Jack Reacher

Reacher: Season 2

The first season of Reacher was based on the first book of the series, Killing Floor, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I liked it so much that when I ran out of interesting stuff on Amazon Prime a few days ago, I rewatched it.

Not long after Amazon released Reacher this last February they announced that a second season had been approved. I figured maybe I should reread the second book, Die Trying, in preparation for a hopefully February release of season two on Amazon. Because I have read most of the Reacher books multiple times as soon as I read the first couple pages I knew the basic outline of what happens.

Book #2 starts with a kidnapping that Reacher inadvertently stumbles into and gets swept up along with the kidnappee. Then there is a cross-country trip in the back of a truck along with the victim who turns out is an FBI agent and daughter of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and goddaughter of the President. So far so good, but then it devolves into a Montana militia group declaring independence and stolen nuclear missiles and the US military, etc. I’m thinking that this would be hard to translate into a 8 episode series. Turns out I need not have worried.

I went looking online to see if their were hints as to when the second season would be coming out, February again maybe, and discovered that the second series was based on the eleventh book, Bad Luck and Trouble. Off to the book and after reading the first page I thought, “Ooh, this is a good one.” It also, to me anyway, seems a lot easier to adapt to the small screen.

And maybe they knew this was what they were going next because one of the things I wondered about in season one when they introduced a character that really doesn’t show until book six, Frances Neagley. She was his sergeant back when Reacher was in the Army and part of his command of the 110th MP Special Investigation Unit. Bad Luck and Trouble is about getting the old gang of the 110th back together to find out what happened to one of their members present day. Neagley’s early entry into the series in season one brought a bit of foreshadowing to season two when she uses the phrase, ‘You do not mess with the Special Investigators’ which is a central to the plot of the eleventh book (and perhaps the first time it is used in the books.)

Potpourri

Jigsaw Puzzles – We are still doing the jigsaw puzzle thing and enjoying it, mostly. This last puzzle looked like it could have been a nightmare judging by the cover if it was one of those with all the same shaped pieces, but it had a bunch of really weird shaped pieces. This did help a lot in spite of numerous times the piece that did go in a spot looked nothing like they’d fit when you picked them up to try them. When we finished this puzzle there was one piece missing. While we would usually shrug, circle the spot where the missing piece was on the box cover photo and re donate it, this time we opted to stop spreading disappointment and chucked it in the recycle bin.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – We are three quarters of the way through with Season 4 with only two more episodes to go on this coming Friday (its really Thursday ’cause time zones, but whatever.) While we are enjoying it, we are not nearly enjoying it as much as the previous seasons. So it was with not a lot of excitement that I learned they’ll be doing a Season 5. I’ll probably watch it, because, what the heck and I still read Beatle Baily in the comics and it hasn’t been funny for decades.

Jack Reacher – Back a month ago after I had watched the Amazon’s Jack Reacher TV series I mentioned that they had introduced a character from the book that really wasn’t in the first book that this series was based on. It is a U.S. Army Master Sergeant from the 110th MP Special Investigations Unit that Reacher was in charge of. Her name is Frances Neagley, but through out the series whenever Reacher says her name it sounds like he is saying Nealy. I wondered if they changed the name of the character for TV, but they didn’t, on the IMDB page it is listed as Neagly.

Miata – The below listed Miata miles comes from yesterday and because it was only 6 days from the last time it was driven, it started right up on the first try. This means that somewhere between 6 and 11 days is the point where the battery voltage drops below the point where the car will start.

7.3 mile round trip to the dentist.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 11

 

The More Things Change

The more they change.

I just finished reading the latest Jack Reacher book, #26, called “Better Off Dead.” And I think it might be my last Jack Reacher book. This is the second book Lee Child has co-written in conjunction with his brother Andrew with the intention to retire and hand over the reins of the Reacher books to him.

I don’t know to what extent Lee has been involved with the writing in the last two books, but there has been a slightly different feel to “Better Off Dead” and #25, “The Sentinel.” I can’t actually put my finger on what it is, but I haven’t enjoyed these two books as much as I did the first two dozen.

The same thing happened with the Spenser books by Robert B. Parker. I read a few of the books in the early 2000s and liked them so much that I started searching used book stores, eBay and garage sales trying to find the 35 or 36 novels already out. My collection of books ended up roughly half paperback and half hardcover and I read every one of them in order, from the first to the last. I even created a page here on the blog entitled Spenser’s Crime Buster Rules.

Robert B. Parker, like Lee Child, wrote a new book each year, so I bought the next three hard covers when they came out. But in 2010 Mr. Parker died of a heart attack and his estate worked with the publisher to find an author willing to take on the task of continuing the series. Ace Atkins finished the book Mr. Parker was working on when he died and then continued the once a year writing schedule. I think I read a couple of those books written by by him, but again it just didn’t seem the same, so I stopped.

