from start to end, we have some questions about the future of the series and where the next season could go.
The first season revolved around our titular lead arriving in a town called Margrave because Reacher’s brother once mentioned a blues singer there. However, his arrival seems to trigger a series of events, starting from his arrest to murders all over town which link to his brother’s own fate. Once Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is exonerated, he begins to work alongside Chief Detective Oscar Finley (Malcolm Goodwin) and Officer Roscoe (Willa Fitzgerald) to find out the man responsible for the murders happening across town. As we eventually learn, it is the town’s own mayor alongside a corrupt branch of the town’s police that is behind all the havoc in Margrave. After Reacher and friends manage to bring their foes down, Jack ends up departing from the town, leaving behind Roscoe whom he had had a tender romance with.
So what’s next for Jack Reacher? Where could the series go, especially now that it’sbeen renewed for a second seasonalready? Here are a few of our most burning (and currently unanswered) questions.
RELATED:Alan Ritchson on ‘Reacher,’ Connecting to His Character, and the Possible Story Approach to Season 2
Reacher toDie Trying?
The show’s resolution followed the first book,Killing Floor, to a tee, seemingly tying off all loose ends and leaving little indication for what is next for the former U.S military policeman. However, if show-runnerNick Santoraplans to be this faithful to theJack Reacherbook, then next season will most likely be based on the second title inLee Child’sseries,Die Trying.That particular novel details Jack becoming an FBI target after he assists an injured FBI agent, Holly Johnson, who is in the bureau’s crosshairs. Unlike the first book, which was a small-town murder mystery, the second book is more of a high-octane action thriller, with plenty of big action scenes in various locations.
While the series can change anything it wishes to, if it does followDie Tryingthen we will see Reacher come face to face with a rogue military group in the Windy City. This could be the perfect segue into more of an exploration of Jack’s own time in the service and what he believes about the U.S military, foreign policy, and politics today. Although the simplicity of the first season is refreshing, being a more multifaceted show will only serve to strengthen theReacheruniverse. The books have gone on to vary in tones and if the writers play around with different kinds of crime-thriller genres, it would allow each season to be a little different from each other whilst maintaining Jack as its DNA.
Will Margrave and its citizens be back for Season 2?
Of course, the writers could choose to adapt any other book in the Reacher catalog now that the show has been greenlit for a Season 2. While the first season felt fairly self-contained, who knows whether we will see Reacher return to Margrave or see any of its residents in Jack’s life again. Detective Finley moves to Boston at the end of the first season which leaves him open to returning to theReacherworld should Jack ever happen to hitch a ride to Beantown. The series also makes a point of showing us that Roscoe has given Jack her phone number — which means that if Jack ever needs her, he could likely get assistance from Roscoe even though her character never really materializes in the novels again.
Whatever happened to Jack Reacher?
Other questions also linger. We still don’t know much about Jack’s childhood in the series and how he became the stern quiet man of steel he is today. Based on the format of the show’s freshman run, it stands to reason that we will get more of Jack’s childhood flashbacks in Season 2. The first season discloses his mother’s death, but doesn’t dive into Jack’s relationship with his father and what became of him. The show has also not explained just how Jack ended up becoming a (self-described) hobo wandering from town to town, considering his smart instincts in solving crime and his history in the armed forces.Reachercould also introduce us to more of his army pals, through flashbacks or the main storyline, and dive into his relationship with his past job.
We could also learn more about what exactly transpired between Jack and his brother Joe (Christopher Russel) that ended with their estrangement, and the second season could potentially shed more light on that situation. We were also introduced to the character of Frances Neagley (Maria Sten), who doesn’t appear in the book series until much later and is described as a female version of Jack. The show doesn’t waste much time in explaining their relationship and how exactly they befriended one another, so potentially seeing her pop up in Season 2 will not be that big of a surprise.
While star Alan Ritchson recently spoke to Collider about the series being ananthology of sorts, the writers have not weighed in yet on how, and if they will ever reuse the characters we meet inReacherSeason 1, which leaves the door open, at least as of right now, of them reuniting with Jack Reacher down the line. The show is bound to deviate from the source material eventually and adding Roscoe and Finley back in Reacher’s orbit would be a great way to get a character like Jack Reacher to open up more. Adding some connective tissue in-between seasons through overarching storylines and characters will also allow for more fan investment in the Prime Video series, shouldReacherever decide to tinker with the current book format. Still, we’re very early in the run and the writers’ supremely faithful take on Lee Childs’ first novelKilling Floormeans that they know full well how rich their world is and how best to utilize it.
There is no word yet on when the second season of the Prime Video thriller will start filming or return, and we have no casting announcements to discuss at the moment. However, withReacherbeing such an instant hit for Amazon, the streaming service likely plans to churn out new episodes sooner rather than later. Still, we have ample time to speculate about which corner of the world Jack Reacher will find himself in whenReacherreturns for its sophomore run in the future.
