Review: Neagley is a worthy spinoff to megahit Reacher

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 acclaimed 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 very different main character her due.

(Some spoilers below, but no major reveals.)

Reacher fans will already be familiar with Frances Neagley, played to perfection by Maria Sten (Swamp Thing). She’s arguably 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 dangerous criminals over four hugely 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, seemingly 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 ambitious 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 charismatic 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 growing 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 ultimately backing the enterprise is more than willing to kill—and they have Neagley in their crosshairs.