I am a huge fan of the Lee Child books that feature the wandering force of justice, Jack Reacher. I enjoyed the first attempt by Tom Cruise to bring the hero to life on the big screen (though I thought its sequel failed). But I really grooved on Reacher Season 1, available to anyone with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. The show was a faithful adaptation of the initial Child book Killing Field, and lead Alan Ritchson was an excellent choice to play Jack Reacher on the screen. Reacher easily was one of the best shows on Amazon, and I circled the date for the launch of Reacher Season 2. And it’s here… though with some changes that fans of the books may be curious about.
The new season of Reacher chose to adapt the Lee Child book Bad Luck and Trouble, a story that follows Reacher to Los Angeles where he and his military colleague Neagley (Maria Sten) investigate the murder of two members of their elite Army Special Forces squadron. The book – and the show – introduce key characters from Reacher’s past: Dixon (Serinda Swan) and O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos). But the series, which is available to stream right now, changes the location of the action from L.A. and Las Vegas to New York City and Atlantic City.
When I got the chance to speak with Alan Ritchson for an exclusive interview, I asked him if he knew why the showrunners decided to shift the action. And he candidly confessed:
Tax credits, and the currency exchange. You want the real answer? People want to know how the business works? It’s currency exchange. Tax credits. Rebates out the wahzoo in Toronto. You get an extra five percent if you’re in Hamilton!
Reacher isn’t the first television program or movie to film in Canada and call it some other place. This is a very common practice. And changing the location of the Bad Luck and Trouble story doesn’t drastically affect the narrative. There’s still a deep conspiracy happening that involves casinos and power brokers, and two or Reacher’s men got wrapped up in the business.
But one of the things I like about the different Jack Reacher books that Lee Child has produced is that each mission or adventure tends to take Reacher to new areas, and they tend to be as different as possible for the audience. He might be in Key West at the start of one case, but conclude in New York City or St. Louis. And in some of the stories, the location and the weather can be enormous factors in Reacher’s ongoing investigation. It’s why I asked Ritchson where Reacher Season 3 might be set… even if his answer was sketchy.
The first three episodes of Reacher Season 2 are available now, and the rest will arrive on a weekly basis. So far, I’d say that the show is in very good hands, and I very much look forward to seeing how the rest of the season is going to shake out.