"Neagley" is arriving on Prime Video tomorrow (September 16), just as "Reacher" season 4 wraps up with its season finale. I won't even pretend this is a coincidence.
- Rating: 3.5/5 stars
- Verdict: "Neagley" feels like a poor man's "Reacher" at times, though through no fault of the series lead, Maria Sten. She's great as the titular private eye, and is mercifully given room to breathe away from Alan Ritchson's looming figure. This dark, twisted action thriller may not quite live up to its predecessor, but you'll still struggle not to binge-watch it in one sitting.
- Premiere date/time: All eight episodes available to stream on September 16 starting at 3 a.m. ET
- Where to watch: Stream "Neagley" season 1 on Prime Video
Nor, I'm sure, would Prime Video if it were asked. This is clearly an intentional play to get "Reacher" fans on board with its new crime thriller spin-off. After all, why not hit play on Neagley episode 1 once you've wrapped up another eight episodes with Alan Ritchson's titular investigator?
Thankfully, the powers that be at Amazon's streaming service gave "Neagley" far more room to breathe creatively. While there is, of course, an appearance by Ritchson as Jack Reacher, Maria Sten's debut as a series lead largely ignores its predecessor. If you took out the cameo(s), you might even be able to forget this is a "Reacher" clone.
That said, this is undeniably a clone of Prime Video's hit crime thriller adaptation. It repeats much of the same formula that made the original a hit and features the same showrunner, Nick Santora. If you've ever seen "Reacher," you'd find it impossible to compare the two.
But they're not identical. "Neagley" is darker, and I'd argue more deadly than Ritchson's show. Reacher commits a lot of violence in his series, but quite often he opts for his fists over a gun. In this spin-off, everyone just gets shot ... and usually shot dead.
It also delves deeper into its main character, something that Sten hinted at leading up to this series. "Neagley has a lot going on in her life, Sten told Collider. "She has a history, and she has a life lived. She has some quite severe personal issues of her own that she’s grappling with. We just get to know her better and see her grapple with these issues." Having seen the series now for myself, I can confirm her comments are spot on.
Possible light spoilers ahead for "Neagley" season 1
'Neagley' is a darker tale than any previous 'Reacher' chapter
Through four seasons, "Reacher" has a formula. Be stoic, be bruising and be just charming enough to get the girl and make the audience like you. We get occasional moments of character growth (particularly in season 2), but for the most part, it's rinse and repeat with each new season.
With "Neagley," things take a darker turn. The initial crime that sparks the season's investigation is personally connected to Francis Neagley. This is, admittedly, something that happened in the first two seasons of "Reacher," but Ritchson's Reacher feels far more detached from the victims despite being close to them in theory.
Neagley, however, goes in on this, fueled by her emotions. She seems as cold and calculating an investigator as Reacher on the surface, but underneath she's powered by a desire for revenge and a traumatic past.
The villains of "Reacher"? They're run-of-the-mill evil. Pierce is a suit running a pharmaceutical company. Lawrence is a failed professor turned cult leader at a farm outside Chicago. Together, they combine for some truly heinous acts, including a biblical punishment for one of Lawrence's followers that's too much for even Pierce to stomach.
That past gets explored in depth over the course of the eight-episode season, and it goes into some dark places. There's exploration of child sexual abuse, suicide and how people deal with trauma in general. I'm not usually one for sounding the trigger warning, but this show might earn it.
The darkness doesn't stop with Neagley's inner demons either. There are demons on the outside too. The main antagonists for the season are Pierce Woodrow (Matthew Del Negro) and Lawrence Cole (Damon Herriman), and they are true villains.
The villains of "Reacher"? They're run-of-the-mill evil. Pierce is a suit running a pharmaceutical company. Lawrence is a failed professor turned cult leader at a farm outside Chicago. Together, they combine for some truly heinous acts, including a biblical punishment for one of Lawrence's followers that's too much for even Pierce to stomach.
Verdict: 'Neagley' falls just short of 'Reacher,' but is still a worthy binge-watch
Despite its deviations from the formula and its attempts to give its main character a deep backstory worth exploring, you can't shake the feeling that this feels like a "Reacher" clone.
Unfortunately, it's also a lesser copy of its older sibling. While Neagley's personal history and traumas are worth exploring, the show still is, at its core, a shoot-em-up/beat-em-up crime thriller. When it comes to that format, Ritchson's Jack Reacher and his lack of character depth are weirdly better for carrying the audience through a violent story from start to finish.
If anything, "Neagley" probably needed to stray even further from the path of action thriller to character-driven drama and focus as much as possible on its titular hero's past. To make her the selling point, rather than the violence.
Still, I had a great time with this show, which is still very good. Just because it's not as good as "Reacher" doesn't mean it's not worth watching. I eagerly binged all eight episodes, and I have a feeling many of you reading this will do the same. I certainly hope you do; the second half of the season is where the show really finds its groove, so making it all the way through is a must if you want to feel rewarded for your time watching Prime Video's latest crime thriller show.
Stream all eight episodes of "Neagley" season 1 on Prime Video now
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