‘Reacher’ boss says viewers can count on one thing for season 3

[This story contains spoilers from the finale of Reacher‘s second season.]

Spectators of Reacher Now I’ve had a week to decompress, maybe rewind, and think about how arch-villain Shane Langston (Robert Patrick) finally got his way in the season two finale.

After saving his love interest Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan) from falling mid-air from a helicopter, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), strapped to a stretcher and with a knife stuck in his arm, goes to retrieve Langston and hand him over. same. fate that had befallen many of our series hero’s friends: being thrown out of a plane in mid-flight.

The scene was gratifying for viewers of Prime Video’s action-packed hit series. And it turns out that that scene was also one of the most notable for Reacher showrunner Nick Santora. Santora doesn’t downplay how much of a fan he is of both author Lee Child’s books (the series’ source material) and its lead actor, Ritchson. The Hollywood Reporter We caught up with Santora after the season two finale to discuss the finale and share some thoughts on which lanes Reacher could travel down in the third season.

After our interview, the Amazon platform confirmed that next season Reacher will be based on Persuader, the seventh book in the Child series, and that Maria Sten will return to the show, reprising the role of Frances Neagley alongside Ritchson. In the plot of the third season, Reacher will go undercover to rescue an informant held by a disturbing enemy from his past. Neagley does not appear in Persuader, making his presence in the series move away from the books. The next season is already in production.

Below, Santora shares with THR some of his best memories from working on season two and the details he felt comfortable sharing about the upcoming season.

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First, a quick question: Did Lee Child make a cameo in season two (like Stan Lee did in the Marvel movies)?

Lee Child had a wonderful cameo in the first season in the final episode, where he runs into Reacher at Margrave’s restaurant and says, “Excuse me,” which is really cool, because it’s like Dr. Frankenstein meets Frankenstein’s monster. . Although I’m not comparing Alan Ritchson to Frankenstein’s monster: he’s much cooler and too handsome for that. But, in the coming seasons, everything will depend on Mr. Child’s availability. He’s a busy guy. But if he’s ever in Toronto and wants to appear in an episode, I’m sure we can find something, because none of us would have our jobs if it weren’t for him.

Before we ask you to wrap up the second season, let’s talk a little about the next season. I understand that the books on which the series is based are not in chronological order. So how do you choose which book or story to focus on next?

It is always a group decision. The studio has a lot of thoughts and ideas on the matter, as does Amazon, as they should because they know what they’re doing. Alan will always have thoughts too, because Alan is a very smart guy and has certain stories that are his favorites. And I also talked about it a lot with my editorial team. They are great writers and we all have instincts, for lack of a better word, about which books might adapt to the screen a little better than others. And then we all collectively make a decision, and we all hope for the best!

So can you tell us what we’ll see in season three?

I can tell you that Reacher is going to kick people; he will be incredibly intelligent and deductive when it comes to figuring things out; He will be a hero and help save the day! He will be Jack Reacher.

Will he go back to being a loner or could we see some cameos from season two, like we did with Finlay’s character from season one (Michael Goodwin)?

What I can say is that Reacher’s spirit is that he is a lonely, adrift wanderer, to use Reacher’s terminology. So Reacher will never have a group of happy people traveling with him and helping him solve crimes and go on adventures. Reacher’s DNA is that he moves alone and associates with good people when there’s something bad lurking, and then he says goodbye to those people and goes on his way. And that’s what we always try to stay true to.

Going back to season two, did you enjoy working with this ensemble and group of actors in scenes that would normally only focus on Reacher?

I enjoyed it and I know all the writers enjoyed it, because more characters means more fun things to write. It also allows for more conflict, more humor between the characters. And I think what attracts people Reacher is that Reacher is a great character and his family of 110 are also great characters. Lee Child provided this big pseudo-family for Reacher and it was fun to explore that. The book we use in season two is different than most of the other books because Reacher teams up with people he’s worked with before. But overall, answering your question wasn’t any more difficult. And in a way, it was very nice because we also got to work with amazing actors! The actors who play the members of 110, who played some of the other characters throughout the season like Langston (Robert Patrick) and Detective Russo (Domenick Lombardozzi), are some of the best actors in the world and it’s fun write them. for them.

