Reacher season 2 lost its way a little and experienced a slight dip in quality, but Reacher season 3 can easily fix the issues that have arisen.

SUMMARY

 Reacher season 2 had a dip in quality compared to the first installment, which season 3 needs to rectify.
 Reacher season 1 was faithful to the book, but effective changes have been made in subsequent adaptations.
 Reacher season 3 should focus on a fictional location, avoid unnecessary love interests, and return to a grounded approach like season 1.

Reacher season 2 was entertaining, but there was a dip in quality compared to the first installment that Reacher season 3 needs to rectify. The show’s first season hit the ground running by establishing its own set of hallmarks and tropes, many of which were unfortunately dispensed with in season 3.

The anthological nature of the show means Reacher‘s tone can be notably adjusted between seasons, which is a task that needs to be accomplished before season 3 arrives.

Reacher is Amazon’s TV adaptation of Lee Child’s book series. The novels are written to function as standalone adventures, an approach that the show has largely adhered to.

However, certain creative choices have been made during Reacher’s journey from page to screen that blend the edges of the narratives. Some of these decisions have been highly effective, but several more recent moves have hurt the quality of the show and led to a waste of certain members of the Reacher season 2 cast.

7. Reacher Needs Roscoe & More Finlay In Season 3

The trio from Reacher season 1 are due a reunion

Reacher season 1 was based on Lee Child’s Killing Floor, the first book in the author’s series. The show was a very faithful adaptation, despite some changes being made. Reacher’s main accomplices in the book, Roscoe and Finlay, never return in future stories penned by Child. However, the popularity of the characters resulted in Finlay’s Reacher 2 cameo.

This shows that Amazon is willing to allow Child’s characters to jump between stories in a way that the author was not, and it’s a feat that should be repeated in Reacher season 3.

Although Malcolm Goodwin’s Oscar Finlay has already made a repeat appearance, he would be welcomed back with open arms for another cameo or even a more substantial run on the show. Willa Fitzgerald’s Roscoe Conklin didn’t return for Reacher season 2, but Finlay’s cameo proves that it’s at least possible for Roscoe to also appear and assist Reacher again.

6. Reacher Season 3 Needs To Return To A Fictional Location

Margrave allowed for a greater degree of unpredictability

Reacher season 2 moved around a lot, especially between New York and Boston. Both real-life settings came with their own set of expectations that can color at least parts of the narrative. Reacher season 1 was set in the fictional Margave, Georgia.

By having events unfold in a fake town, there’s less chance of predicting what happens next to the unfamiliar politics of how the community is run. All eyes were on Reacher in season 1 due to his status as an outsider in small-town America, whereas he blended in too well in New York, reducing the tension.

5. Reacher Shouldn’t Have A Love Interest In Season 3

Reacher needs to ride solo for a while to prevent the show from feeling repetitive

Alan Ritchson’s character has had two love interests in as many seasons and both have been doomed to fail long before the finale. While this can be an effective writing technique, it can get stale very quickly. Reacher’s very nature as a wanderer means that any new relationships that will arise during season 3 are destined to end by the final episode. Therefore, it’s a trope that needs to be avoided for a while.

Although it would be very rewarding to see Roscoe or Dixon return in Reacher season 3, their past entanglements with Reacher should remain separate from the other story elements.

If there’s anything worse than a new short-lived romance, it’s revisiting an old flame that is just as likely to sputter out by the end of the story. In short, the show needs to focus on Reacher’s bachelor status.

4. The Show Needs To Return To Its Grounded Approach From Reacher Season 1

Reacher season 2 took things a little too far at times

A great deal of the appeal of Reacher season 1 was the fact that nothing too crazy ever happened. The story all felt like it was unfolding naturally, almost like a more action-packed police procedural.

Inversely, there were some ridiculous moments in Reacher season 2 that were more reflective of over-the-top action movies. Some of these sequences were effective, whereas others felt very out of character with the tone that was established in Reacher season 2.

Thankfully, Reacher season 3 is based on a Lee Child book called Persuader, the plot of which would seem to allow for a story much more akin to that of season 1. That being said, there would be merit in finding the middle ground between the previous two seasons for Reacher season 3. Season 2 had its larger-than-life moments, but not all of them were unbelievable.

3. The Lifestyle Choices Of Alan Ritchson’s Reacher Need To Be Brought Up Less

Everyone is already aware that Reacher likes to drift

Reacher season 1 had to set up its main character’s way of life, but it did this with nothing more than a few lines of dialogue. Roscoe and Finlay had a few questions, but they were mainly acting as the voice of the audience who wanted to know more.

Considering that Reacher’s 110th Special Investigators Unit have known him for many years, they seem to reference the way he lives his life more often than the relative strangers in the previous season. While Reacher’s lifestyle is unconventional, it’s not that hard to grasp.

The issues don’t just rest with season 2’s new characters grilling Reacher about his endless wandering. The show features too many scenes of its main character choosing new clothes from thrift stores.
This is only a facet of his life that needs to be established once, at most. Featuring too many of these sequences slows the plot and places unnecessary focus on a relatively minor part of the main character’s personality.

2. Reacher Season 3’s Villain Needs To Be A Physical Threat

AM and Langston were both underwhelming bad guys

After facing a Reacher season 1 villain who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, both of season 2’s main antagonists paled by comparison. Robert Patrick, who has made a career out of playing the bad guy, stepped into the shoes of Shane Langston in Reacher season 2. Unfortunately, Langston is all bark, no bite, and a man who has one of his cronies do his bidding at the drop of a hat.

Ferdinand Kingsley’s mysterious AM character is equally inert. As a black market weapons dealer, his threat to the general population is notable, but he stands no chance against Reacher and the rest of the 110th.

AM even arrives unarmed for his final confrontation with the Special Investigators, claiming to be above the use of weapons himself. What happened as a result was a brutal gunning down with no resistance.

1. Reacher Season 2 Had Too Many Main Characters

Reacher season 3 needs to feature fewer big personalities

The Reacher season 1 cast was already quite small, but even so, it focused mainly on the exploits of Reacher, Roscoe, and Finlay as they worked the case together. Reacher season 2 widened its scope and included the remaining members of the 110th as well as the deceased members in flashback sequences.

The show also follows the villains throughout, so there’s very little mystery as the story unfolds. As a result, it became difficult to care too intensely about individual characters, so deaths like Russo’s didn’t hit as hard as they probably should have done.

This is an easy fix for the coming season. The next installment simply needs to shave down the cast to a core group rather than spread the attention too thinly. The story being used for the third season sounds like it will be a fairly minimalist affair, which is great news regarding the casting corrections it requires. So, hopefully, Reacher 3 season will feature a smaller group of well-written characters.