Prime Video’s Reacher TV series forgot to include one key detail from the books, and it ended up making season 2’s villain a lot more confusing.
SUMMARY
Reacher TV series remains authentic to its source material, but the exclusion of a book detail makes season 2’s villain confusing.
Fans expect book adaptations to stay faithful, and Reacher mostly succeeds, but one important detail was missed.
Reacher’s use of aliases based on his initials would have made season 2’s villain storyline more coherent and added authenticity.
The Reacher TV series does a great job of remaining authentic to its source material overall, but its lack of inclusion of one book detail makes its season 2 villain more confusing.
Based on the novels by Lee Child, Reacher follows the story of a retired military police officer named Jack Reacher who is unfairly arrested for a murder that he did not commit.
This turns his entire life upside down and leads him to finding himself smack in the middle of a deadly conspiracy. The show is a captivating watch, filled with crime and corruption that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats.
Whenever books are adapted to screen, there is a certain level of expectation to keep things as close to the source material as possible. Fans of the books typically prefer to see characters and stories as similar to how they read it as possible, and for the most part, Reacher delivers this.
The Jack Reacher books have proven to be an excellent roadmap for the show to follow, but there was one key detail from them that should have been included to make season 2’s villain make more sense.
Reacher Always Uses An Alias Based On His Initials In The Books
Throughout the books, Reacher had a unique habit that added an extra layer of intrigue for readers. The character’s full name is Jack Reacher, and he would always create aliases using his initials.
For example, he would go by John Richardson for a time. The show does not incorporate this, which is slightly disappointing. The character is great otherwise, but it would have been nice to have seen this come to life on-screen for authenticity’s sake.
Reacher Using His Book Aliases Would Have Made Sense For Season 2’s Villain
Though it is a small detail, Reacher has a season 2 storyline that makes its lack of presence in the show very strange. Season 2 of Reacher‘s primary villain is a person who goes by AM.
He does the same thing Jack Reacher does in the books, by utilizing aliases based around his actual initials. Reacher comments on how this is smart, saying that it means that he can always keep the same signature.
This line implies that Rearcher does the same thing as AM but does not explicitly confirm it. Given that he recognizes how smart of a tactic this is, it’s strange that viewers don’t get to see him utilize it in the TV series.
Not only would it have made the series feel a bit more authentic, but it also would have really highlighted the parallels between Reacher and AM.