The first season of the American action crime television series Reacher, based on the Jack Reacher book series by Lee Child, premiered on Amazon Prime Video on February 4, 2022.

The season, based on Killing Floor, stars Alan Ritchson, Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald, Chris Webster, Bruce McGill, and Maria Sten. In the season, Reacher investigates, alongside police officers Oscar Finlay and Roscoe Conklin, a local conspiracy while also trying to uncover his brother's murderer.

On February 7, 2022, Amazon Prime Video renewed the series for a second season.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher Maxwell Jenkins as young Jack Reacher Malcolm Goodwin as Oscar Finlay, Chief Detective, Margrave PD Willa Fitzgerald as Roscoe Conklin, Margrave PD officer Chris Webster as KJ Kliner, the ruthless son of Kliner Sr. Bruce McGill as Mayor Grover Teale Maria Sten as Frances Neagley

Recurring Willie C. Carpenter as Mosley Harvey Guillén as Jasper Christopher Russell as Joe Reacher, Jack Reacher's brother Gavin White as young Joe Reacher Leslie Fray as Josephine Reacher, Jack and Joe's mother Matthew Marsden as Stan Reacher Hugh Thompson as Officer Baker, a corrupt Margrave police officer Jonathan Koensgen as Officer Stevenson AJ Simmons as Dawson Kliner, KJ's cousin and Kliner Sr.'s nephew Marc Bendavid as Paul Hubble Patrick Garrow as Spivey, a corrupt correctional officer Kristin Kreuk as Charlene "Charlie" Hubble, Paul's wife Currie Graham as Kliner Sr. Martin Roach as Picard

Guest

Peter Skagen as Edward "Ed" Morrison Lara Jean Chorostecki as Molly Beth Gordon Paulino Nunes as Zacarias Perez Claire Armstrong as Debbie Shane Janelle Cooper as Barbara Nancy Palk as Mrs. Jobling Ali Johnson as Judy Miller Mathieu Simard as Emmitt Mika Amonsen as Officer Ribidoux Shane Marriott as Aucoin Philip Williams as Rufus Dylan Trowbridge as Dale Alex Castillo as Professor Castillo Jorja Cadence as Emma Stevenson

Production Development On July 15, 2019, a TV series adaptation of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels was announced by Amazon. Nick Santora, who created Scorpion, was set to write, showrun, and produce the series through Paramount Television and Skydance Media. On January 14, 2020, the TV series was greenlit, with Don Granger, Scott Sullivan, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Marcy Ross, and Christopher McQuarrie as executive producers with Child. The first season was announced as an adaptation of Child's novel Killing Floor. In July 2021, it was announced M. J. Bassett had joined the series as a director. To adapt the books to screen the writers decided they would need to make Reacher verbalize his thoughts more often, but that they would keep his dialogue short and direct and have him only speak longer to people he respects. They also decided to introduce Neagley to the series earlier than in the books.

Casting On September 4, 2020, Alan Ritchson was cast in the title role. On March 22, 2021, Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald, and Chris Webster were cast as series regulars. On May 19, 2021, Bruce McGill, Maria Sten, and Hugh Thompson joined the main cast. On June 11, 2021, Kristin Kreuk, Marc Bendavid, Willie C. Carpenter, Currie Graham, Harvey Guillén, and Maxwell Jenkins were announced to have joined the cast in undisclosed capacities.

Filming A temporary townscape was built in North Pickering, Ontario to support filming of the season. The entire fictional city of Margrave was built from the ground up in a leased farm field in Ontario. Other areas of filming include Toronto, Port Perry and Pickering. Principal photography of the season took place between April 15 and July 30, 2021, in Toronto. During filming, Ritchson broke a bone in his shoulder, which required surgery. He also tore an abdominal muscle during a fight scene.

Release The season's episodes were released on February 4, 2022.

Reception The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 92% approval rating with an average rating of 7.3/10, based on 75 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Reacher captures the trademark bulk of its titular hero while trading away some of his definition, but fans of the novels will find plenty to love about this faithful adaptation." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Lucy Mangan of The Guardian said, "This rollicking adaptation of Lee Child's man-mountain ex-military sleuth is hugely fun, packed with punchups and far better than Cruise's movie efforts." Michael Hogan of The Telegraph wrote, "Reacher is huge, pulpy fun and far classier than you might expect." Joshua Alston of Variety praised the casting of Ritchson but said the character was unsuitable to carry this kind of show: "the longer it runs, the more obvious its protagonist-shaped void becomes". Dan Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter called it "frustratingly over-faithful to the source material", saying, "I wouldn't mind another season, but I'd probably still rather read another book."

References