Prime Video looks to have another hit on its hands with Neagley, a new spinoff series set in the same universe as the streaming platform’s critically Reacher, now in its fourth season. Both shows are solidly addictive escapist fare, and while Neagley has some uneven elements, it mostly sticks to the successful formula while exploring new ground to give a different main character her due.
(Some spoilers below, but no reveals.)
Reacher fans will already be familiar with Frances Neagley, played to perfection by Maria Sten (Swamp Thing). She’s the most diehard friend of former US Army military police officer turned drifter Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), coming to his aid again and again as he confronts a bevy of criminals over four entertaining seasons. (Of course Ritchson’s Reacher makes an appearance in an opening scene, lending his muscle to rescue a kidnapped child.)
Now a corporate security professional based in Chicago, Neagley is shocked when her childhood bestie, Tommy (Jhaleil Swaby), is killed on the L train tracks, walking into an oncoming train while high. It’s ruled an accidental death, but Neagley feels something is off. She starts poking around—against the express wishes of her boss, Gerald York (Joel Keller)—and ropes in administrative assistant Renee Birdwhistle (Adeline Rudolph) for good measure. Det. Hudson “Rats” Riley (Greyston Holt) also thinks there’s something suspicious about Tommy’s death and insists on co-investigating with a reluctant Neagley.
Their investigation takes them to Echo Canyon Farm, a commune run by a cult leader, Lawrence Cole (Damon Herriman); Tommy had been living there at the time of his death. Neagley suspects there’s more going on at the commune than crops and singing folk songs—something to do with a small sample of rye flour Tommy sent to her before he died and a psychoactive drug surreptitiously being developed by a pharmaceutical company. She befriends a young street kid, Keno (Jasper Jones), and sends him undercover at the farm. But whoever is backing the enterprise is more than willing to kill—and they have Neagley in their crosshairs.
Neagley is also dealing with some personal issues. There’s her grief over Tommy’s death and desire to avenge him. And her father, Calvin (Tyrone Benskin), is dying and refuses to talk about the past—a checkered history that may hold the key to Neagley’s lifelong haphephobia, i.e. fear of touch, although it doesn’t bother her when she’s beating people up.
Neagley gets off to a sluggish start, with a workmanlike first episode spent establishing the main characters and central plot—and the writers lean a bit too hard on constant Chicago callbacks. But the pace picks up after that and barrels toward the inevitable violent conclusion as the narrative threads all come together.
The bad guys are mostly stock characters, but they serve their purpose, although I do wish Herriman’s cult leader exhibited a bit more personal charisma to explain the draw he holds for his flock. The actor played Charles Manson in 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Manhunter, but here he’s just a run-of-the-mill pill-popping, lecherous con artist with a murderous streak. He’s most believable in a flashback of his previously unsuccessful recruitment efforts. How he went from awkward loser to cult leader is glossed over.
The psychedelic plotline is a bit silly and not especially fresh, rife with MK Ultra conspiracy vibes. And this is not how drug development works. But over-the-top scenarios are a staple of the Reacher universe, and the show is so well-paced and entertaining, it’s easy to just give the silliness a pass. Ditto for the many illegal actions Neagley and her cohorts (including Hudson) commit in the course of their investigation. I would much like to see more crime-fighting shows where the “good guys” observe the rule of law for a change.
The real question is whether Sten’s Neagley—by far the most interesting recurring role on Reacher — is a strong enough character to carry a series on her own. Reacher has his large size and strength and noble drifter philosophy; Neagley has her haphephobia and daddy issues, plus a top-notch brain, athleticism, and lethal skills, all of which she puts to good use in her work. Both have issues with authority. And Neagley also has a home base in Chicago and a core group for support.
That’s the biggest difference between the two series: Reacher is an itinerant loner, and the show centers on him, with a rotating cast of supporting characters. Sten might be the star, but Neagley has more of an ensemble cast, and that cast hasn’t gelled yet. She has zero chemistry with Holt’s Hudson, for instance, who is being set up as a romantic interest despite her aversion to touch. But the show otherwise delivers on entertainment value. Team Neagley emerges victorious, and the bad guys meet appropriately satisfying ends. All in all, Neagley is a worthy addition to the Reacher universe. Here’s hoping we get a second season.
All eight episodes of Neagley are now streaming on Prime Video.