Both Andrew Child and Ace Atkins were novelists in their own right when they took over from the creators of the already beloved characters, but I just think the writing slightly changed. Then again I’m willing to concede that maybe it is just me and my perception because there was a different name on the books.

That Was Fun

So I watched the first episode of Reacher on Thursday. On Friday I watched five in two shifts and on Saturday I finished the last two. Now, I’m almost sorry Amazon didn’t do to Reacher what they did for the sixth season of The Expanse because I have no will power.

For The Expanse‘s first 5 seasons the episodes were dropped all at once, but for the 6th, they released one episode each week, kind of like old school TV. So, because of that lack of will power, I have churned through all 6-1/2 hours of Reacher and now I will have to wait another year or so for more, that is, if they do decide to make more.

Anyway, I enjoyed the series and if you like that sort of tough guy takes on the world with lots of fighting, shooting, blowing things up sort of thing, you should watch it. If you have read the books, the plot of the first book is almost all there and for the most part follows right along with the novel. Almost all of the changes, except for maybe a couple of head scratchers for me anyway, are there for TV purposes, like too expensive to film or nearly impossible to recreate.

Because this was more or less an origin story for our hero, they did give us some flashbacks, that came from a short story called Second Son, to sort of explain Reacher to folks who may not be book readers. And because this is 2022 and the book was written in 1997, some of the supporting characters get some different beats to make it feel up to date. They also introduce a reoccurring character from several other Reacher books, but is not in the Killing Floor that this based is on. But that is fine and probably was done as a carrot for the actor, so she knows that there is more work coming her way.

As with the Tom Cruise movies, and I was unaware of this because of my steadfast refusal to watch them, the author Lee Child has a cameo in the show in the very last episode:

I Suppose It Is the Fourth of February Already Somewhere

Earlier this evening I sat down in front of the PC, and because it is the day before the Reacher series premiers on Amazon, I might find a newer or different trailer out that I hadn’t seen yet. Well, there wasn’t any trailer, but the entire show was there waiting to be watched.

So I watched the first of the eight episodes. Watched it all the way through, even the credits. The lead actor fits the bill and I believe he is Reacher incarnate. From now on whenever I’m reading a Jack Reacher book I will picture Alan Ritchson in my head, just like I visualize Sam Heughan in any of the Outlander books.

This story is based on a book set in Georgia and the scenery looked the part, from the countryside to the small town square. I checked IMDB and the only filming locations mentioned are in Ontario, Canada. I guess it is a good thing they filmed it in the summer.

Also on the IMDB page there were several user reviews already there and they were dated February 4th even though it was early evening here. It wasn’t even past midnight on the east coast.

But then I remembered the credits I watched. I had noticed at the end of them the voice actors were listed for all the different countries that will be seeing this show. I realized, at least from the languages I recognized, many were in Europe and it was actually February 4th there.

There’s a New Jack in Town

I’ve written here before about being a big Jack Reacher book fan and now there is going be an Amazon adaptation. It will be based on the the first book, The Killing Floor.

And if it does well they will probably make more. There is plenty of source material to draw from, 26 and counting novels and over a dozen short stories or novellas. The series will start on February 4th so I’ve just finished reading the Killing Floor again to get ready for it.

There is a lot familiar about the trailer and there are also some things that I don’t recognize in there too. I know there are always compromises made when adapting a book into a movie/show, so I should be able to get over most of them. Mainly because I am already beginning to visualize Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher just from the trailer. Unlike the previous person how played him in a couple of Hollywood productions, Mr. Ritchson is the right size.

I guess if you had never read any of the books maybe those movies aren’t bad, but I have steadfastly not watched the 2012 Reacher, nor 2016’s Never Go Back because of my size bias against the lead actor. Maybe after I see this Amazon adaptation I may go back and give them a try if I can find them free somewhere, because the first movie is based on the book One Shot which was my first discovery of the character and the second film is based on one of my favorite of the series, Never Go Back.

Tuesday Update

Shiny

The team car of the Purple Whales from the End Zone Entourage Fantasy Football League got its annual preseason wash and wax on Sunday afternoon. The NFL season starts in 3 weeks and then there won’t be any time on Sunday afternoons for that sort of thing.

I haven’t read the Jack Reacher novel Killing Floor before because I would have definitely remembered it. It is set in the fictional town of Margrave, Georgia which is described as about an hour south of Atlanta, but at one point our hero travels to Augusta to search for a missing character that figures big in the plot. The author has obliviously never been to Augusta and did minimal research, because from his description I wouldn’t have recognized the town. This I would have remembered…

My suspicions were correct on the purpose of the clear lucite sign holders. This morning my bathroom appropriate magazine ads were gone and were replaced with those same First Responders recruitment posters. The plant nurse will be holding informational meeting on joining the few the proud towards the end of next week. If those flyers are still up at the beginning of next month I think I’ll replace them with some U.S. Armed Force posters.