Why is Neagley in Reacher Season 3?

Neagley is an old friend of Reacher, and while the character appears in Season 3 of the show, she doesn’t pop up in the book on which it’s based – here’s why.

Frances Neagley is an army veteran who served under Reacher in the 110th Special Investigations Unit. As played by Maria Sten in the Reacher series, she’s also one of the few people that Jack trusts.

Neagley now works in the private sector, and has briefly appeared in Season 3 of Reacher, delivering information to Jack about his latest foes.

But the character doesn’t appear in ‘Persuader’ – the book on which Season 3 is based – so here’s why Amazon made that change.

The Neagley series is coming soon

Prime Video

There are two reasons for Neagley appearing in Season 3 of Reacher – to give Jack someone to bounce off, and to lay foundations for her spinoff series.

Reacher is something of a lone wolf, which is fine in a book where you can read his inner monologue, but trickier in a show where he needs people to interact with. Which is why Frances returns.

“Neagley was a strategic decision,” Reacher author Lee Child tells Empire. “The one thing you cannot do on screen that you can in a book is have the inside of somebody’s head. Reacher thinks a lot, and there are pages and pages of Reacher puzzling things out. You can’t write an eight-minute scene with Alan Ritchson sitting there, thinking. So we needed a secondary character to bolster the exposition.”

Prime Video

So that’s the reason in the here and now. But Amazon is also looking to the future, with a standalone Neagly series currently in production. Here’s the official synopsis:

“When she learns that a beloved friend from her past has been killed in a suspicious accident, she becomes hell-bent on justice. Using everything she’s learned from Jack Reacher and her time as a member of the 110 Special Investigators, Neagley puts herself on a dangerous path to uncover a menacing evil.”

So Neagly also appears in Season 3 to ensure she’s front and center to prepare viewers for the spinoff show.

For more on the show, here’s how to read the Reacher books in order and details of the Reacher Season 3 soundtrack, plus how many Reacher movies Tom Cruise made. Alternatively, check out our list of the best TV shows of 2025 so far.