What was the most rewarding episode or scene for you in season two?

I would say the helicopter sequence in the finale was very challenging from a production standpoint, but we have an incredible production team and our stunt team is phenomenal. Writers and producers can sleep easy knowing that at the end of the day, everything will turn out great. I really enjoyed the moment when Langston understood what to expect in the helicopter. It’s nice to see the bad guys get what’s coming to them.

Speaking of Langston, the reference to the movie. Terminator 2 It did not escape many viewers. (Patrick played the Terminator assassin T-1000 in the 1991 film, trying to eliminate the future machine assassin’s mother, Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton.).

Honestly, I’d love to take credit for that and pretend that I or the other writers in that room were that smart. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Several months before filming, we were preparing to do a small show and hired Langston. And unfortunately, we had to make some changes because of scheduling conflicts and things like that come up. So we took a little break and had to look for a new actor, and I instantly thought of Robert Patrick, who I had worked with before on Scorpion. He is an incredible actor and very talented. I walked up to him and he said, “Yeah, I’d love to do this,” and he jumped up and bolted out of the park!

After she took on the role, I realized we had that Sarah Connor line in the script. I had completely forgotten that line had been written months before! The scripts had been done months before. And now I’m looking at the papers and he says this line. And I said, “Oh no, am I going to have to cut this line? Is this too meta? Is this too cute? And I thought about it and left it there, and everyone seemed to like it. It’s just something fun for the audience. And the truth is that, in Reacher world, Robert Patrick the actor who was in terminator, does not exist. He’s a different guy. He’s Langston on our show, right?

I understand you’re from New York, but you filmed in Toronto. What was that experience like for a native New Yorker to have a city in another country represent your own?

I was born in Queens and I know what Queens is like. I know what Brooklyn is like: Staten Island, Bronx, Long Island and Manhattan. They all have very different looks. People who aren’t from New York might think it’s all skyscrapers or whatever, but it’s not. It is quite diverse in its appearance. A long time ago, I created and directed a show with Matt Olmstead called Fleeting kings. We filmed in Brooklyn and Queens, and in Atlantic City, Staten Island and Toronto. I was surprised how well it combined.

As an Italian-American, I can say that I think a lot of this might have to do with the fact that there are a lot of Italian-Americans in New York, and there are a lot of Italian-Canadians in Toronto. Many of those Italians, when they immigrated to the United States from Italy, brought with them the type of bricklaying and blacksmithing trades, which is why many houses and neighborhoods look the same. I’ve driven through neighborhoods in Toronto that could be Inwood Long Island, where there are a lot of Italians. You have the same wrought iron railings going up the slate steps to the neat little brick house and it looks like certain areas of New York. So, I think Toronto can pass for New York quite well. And then, if you need to make skyscrapers and large buildings, Toronto is also up to the task.

What is the experience of being a showrunner of Reacher different coming from programs like Prison Break and Scorpion?

The difference is only in the tone of the show. There’s still humor in Reacher. Reacher It has some very funny moments and Alan has wonderful comedic instincts. Me and the writers I work with put a little humor into the shows. But it’s a darker, more viscerally violent show, because it’s streaming and we can show more. Where it is similar is that Prison Break It was four years, Scorpion It was four years. And i hope Reacher It is at least four years. And during all those shows, I got to honestly work with the most wonderful people. They have become some of my best friends in the world: the writers, the producers, some of the performers, directors and the crew. They just become your great friends because they are the people you work with. And in a perfect world, you can take them from one program to another. They can continue to work together and, in that sense, they are all equal. I have been very fortunate to be able to work with wonderful human beings. In that sense, it has been a blessed life.

The second season of Reacher is now streaming on Prime.

Further:

Alan Ritchson Talks Doing His Own Stunts and ‘Reacher’ Season 2 Theme (Don’t Mess With My Family)