REACHER is one of Amazon Prime’s most successful series, popular with audiences and critics alike. Based on Lee Child’s prolific book series, now 30 novels and counting, the show stars Alan Ritchson as a sensitive behemoth: a former U.S. military cop whose 6’4” body roams the country, righting wrongs in the communities he encounters. It just finished its fourth season, with more adventures for the oversized “Shane” to come.
Not surprisingly, the series has spawned a spin-off starring one of Reacher’s former Army cohorts, Frances Neagley (pronounced “Kneel-lee”). Its title? You guessed it – NEAGLEY. Created by Nick Santora and Nicholas Wootton, the new Amazon Prime series isn’t nearly as much fun as REACHER, and star Maria Sten isn’t as charismatic as Ritchson, even though she matches him in stoicism. Still, despite those shortcomings, the series compensates with detailed storytelling and a complex female lead burdened by a dark past and various peccadilloes. Rarely do female leads in TV series come with this much drama before the plot has even begun. All in all, the show is definitely worth watching and deserves praise for its strengths and ambitions.
Neagley is based in Chicago, where she works as a private investigator for a firm, and butts heads with nearly everyone. Like her friend and former boss, she is headstrong and doesn’t play well with others. The implacable Reacher appears within the first 10 minutes to help her with a case and to remind us that she is cut from the same cloth. Those shared qualities will serve her throughout the escalating drama that soon unfolds.
That drama concerns the apparent suicide of an old friend involved with a David Koresh-esque cult thriving in rural Illinois, not far from Chicago. As Neagley investigates, she encounters corruption at every turn, from the cult leader (Damon Herriman) and his greedy business partner (Matthew Del Negro) to several Chicago cops on the take. Fortunately, she finds allies in a good detective with a checkered past (Greyston Holt) and a local snitch trying to turn his life around (Jasper Jones). The case becomes even more personal when it touches Neagley’s father (Tyrone Benskin), a retired cop dying in a nearby hospital.
It is all a bit too convenient, with coincidences and concentric circles piling up, especially when an incident from Neagley’s youth is revealed to connect with much of the present-day chicanery. Fortunately, the story is told earnestly, and none of the actors overplays the pathos. If anything, they emphasize the comic asides and farcical breaks, ensuring the show never becomes too heavy even as it takes on cults, conspiracies, and pedophiles.
The main comic relief comes from a surprising source: the business manager of Neagley’s private investigation firm. Renee Birdwhistle (Adeline Rudolph) is a ruthlessly professional and efficient numbers person who fantasizes about becoming a P.I. like Neagley. She gets her chance throughout the series, becoming a surprisingly effective ally in the field and a fresh, funny foil for Neagley and the rest of her team.
Each episode makes effective use of chase sequences, well-choreographed fights, and Chicago locations. Sten appears to perform the lion’s share of her own stunts and commands the screen with a mix of toughness and poise. She doesn’t always convey the fun Ritchson brings to his role, but she still makes for an admirable heroine, even if her character leans rather heavily into antihero behavior. (From the first episode to the last, she seems to break nearly as many laws as the people she pursues.)
Ritchson returns at the end, bookending the series with a well-timed Reacher reappearance and, in doing so, suggests plenty of future crossover possibilities. Whether Neagley stays grounded in the Midwest remains to be seen, but it will be fascinating to watch her confront new messes, meet varied and eccentric allies, and unpack the baggage she still carries.
And all of it, I’m sure, will help Amazon remain in its prime.
