Reacher Season 3 Just Showed Us What That Neagley Spin-Off Could Look Like

This post contains spoilers for episode 6 of "Reacher" season 3.

"Reacher" might be about a lone hero wandering the United States, but Alan Ritchson's righteous vigilante isn't completely alone. Season 1 of the hugely-popular Prime Video series introduced us to a close friend of the titular hero: Maria Sten's Frances Neagley. 

The capable former soldier joined her former boss towards the end of the first season and became an instant fan-favorite. Then, in season 2, "Reacher" introduced a whole team of Army badasses, with Reacher's former 110th Special Investigations Unit reuniting with their leader to track down the villain responsible for offing their ex-colleagues. Neagley was, of course, part of that crew. In fact, the book on which season 2 was based, "Bad Luck and Trouble," featured Neagley as a main character, so it was only right she played a central role in the second season. This decision apparently went over well with fans, as Prime Video announced in October 2024 that Neagley would be getting her own spin-off series (via Deadline).

Before we see Reacher's friend and fellow badass venture out on her own, however, we have season 3 of "Reacher," which delivers more Neagley action ahead of her own show's debut. Working as a private investigator in Chicago, Sten's character is drawn into Reacher's latest debacle after the ex-military police officer asks her to run a background check on the season's main villain, Xavier Quinn (Brian Tee). Unfortunately for Neagley, this puts her in Quinn's sights. Fortunately for us, though, it means we get to see the 110th alum deal out some carnage of her own in a solo action sequence that bodes very well for her upcoming spin-off series. 

The Frances Neagley spin-off is officially titled "Neagley," keeping with "Reacher" and another surname-only show from production company Skydance, "Cross," which became a number one hit for Prime Video in 2024. The new series will be overseen by "Reacher" executive producer and showrunner Nick Santora, who is one of the people chiefly responsible for making the series such a hit. That means the new show is already in good hands, especially since author Lee Child is onboard once again as executive producer. But just in case that wasn't enough to convince you, we have further proof that "Neagley" will be every bit as good as "Reacher," with the latest season 3 episode showcasing an intense and engaging action sequence that also shows off some of Neagley's charisma.

In episode 6, we see Xavier Quinn dispatch two goons to a Chicago office building to take out the private investigator snooping around Quinn's illicit dealings. Unfortunately for these henchmen, Neagley is that private investigator, and her skills learned during her time in the 110th are as sharp as ever. After spotting the henchman from the kitchen, Neagley distracts them with, of all things, a fridge and a printer, in order to make her way across the office and back to her desk. There, she retrieves her pistol and quickly puts down her attackers. That sequence in and of itself is nicely staged, with a close-up shot making sure we know that Neagley has left her firearm at her desk. Her on-the-fly problem-solving also tells us a lot about her resourcefulness and quick-thinking skills, mirroring those of her erstwhile leader. But it's the scene that comes after this that really sells Sten's character as a series lead.

After catching one of the henchmen with a bullet to the stomach, Frances Neagley finds him bleeding out in the kitchen and calmly goes about making herself a bowl of cereal while he begs her to call an ambulance. She then uses his dire circumstances to elicit the information she needs and, between bites of her cereal, casually responds to her attackers' request to call him an ambulance with that classic dad joke, "Okay, you're an ambulance."

It might not be the most original line, but the scene as a whole establishes that Neagley is just as ruthless as Reacher when she needs to be, and her insouciance in the face of being attacked in her own office and the slow death of a man in front of her own eyes gives us a sense of just how intense this character truly is. Had this just been the nicely-executed shootout that it was, it would have been enough to convince naysayers that Neagley was the real deal. But with this extra back and forth, we know for sure that "Neagley" is going to be just as engaging a show as "Reacher" –  which is already TV's best action series – and could possibly surpass her former leader in that regard.

The official logline for the series promises a story very similar to "Reacher" season 2, in which Neagley learns that "a beloved friend from her past has been killed in a suspicious accident," prompting her to become "hell-bent on justice." I can imagine this quest for revenge will feature several scenes in which Neagley reveals her cold-blooded side as she takes out the perpetrators of her friend's death, perhaps involving some sort of casual dining à la her "Reacher" episode 6 appearance — and frankly, I can't wait.

There is another aspect to Frances Neagley's big action scene in "Reacher" episode 6. It might seem trivial to point out, but the Chicago office block setting felt oddly immersive. It's perhaps worth pointing to "Reacher" season 1, for which the crew were forced to build an entire city from scratch in a cornfield due to the global pandemic. As a result, while the show obviously fared well enough, with "Reacher" season 1 breaking Prime Video streaming records, there's no doubt it felt small at times, and even betrayed its fabricated nature with sets that felt a little too clean. Of course, that all changed with season 2 and its New York city setting, but for me at least, "Reacher" has always retained the sense of obvious confection from its first season. Whatever they did to shoot Neagley's office gunfight, it never once felt like it was on a soundstage, which is a minor point, but something about the Chicago city lights actually glinting and moving through the windows enhanced the sense of excitement at the possibility of seeing Sten's private investigator tearing up the Windy City.

The "Neagley" spin-off started filming in February 2025, and Alan Ritchson is expected to appear as a guest star. But he might not even be needed if this latest episode of "Reacher" is anything to go by. There's no doubt Ritchson himself is a big part of why "Reacher" has become such a reliably popular series for Amazon's streaming service. Compared to former Jack Reacher actor Tom Cruise, Ritchson is a much better, more book-accurate version of the character, and fans clearly latched on to his interpretation (and, of course, his giant muscles).

With that in mind, a big part of the success of "Neagley" will no doubt hinge upon Maria Sten's performance in the lead role. Thankfully, everything we've seen of Sten thus far in "Reacher" suggests she'll have no problem in that regard, and her latest appearance proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that her show can be every bit as engaging as the mothership series, even if Ritchson doesn't appear.