After Reacher season 2’s finale, Alan Ritchson confirmed on Instagram which Lee Child novel the Amazon Prime Video series would adapt for season 3.

SUMMARY

 Reacher season 3 will adapt Lee Child’s novel Persuader and will feature an undercover operation.
 Jack Reacher will likely team up with a new love interest, Susan Duffy, who fills the role of Roscoe Conklin or Karla Dixon from previous seasons.
 Season 3 may include flashbacks to Reacher’s military past and continue the trend of introducing Reacher’s old Army comrades, such as Dominique Kohl.

Shortly after Reacher season 2’s finale, Alan Ritchson confirmed on Instagram that the Amazon Prime Video series would adapt Lee Child’s Persuader novel for its third outing.

While Reacher season 1 translated Child’s debut, Killing Floor, to the small screen, the show’s sophomore endeavor jumped ahead to tackle the eleventh Jack Reacher book: Bad Luck and Trouble. Instead of forging ahead with a later novel in Child’s thriller series, Reacher season 3 is based on book seven. By design, the Jack Reacher books can be read in any order, so it’s no surprise the show would handpick its source material.

The Reacher season 2 ending tied up all the loose ends in the ongoing plot against Reacher’s former unit, which is great news for viewers who were missing the fish-out-of-water, small-town corruption story of season 1.

With the case closed on the former members of Reacher’s 110th Special Investigations Unit, the third season can transition smoothly into a fresh story that drops Reacher in a new place — sans cumbersome flashbacks. While Reacher season 3 will undoubtedly change elements of Persuader, the book provides a solid roadmap of what to expect from Alan Ritchson’s next outing.

10. Reacher Will Work In An Unofficial Capacity For The Drug Enforcement Administration

Reacher Season 3 Might Swap The DEA For Homeland Security

Reacher season 3’s book has one major difference from previous Amazon Prime Video outings that makes it a great choice for translating to the small screen: it puts Reacher in the middle of an undercover operation. In Persuader, Reacher teams up with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to take down Zachary Beck, who’s suspected of drug smuggling.

Since Reacher tapped into his late brother’s federal connections while investigating New Age in season 2, it’s possible the third outing will see Reacher working with Homeland Security instead of the DEA — namely because it would allow Agent Omar Karim to return.

9. Jack Reacher Will Team Up With A New Love Interest

Persuader Introduces Susan Duffy To Reacher’s Life

In true Jack Reacher fashion, the Reacher season 3 cast of characters has room for a new ally-turned-love-interest. While viewers were rooting for Willa Fitzgerald’s Roscoe Conklin to return in Reacher season 2, the sophomore outing committed to pairing Reacher with his fellow ex-110th member Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan).

In Persuader, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agent Susan Duffy fills the Roscoe/Dixon role, so she’ll likely join season 3. Of course, that doesn’t mean Dixon and Roscoe won’t pop up again — even if more than one potential love interest would complicate Reacher’s rules.

8. Reacher Season 3 Could Include Pre-110th Army Flashbacks

Dominique Kohl Figures Into Reacher’s Persuader Story

Even before Ritchson announced the Persuader adaptation on social media, Reacher season 2’s ending teased season 3’s story with the introduction of Homeland Security’s Agent Karim.

A potential DEA stand-in, Homeland Security could neatly figure into a re-imagined version of Persuader‘s plot, but the introduction of new allies doesn’t mean the show is done with Reacher’s military backstory.

While season 2’s reliance on Reacher’s past with the 110th completely changed the show’s feel and tone from season 1, the show seems poised to continue the trend of introducing Reacher’s old Army comrades, including the late Dominique Kohl.

7. Reacher & Richard’s Dynamic Will Be A New One For The Series

Pairing Reacher Up With A Kid Could Be A Winning Formula

What many viewers loved most about Reacher season 1 was the chemistry between its central trio: the wayward Reacher, small-town cop Roscoe, and Margrave transplant Detective Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin). Reacher season 2 changed the formula by reuniting Reacher with his former siblings-in-arms.

While the contrast between Reacher and his 110th pals illustrated Jack’s refusal to change, the ex-soldiers’ dynamic wasn’t as compelling as the trio from season 1. In Persuader, Reacher gains Beck’s trust by rescuing his son, Richard, from a fake kidnapping. Pairing a no-nonsense Reacher with a kid seems like comedy gold.

