Prime Video's Reacher Will Never Be The Same

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Jack Reacher climbing a metal structure and looking concerned

Published Jul 31, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT

Faith Roswell is a Senior Writer on Screen Rant's Classic TV team. Since earning her degree in Creative Writing over a decade ago, Faith has written articles on film and TV from a variety of different angles. Faith now combines her knowledge of psychology with her love of monster movies to give more insight into what makes the best ones.

You may have read her Screen Rant lists and features covering horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, or read her Amazon Top 10 book, "Movie Monsters of the Deep."

Faith has had an extensive career as a writer, appearing on BBC live radio, researching true crime for Rotten Mango podcast, and writing for publications including Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and The Daily Jaws before beginning here at Screen Rant.

Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide

While Reacher is quickly becoming one of the best action thriller TV shows of all time, it is not immune from criticism, and even the series' biggest fans tend to have the same thing to say. Reacher can be frustratingly, if reassuringly, predictable. Each series begins with Jack Reacher discovering a new kind of trouble in a different place in the US. Despite being a man of few words, he inevitably charms a new love interest, who accompanies him throughout the season before he moves on once again.

This formulaic approach is not always a bad thing, as new viewers can start watching Reacher at any point, but it could be the show's downfall if it continues indefinitely. Fortunately, it appears that showrunner Nick Santora has already anticipated this, as the series is about to take an extremely different turn after season 4, with season 5 of Reacher switching to a brand new genre and adapting Lee Child's book, Make Me. All five seasons of the show are based on Child's Jack Reacher novel series, but Make Me is set to change the series for good.

The Reacher TV show book adaptations so far

Season	Book
1	Killing Floor
2	Bad Luck and Trouble
3	Persuader
4	Gone Tomorrow
5	Make Me

Like many other successful action franchises, including James Bond and Die Hard, Reacher is fun, pulpy, and often hilarious. However, with season 5 centering on a snuff film business masquerading as a euthanasia clinic, many of Reacher's best running gags feel like the wrong tone. Make Me features multiple suicidal characters, some of whom are planning to die together, with one death that is more brutal and heartbreaking than any seen in the show so far. After the events in Make Me, Reacher will no longer be the same series, or character.

How Adapting Make Me Will Change Reacher As A Series

A bloodied Jack Reacher, played by Alan Ritchson

The three aired Reacher seasons have had their disturbing moments, from season 1's murder by torture to the death of Reacher's protégée, Dominique, in season 3, but these pale in comparison to what is to come. Make Me takes Reacher away from its fun and often ludicrous tone by entering horror movie territory, with subject matter that is likely to affect the viewer, with many people living with depression and mental turmoil. To do the subject justice, the show must treat these storylines with the gravity they deserve, and this will include making a necessary change from the books.

Lee Child discussed Make Me with The Big Thrill, confirming that Reacher is pushed harder, both mentally and physically, than he has been before, with the final tone being that "he can defeat the people in front of him, he can win the battle, but he’ll never win the war. I think it leaves him a little disconcerted." However, in the next chronological book, The Midnight Line, Reacher is his usual self. While the possibility of Reacher going to therapy feels out of character and out of the question, he must still learn from what he witnessed.

This means that the series must make some changes going forward. The book for season 6 is currently unknown, as Reacher's adaptation of Make Me was just announced, but as the novels are being adapted out of order, it is unlikely that it will be The Midnight Line. Child explained that as readers find comfort in the familiarity of the books, when it comes to Reacher, "I try very hard to not change him." That said, there is room for the character to grow without drastically altering who he is or the factors that have made him so popular.

Reacher may be famously solitary, with his longest-running companion being his toothbrush, but if Make Me teaches him anything, it is that mental health can be just as important as his near-superhuman physical strength. His support network has already been increased, with his friendship with Frances Neagley expanded on for the show, but he could develop connections with other characters, or be more sympathetic to a struggling character in later episodes. Having seen the truly dark path laid out in Make Me, this should quietly inform Reacher storylines and character decisions for seasons to come.

Source: The Big Thrill