Alan Ritchson’s hero will continue his adventures in Reacher season 3, but the show needs to address one of his most toxic character trait.

Alan Ritchson as Reacher and Persuader Book Cover

SUMMARY

 Reacher season 3 should avoid including a romance story to break Jack’s pattern of jumping from one tryst to another.
 Dixon and Roscoe’s affairs with Jack in previous seasons showcased a toxic pattern of him avoiding commitments.
 Since Jack’s nature prevents him from settling down, crafting another short-lived affair for him in season 3 should be done more mindfully.

Jack Reacher’s adventures continue in Reacher season 3, but it needs to leave one of his toxic traits behind. Long before the 110th Special Investigations Unit succeeded in seeking revenge for their murdered teammates in the Reacher season 2 finale, production for its sequel has already been quietly progressing.

Alan Ritchson has been consistently sharing images and videos from the set of Reacher season 3, albeit carefully not to spoil any major plot points, while also promoting the sophomore year of the project.

Amazon Prime Video keeping Reacher going on its streaming platform shouldn’t be a big surprise. Since debuting in 2022, Ritchson’s version of the former military police-turned-hobo has been one of its biggest shows thus far.

Despite stepping into the shoes of the character previously worn by Tom Cruise on the big screen, the small screen iteration is more beloved, considering that it keeps many of Jack’s hallmark traits from the novels.

As interesting and noble as he is, however, there’s one specific character tendency that the Nick Santora-created series needs to drop for the much-anticipated Reacher season 3.

Reacher Season 3 Shouldn’t Have A Romance Story

Alan Ritchson smiling as Jack Reacher in Reacher season 2

When Jack returns for Reacher season 3, he shouldn’t engage in a brand new romance. It has already been confirmed that the third season of the series will adapt Persuader — Lee Chid’s seventh book from the famed book series.

For context, the book will see Jack involved in the DEA, and like in previous seasons, he will work with a female accomplice, Susan Duffy. However, Santora and his team must deviate from this part of Child’s books, knowing well that it will end the same way that it did with Roscoe Conklin and Karla Dixon in the show’s first seasons.

Reacher seasons 1 and 2 are based on Child’s books, Killing Floor and Bad Luck and Trouble.

Reacher’s Dixon & Roscoe Romances Show A Toxic Pattern

Alan Ritchson as Reacher, Serinda Swan as Dixon, and Willa Fitzgerald as Roscoe

Granted that there was a two-year gap between the incident in Margrave, where Jack engaged in an affair with Roscoe, and his reunion with the 110th Special Investigations Unit, including Dixon, but it’s off-putting that he seems to jump from one tryst to another.

Throughout the cases that he has worked on thus far, there’s a pattern of Jack jumping in bed with these women and even getting to know them, then expecting that they’ll be okay and that there’s no future for them because he cannot settle in one place, let along commit to a relationship.

At least Dixon had some kind of understanding that there is no future for her and Dixon beyond their time working to seek revenge against New Age and Shane Langston.
She even joked about it at the end of their affair, although Jack’s panicked look indicates his realization that he didn’t establish clear parameters for their short affair. The only reason that Dixon was able to easily accept it is because she knew beforehand Jack’s nature.

Since the story of Reacher season 3 will see him work with new allies, the same way in season 1, his potential next romantic partner will likely not have an understanding that getting intimate doesn’t automatically mean that they will be in a relationship.

Jack will eventually have to move on because of his nature, and it doesn’t seem like he has any plans to change course any time soon. So Amazon Prime Video’s storytelling needs to be more mindful when crafting another short-lived affair for the character moving forward.