Summary
- Lee Child believes that the Prime Video series based on his books has been successful because it appeals to both men and women who desire a commitment-free lifestyle.
- The format of the show, with each season featuring a new location and mystery, allows audiences to easily jump into the series without needing to watch previous seasons.
- Alan Ritchson, who plays Jack Reacher, is dedicated to portraying the character and bringing more of Child’s novels to the screen, and with high viewership and positive reviews, the series is likely to continue for years.
Lee Child, the author behind the bestselling Reacher novels, has recently addressed why he believes the Prime Video series based on his books has been a massive success. While the previous attempts to bring Jack Reacher to screens in two movies starring Tom Cruise ultimately left fans unsatisfied, the TV series has resonated so strongly, that season 2 became Prime Video’s biggest debut of the year at the end of December.
The Prime Video series, which first aired in 2022 with Alan Ritchson in the titular role, has quickly become one of the biggest shows to ever hit the platform. Following the success of its second season, which adapted Child’s book “Bad Luck and Trouble,” Child spoke with The Messenger about the universal appeal of the series and its lead character. As far as he is concerned, Reacher is not just a series for Dads, but Jack Reacher’s commitment-free lifestyle is something that woman can buy into as well. He explained:
“When I wrote the first book and reviewed it in my head, I thought, okay, yeah, this is a guy book. This is something that men are gonna respond to. But I was worried about how women would respond to it, because he’s a rough, tough individual. You know, basically a filthy, dirty barbarian. Owns nothing, never changes his clothes. All that kind of stuff.
“It is actually more of a woman show than a man’s, because women want the same thing. They want that commitment-free, responsibility-free fantasy. Women would love to walk away tomorrow and be in a different town with nothing hanging over them just as much as men do. And so that is what I learned. It’s not a dad show. It’s a mum and dad show. Your car needs fixing, your roof is leaking. You just want to walk away. And that’s the fantasy that Reacher gives anybody.”
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Reacher’s Success Relies on Keeping The Story Fresh.
Prime Video
Another key to the show’s potential longevity, according to Child, lies in its format. Each book, and subsequently each season of the show, sees Reacher in a new location tackling a fresh mystery or instance of corruption. Although the series is a continuation of Reacher’s story, each season is set up with a brand-new story, which allows audiences to dip into the show even if they haven’t watched the previous seasons. Unlike shows with a continuous narrative, which have often come under fire for requiring too much commitment from audiences that are swamped for choice when it comes to what they stream, Reacher benefits from its protagonist heading into each new story as exactly the same character he was in the previous story.
Ritchson has made it clear that the character is a role he feels he was born to play, and he seems determined to bring many more of Child’s novels to Prime Video in the coming years. With audience viewership through the roof, and reviews continuing to praise the series, there is little doubt that we will be seeing Ritchson’s take on Jack Reacher for many years yet.
Reacher
Release Date February 4, 2022
Creator Nick Santora
Cast Alan Ritchson , Maria Sten , Malcolm Goodwin , Willa Fitzgerald
Seasons 2
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