Reacher: This character's underdevelopment might just be the show's biggest blind spot

Prime Video’s Reacher has nailed the basics, tight action scenes, a sharp lead in Alan Ritchson, and a format that sticks fairly close to Lee Child’s bestselling books.

But three seasons in, there’s one major issue that fans keep brushing up against. The series keeps its focus on Reacher’s missions and enemies, but sidelines a character who’s been present since season one and arguably deserves more space.

Frances Neagley, played by Maria Sten, has shown up in multiple seasons, always helping Reacher out, always reliable. But despite all that screen time, we barely know her.

The show makes her competent, funny, and loyal, but it never gives us anything deeper than that. No real backstory. No real conflict. Just another capable sidekick who’s always there when Reacher needs backup. It’s a strange choice, especially since Neagley appears more in the show than in the books.

And considering her confirmed upcoming spin-off, it’s even more glaring how little the series has done with her. There’s a missed opportunity here, and it speaks to a larger pattern in the show’s writing, supporting characters get used, but rarely explored. Reacher may be the star, but it’s time the show started treating its regulars with the same depth.

Here's how Reacher wastes its strongest supporting character, Frances Neagley

Frances Neagley should have been one of the show’s biggest strengths. She’s not just a familiar face from Jack Reacher’s past. She’s been in every season, shown up when things got serious, and carried scenes that required more than just brute force. But even with all that screen time, we still don’t know who she really is.

She’s a private investigator based in Chicago. She has a military past with Reacher, having served in the 110th MP Special Investigations Unit. She’s loyal. She has haphephobia, which the show touches on by showing how she avoids physical contact. That’s about it.

This is a character who’s been given more space than she ever had in the books. In Lee Child’s novels, Neagley doesn’t pop up often. She’s in a few storylines and mostly stays off to the side. But the show brought her in early, made her part of the core team, and still gave her the same flat treatment.

Her condition is shown as a defining trait, but the writers never go beyond that. There’s no real exploration of what shaped her or why she operates the way she does. She’s sharp and useful when the story needs it, but that’s the end of it.

There’s also the issue of how she interacts with the main character. They clearly trust each other, but that trust is never explained. The audience is just expected to go with it. We don’t get flashbacks. We don’t get deep conversations.

There’s no breakdown of what they’ve been through together, why they’re still close, or why she’s the only person he really keeps in his life. The show hints that it’s because of the military past, but that’s a lazy excuse when everything else in the show gets at least a little backstory.

Neagley is also written like a second version of Reacher. She’s calm, knows how to fight, and has her own methods. But she never pushes back hard enough. In the books, she challenges Reacher when he crosses a line. In the show, she brings up concerns, but always falls back in line. She never forces him to reconsider his actions, even when his approach is reckless. That makes her feel more like a plot device than a person.

And yet, she’s supposed to be important enough for her own spin-off. That spin-off has already wrapped filming, which shows the studio sees potential in her. So why doesn’t the main show? Why waste two full seasons of Neagley appearances without building a proper arc for her? At some point, the show needs to stop treating supporting characters like throwaway pieces.

Neagley has earned a story. She’s been there, done the work, and shown she can carry more than just Reacher’s backup plans. If the spin-off finally gives her that depth, it’ll just make the show look worse for missing the chance to do it first. Right now, her underdevelopment is a missed opportunity and the clearest sign of how the show still struggles to flesh out its world.

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