Reacher‘s first two seasons are available on Amazon Prime Video.

6. Persuader’s Plot Continues To Fuel Reacher’s Drive For Revenge

No One Messes With Jack Reacher (Yet Again)

Like its source material, Reacher season 2 gets much more personal. After former 110th investigator Calvin Franz (Luke Bilyk) is thrown out of a helicopter, Reacher and his squad-mates set out to seek revenge. As they’re keen on reminding their enemies, no one messes with a special investigations team.

While Persuader doesn’t put Reacher at the center of a conspiracy, the book taps into some similar themes, including Reacher’s unstoppable drive for revenge. A decade before the events of Persuader, Beck’s boss had a hand in killing Reacher’s Army buddy, Dominique Kohl, making Jack’s undercover mission much more personal.

5. Reacher Season 3 Could Continue Season 2’s Violent Streak

Reacher Stops At Nothing To Kill Francis Xavier Quinn In Persuader

Persuader reveals that Jack Reacher isn’t all that interested in bringing alleged drug smuggler Zachary Beck to justice. Instead, Reacher sees the DEA team-up as a means to an end — a very personal end. At the book’s start, Reacher catches a glimpse of a man he’d assumed was dead: Francis Xavier Quinn.

Not only is Quinn Beck’s boss, but the criminal was responsible for Dominique Kohl’s death. Given that Kohl is yet another key figure from Reacher’s past, season 3 could continue the sophomore outing’s violent streak.

4. Persuader Makes Another Finlay Cameo More Likely

The Novel Sees Reacher Return To Boston

Ahead of the Persuader announcement, Alan Ritchson had teased that Reacher season 3 would take the story to a whole new city. In the source material, Boston is one of the story’s key locations.

Given that Finlay left Margrave, Georgia, in the season 1 finale to return to Massachusetts’ capital city, it would make sense for the fan-favorite character to come back for season 3, especially since Finlay’s Reacher season 2 cameo played so well. Of course, season 2’s New York setting was a departure from the book’s California location, so there’s no guarantee season 3 will use Persuader‘s New England setting.

3. Persuader Allows Reacher To Combine Both Seasons’ Best Elements

Reacher Season 3 Can Tell A Darker Standalone Story

The tonal shift between Reacher‘s first and second seasons definitely left viewers split over which was the better approach. Reacher season 1 saw the self-proclaimed hobo wrongly accused of murder and, eventually, investigating a small-town corruption scheme.

Meanwhile, the sophomore outing used a much more typical action-movie setup: Reacher teams up with colleagues from his past to outgun the season’s villains and exact revenge. Like season 1, Persuader is a more standalone story, but it also has a personal, revenge-fueled bent. Needless to say, season 3 has the opportunity to combine its predecessors’ best elements.

Reacher season 3 was green-lit ahead of the sophomore season’s premiere.

2. Reacher Season 3 Can Bring Back Season 1’s Small-Town Setting

Persuader Opens In The Fictional Abbot, Maine

Even if Reacher season 3 leans into Persuader‘s darker, grittier story, it can bring back season 1’s small-town setting — at least for some of its runtime. Lee Child’s novel opens in the fictional Abbot, Maine, a coastal hamlet situated between Portland and Kennebunkport.

Part of the charm of Jack Reacher’s drifter lifestyle is his love of hopping on buses and seeing where the wind takes him. Even if season 3 doesn’t spend all eight episodes in Abbot, the use of another small-town location could help recapture some of Reacher season 1’s best characteristics.

1. Persuader’s Plot Makes It Perfect For Cameos

Frances Neagley Has A Reason To Return

Even though she doesn’t appear in the Persuader novel, Maria Sten’s Frances Neagley character will return for Reacher season 3. Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels are known for rotating new characters into each storyline, but a handful do appear in multiple outings — and Neagley is one of them.

Since Reacher season 2 delved into Reacher’s other still-alive 110th buddies, it seems likely that Karla Dixon and David O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) will cameo in future seasons. The plot of Persuader, which hinges on Kohl’s long-ago death, can easily accommodate Dixon and O’Donnell, especially if Reacher needs backup.