Reacher Season 3 for the First Time ‘Drops You in the Middle of the Action,’ Says Alan Ritchson — Plus, How It Sets Up Spinoff
Reacher will pull no punches when it launches Season 3 this Thursday with the first three episodes of eight.
Season 3 of Prime Video‘s adaptation of the Lee Child novels is based on 2003’s Persuader, thrusting Alan Ritchson‘s titular man mountain into the dark heart of a vast criminal enterprise as he tries to rescue a DEA informant.
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If you are familiar with the source material, you know how Persuader opens. Rest assured, the streaming series offers up a rather perfect adaptation of the novel, from that action-packed, jaw-dropping cold open to the distinctly laid-out oceanside estate where Reacher winds up working undercover, as hired muscle for “rug” importer Zachary Beck (played by Anthony Michael Hall).
“In other seasons, there was a slow, patient unraveling of the world, and the problem that he’s sent to solve,” Ritchson tells TVLine. “But in Season 3, we drop you right into the middle of the action, and you sort of just have to try to keep up.
“We haven’t done that yet” on the series, he adds, “and it makes for a really fun season.”
Given the undercover nature of Reacher‘s Season 3 mission, whereas Season 2 teamed him back up with a trio of pals from the 110th MP Special Investigations Unit, here, like Season 1, he’s kind of going it alone.
“There is an alliance formed” with DEA Agent Susan Duffy, stationed out of a remote cabin and played by Lodge 49‘s Sonya Cassidy, Ritchson notes, “but it’s still Reacher living life according to his own terms and rules.”
In addition to Ritchson, Hall and Cassidy, Reacher Season 3 stars Olivier “The Dutch Giant” Richters (Black Widow), Brian Tee (Chicago Med), Johnny Berchtold (Tiny Beautiful Things), Robert Montesinos (9-1-1: Lone Star) and Daniel David Stewart (For All Mankind).
It also brings back spinoff-bound Maria Sten as Frances Neagley, even though that character was not used in Child’s Persuader novel.
“It’s always a gamble to figure out, ‘How can we adapt the book faithfully but also make room for Neagley?'” notes Sten. “I didn’t know whether we were going to put her in Season 3 or not, but I’m very grateful that they did.” Even though Neagley for much of the season is giving Reacher the occasional assist from her P.I. digs in Chicago.
As such, “in a lot of ways she’s separated from the action,” Sten acknowledges, “but putting her in [Season 3] accomplishes a lot of things,” especially with the Neagely-centric spinoff now ordered to series and beginning filming this week.
“This is a great way to set that up, that she is out there [in Chicago] living her own life, and at the same time she will assist Reacher when it’s asked for,” Sten says. “And even when it’s not!”
Want scoop on Reacher Season3 or 4, or for any other TV show ? Shoot an email to [email protected], and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
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