1 Reacher & Neagley Scene Drops A Massive Roscoe Insult In Season 2

Warning: spoilers ahead for Reacher season 2, episodes 1-3.

Roscoe isn’t around in Reacher season 2, but if she was, she would be justified in feeling a little insulted after a heart-to-heart scene between Reacher and Neagley. Willa Fitzgerald’s Roscoe was a main member of the Reacher cast in season 1, but due to the format of Lee Child’s books and the nomadic nature of Alan Ritchson’s protagonist, Reacher season 2 features an entirely new crop of supporting characters. Maria Sten’s Frances Neagley is the only exception. As a former member of Jack Reacher’s 110th Special Investigations Unit, Neagley supports her old boss in both seasons of Amazon’s Reacher TV show.

Neagley knows Reacher well enough to realize any attempt at deep and meaningful conversation would be as fruitful as challenging a bear to a chess match, but when both characters have time to kill in Reacher season 2, episode 1, “ATM,” she cannot help but pry. As she no doubt would have anticipated, Neagley’s verbal digging hits a man-shaped brick wall. Even so, the scene’s subtext serves as a big middle finger to both Roscoe and Reacher season 1’s ending.

Reacher Season 2 Badly Snubs His Roscoe Romance From Season 1

As Reacher and Neagley idle their evening away in a hotel room waiting for the post office to reopen the following morning, talk turns to recent developments in their respective lives. Reacher reveals nothing more than the fact he watched a Little League game in Sioux Falls, but Neagley bravely asks, “See it with anyone else?” The twinkle in her eye confirms Neagley is sneakily questioning whether her ex-boss has anyone special in his life, and she receives a firm “no” in response. Neagley continues undeterred down the romantic track, but immediately steers the conversation toward Reacher’s attraction to Karla Dixon, their former 110th colleague.

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Roscoe’s complete absence from this discussion is a huge insult to both her character and the connection she shared with Reacher. Neagley was present during the Margrave incident from Reacher season 1, so is fully aware that Roscoe and Reacher had feelings for each other. Nevertheless, she completely glosses over this chapter from her senior officer’s romantic history and jumps straight into playing matchmaker with Reacher and Dixon. By omitting Roscoe from the conversation, Neagley is seemingly acknowledging that the Margrave native and Reacher were just a brief fling that would never amount to anything serious.

Reacher season 1 may have ended with Alan Ritchson’s super-size character moving on from Roscoe, but the Amazon TV show left no doubt their feelings were genuine, and that, in another life, Reacher could have settled down with Roscoe permanently. Reacher season 1 even concluded with the protagonist admitting to her, “If there was anyone who could make me stay… it would be you.” By not even mentioning Roscoe’s name – and then touting a completely different woman as a potential match for Reacher – Neagley totally snubs Roscoe from the equation.

Why Reacher Season 2 Is Ignoring S1’s Roscoe Romance

It may seem odd that Reacher season 2 is blatantly playing down the character’s romance with Roscoe after season 1 blatantly played it up, but the reason for doing so is clear. Serinda Swan’s Dixon takes the role of Jack Reacher’s love interest in Reacher season 2, and flashbacks reveal their connection traces back much further than Reacher’s sojourn with Roscoe in Margrave. In order to make audiences invest in Reacher and Dixon’s romance, the Amazon TV adaptation needs to elevate their connection, amplify their feelings, and make Dixon seem like the woman Reacher has always been destined to end up with.

In order to do that, Reacher treats Roscoe like yesterday’s news. Minimizing past romantic connections affords Dixon the aura of Reacher’s one-true-love. Roscoe takes the fall, and Dixon’s role in Reacher season 2 suddenly feels more vital – as if Alan Ritchson’s character couldn’t possibly fall in love with anyone else. As a consequence, it seems unlikely that Willa Fitzgerald’s Roscoe will return in Reacher season 2. While she certainly could appear – perhaps assisting in the investigation of the 110th deaths – Roscoe’s presence would risk overcomplicating the season’s love story. If anything would make Jack Reacher instantly skip town, it’s a love triangle.