Warning! Spoilers ahead for the Reacher season 2 premiere.
A hidden detail in Reacher season 2 confirms that multiple Lee Child books have happened between seasons 1 and 2. Instead of jumping ahead to the best installments of the original Lee Child novels, Reacher season 1 loyally adapted the first book, Killing Floor, from the Lee Child series. However, after setting the stage for its scintillating crime drama with Killing Floor, Reacher season 2 jumped to the 11th book, Bad Luck and Trouble.
The show’s decision to skip nine books from the original series not only raised questions surrounding its timeline but also made it hard not to wonder how many books will ensue offscreen between seasons 1 and 2. Fortunately, Reacher season 2 has already given some concrete answers. By dropping subtle nods to Jack Reacher’s past crime-solving endeavors, Amazon’s Reacher has already hinted at which books will not receive adaptations in the future.
1 Killing Floor Book Quote Proves Reacher Season 2 Is Better Off Without Roscoe
Roscoe will be missed in Reacher season 2, but a Killing Floor quote perfectly explains why the show’s second installment is better off without her.
At Least 1 Lee Child Book Happened Between Reacher Seasons 1 & 2
One Reacher season 2 detail confirms a Lee Child book has happened offscreen
There is a scene in Reacher season 2 where Reacher, Neagley, and David try to figure out who is conspiring against them. David suspects that James Barr could be the enemy trying to kill them one by one, but Reacher dismisses his theory by implying that he helped Barr after his stint in Margrave, and Barr now owes him one. As trivial as this scene may seem, it highlights how Lee Child’s One Shot has already happened between Reacher seasons 1 and 2. In Lee Child’s One Shot, a former U.S. Army Infantry Sniper, James Barr, gets accused of killing five people in the South of Indiana.
Although he does not commit the crime, he becomes a primary suspect because he had previously shot and killed 4 American soldiers while serving in Kuwait. The army decided not to hold him accountable for the Kuwait incident, but Reacher warned him that he would track him down and hurt him if he transgressed again. When Barr gets accused of a crime in Indiana, he asks the police to get Jack Reacher. Being aware of his killing spree in Kuwait, Reacher initially does not believe Barr is innocent. However, the more he understands the case, the more he speculates that Barr is not responsible for the murders.
As seen in the first Tom Cruise Jack Reacher movie, One Shot ends with Reacher proving Barr’s innocence. The fact that Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher mentions that Barr owes him one suggests that he likely visited Indiana after Margrave to solve Barr’s case. Barr would not dare to attack Reacher because he helped him prove his innocence even when all the evidence pointed towards him being the perpetrator.
Did Other Reacher Books Happen Offscreen?
It is possible that other Reacher books unfolded between seasons 1 and 2
Reacher season 2 only drops references to One Shot’s events, but it is possible that several other books have also happened offscreen. By adapting Bad Luck and Trouble, Reacher season 2 skips nine books, which is surprising because of the show’s loyalty to its source material. However, even though Reacher season 2 establishes that One Shot‘s events have already happened, it seems unlikely that story developments from all nine skipped books were accommodated between the two seasons. In Reacher season 2’s episode 1, Neagley asks Reacher how long ago their Margrave encounter was.
Reacher recalls that it has been 2 years, 7 months, and 19 days since they last met in Margrave. Realistically, 2 years, 7 months, and 19 days is a long enough time frame to accommodate atleast three original books. However, it almost seems impossible for events from nine books to unfold in 2 years and 7 months. Future episodes and seasons of the show will likely drop more subtle details about what else happened offscreen in Reacher’s life and how it connects to his present timeline.
Why Amazon’s Reacher Won’t Adapt “One Shot”
Amazon’s Reacher will likely not adapt One Shot and another Lee Child book for one primary reason
Amazon’s Reacher may not follow a linear timeline, and season 3 could be a prequel to season 2. However, it now seems unlikely that the series will adapt Lee Child’s One Shot because the book was the basis for Tom Cruise’s 2012 movie. Since Amazon’s Reacher has already established itself as a unique and far superior adaptation of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels, it would not make sense if it retells the stories that have already been told in the Tom Cruise movies. Owing to this, Reacher‘s future seasons will likely not adapt both One Shot and Never Go Back, and, instead, they will focus more on books that have not been traversed to the audiovisual storytelling medium before.
Reacher
Produced by Amazon Prime Video, Reacher adapts Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series to live-action. The series follows veteran Military Police Officer Jack Reacher as he unravels a dangerous conspiracy in the fictional town of Margrave, Georgia. Played by the towering Alan Ritchson, the titular hero collaborates with officer Roscoe Conklin (Willa Fitzgerald) and Chief Detective Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin) to clean his name and save Margrave from crime and corruption.
- Release Date
- February 4, 2022
- Cast
- Malcolm Goodwin , Maria Sten , Willa Fitzgerald , Bruce McGill , Chris Webster , Alan Ritchson
- Genres
- Drama , Crime , Action
- Seasons
- 1
- Season List
- Reacher – Season 1 , Reacher – Season 2
- Story By
- nick santora
- Writers
- Nick Santora
- Network
- amazon prime video
- Streaming Service(s)
- Amazon Prime Video
- Franchise(s)
- Jack Reacher
- Directors
- Nick Santora
- Showrunner
- Nick Santora
