Reacher Season 3’s Book Choice Makes Another Finlay Cameo Even More Likely

Summary

• Reacher season 3’s book choice sets the stage for a possible return of audience favorite Finlay, thanks to the show’s increased flexibility with recurring characters.
• The setting of season 3 – which will adapt the novel Persuader – opens up the possibility of a Finlay appearance since the novel sees Reacher return to Boston.
• While Roscoe’s return in season 3 may be difficult given the storyline, a future appearance in a different season feels somewhat inevitable due to her popularity.

Warning: Major spoilers for Reacher season 2 below!Reacher season 3’s book choice makes a comeback for audience favorite Finlay very possible. The second season of Reacher has been a huge success for Amazon and adapted the eleventh novel in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series, Bad Luck and Trouble. That said, season 2 hasn’t received the same praise as the first season. This is likely due to the absence of Roscoe (Willa Fitzgerald) and Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin), whose chemistry with Alan Ritchson’s titular character helped make the first series – which adapted Child’s Killing Floor – so enjoyable.

Finlay and Roscoe didn’t appear outside of Killing Floor in the Reacher book series, which made their return in a future season unlikely. However, Reacher season 2 broke this rule as Finlay made a surprise cameo during episode 4. This revealed that instead of retiring, as Finlay implied he was going to do in Reacher’s season 1 finale, he rejoined the force in Boston and became a Lieutenant. Finlay helps Reacher out when the latter needs help to question a senator’s aide, and while he didn’t join in on the rest of the mission, his appearance was most welcome.

Reacher Season 3’s Setting Makes Another Finlay Guest Appearance Possible

Persuader takes Reacher back to Boston

Finlay’s appearance also confirmed Reacher would be more flexible when it came to recurring characters since the novels rarely bring familiar faces back. This worked for Child’s books, but fans of Amazon’s adaptation want some more continuity. Reacher season 3 will adapt book seven Persuader, which mostly takes place in Maine. The story involves Reacher going undercover in a criminal organization, and Ritchson confirmed in an Instagram post that the third season will retain this setting. This is in contrast to season 2, which relocated the action from Los Angeles to New York.

Both seasons of Reacher are streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime.

The opening passage of Persuader takes place in Boston, where Reacher spots an old foe who is supposed to be dead. The inciting events of the novel take place in Boston, meaning Reacher could run into Finlay once again. The character doesn’t appear in the novel, but the same was true of Bad Luck and Trouble. It wouldn’t be tough to create an opening for Finlay to make a guest appearance in Persuader’s story either, since Reacher does run into some trouble with the law in Boston.

Reacher Season 3 Is Already Changing Persuader’s Story With Neagley

Maria Sten’s Neagley will make her third appearance on Amazon’s Reacher

Reacher season 2’s ending implies the title character would stay in touch with best pal Neagley (Maria Sten), which is another break from the source material. Neagley is one of the few recurring characters in Child’s Reacher books, and even then, she still only appeared in a relatively small percentage of them. Sten is confirmed to return for Reacher season 3, despite the character not appearing in Persuader at all. Since the story has some ties to Reacher’s military past, a Neagley appearance isn’t a huge stretch.

Of course, Neagley didn’t appear in Killing Floor either, but this didn’t prevent the first season introducing her. Neagley’s return in season 3 proves the show is fine reworking Persuader, so if it retains the passages set in Boston, a Finlay appearance is perfectly logical. The showrunners shouldn’t force a Goodwin cameo for the sake of pleasing viewers, but since the source material itself presents an opportunity, it would be disappointing if they didn’t take it.

Could Roscoe Appear In Reacher Season 3?

Audiences want to see Willa Fitzgerald return to Reacher

The Reacher character viewers really want to see come back is Roscoe, but that could be difficult. Fitzgerald’s performance in season 1 and Roscue’s romance with Reacher were key to getting viewers to engage with the titular avenger. Like Killing Floor, Roscoe stays behind in Margrave to help the town rebuild after the heroes shut down the counterfeiting operation. Season 1 ended with Roscoe giving Reacher her number, but while she was namedropped during the second season, she didn’t reappear.

Reacher season 3 likely won’t feature a Roscoe appearance either, especially if it follows Persuader’s storyline. In short, Jack isn’t anywhere near Georgia during the action, so the writers would need to get creative to include Roscoe. They found organic ways to add Neagley to Killing Floor or Finlay to Bad Luck and Trouble, but explaining why Roscoe would leave Margrave to head to Maine would be trickier. The third season is being billed as more of a solo adventure too, but a Roscoe return in a future Reacher season feels somewhat inevitable.

Source: Alan Ritchson Instagram