Reacher season 2 made it clear the show was willing to bring back fan favorite characters, but who could return for the upcoming third series?

Warning: Major spoilers for Reacher season 2 below!

SUMMARY

 Neagley could make a return in Reacher season 3, as she asked the title character to stay in touch and has played a major role in the first two seasons.
 O’Donnell could be called upon by Reacher again for aid due to his P.I. connections and usefulness in a fight.
 Viewers are hoping to see the return of Roscoe, a cop who had a romance with Reacher in season 1, and their chemistry could make for an interesting reunion.

Now that season 2 has opened up the door for characters to reappear, which supporting players could return for Reacher season 3? By design, Jack Reacher is the ultimate loner. He doesn’t have a home, he travels America by bus and his only real material possession is a toothbrush.

Regardless of his anti-social ways, the wandering avenger often finds himself being pulled into trouble and having to mete out justice on his own terms. Of course, the issue with Reacher being a loner in the books is that it’s hard to bring characters back.

The Lee Child novels have some recurring characters like Neagley, but once Reacher moves on at the end of a given story, he rarely looks back.

Amazon’s Reacher softened this stance during the second season when Malcolm Goodwin’s Finlay made a surprise cameo to help Reacher out. The finale also suggested Reacher would be more proactive staying in touch with his pals, meaning Reacher season 3 could feature more character returns.

9. Neagley

The most likely Reacher returnee is Neagley (Maria Sten), who has played a major role in the first two seasons. In both the novels and TV series, Neagley is Reacher’s best pal, with her hatred of being touched making sure their relationship stays purely platonic.

When Reacher needed help looking into his brother’s death during season 1, Neagley was the one he called. When their old friends from the 110th Special Investigators Unit started dying in the second series, she was the one who tracked Reacher down to investigate.

In Reacher season 2’s finale, Neagley specifically asks Jack to stay in touch, and not disappear again for another few years. It’s currently unknown which novel season 3 will cover, and while Neagley has reappeared in several books, there’s no guarantee she’ll be part of the next adventure.

That said, she didn’t appear in Killing Floor – the book that was adapted for Reacher season 1 – so the showrunners could make room for Neagley to appear no matter which story is being adapted.

8. O’Donnell

Alongside Neagley and Dixon, O’Donnell is another member of the 110th who reunites with Reacher during season 2. He became a private investigator after leaving the army and is always armed with a ceramic knife and knuckle duster in case of emergency.

O’Donnell was very much the sardonic comic relief of season 2, though the series gave him more of an internal life compared to his book counterpart. Instead of being a wild ladies’ man, the series made O’Donnell into a loving husband and father.

Having survived the events of the second season – despite the best efforts of the villains – it wouldn’t be a surprise if Reacher called on O’Donnell for aid once again. His P.I. connections make him a good source of information, and he’s quite useful in a fight too.

That said, O’Donnell’s family ties might make Reacher hesitate about calling on him, for fear of placing him in danger too.

7. Roscoe

Probably the number one character Reacher viewers want to see again is Roscoe (Willa Fitzgerald). Introduced during season 1, Roscoe is a cop who works alongside Finlay and Reacher to uncover the counterfeiting operation in Margrave.

She and Reacher also sparked up a surprisingly sweet romance, which was destined not to work out as he moved on from Margrave following the end of Reacher’s first season.

Willa Fitzgerald reunited with Reacher co-star Malcolm Goodwin in Netflix’s Fall of the House of Usher.

Outside of a passing reference, Roscoe didn’t appear at all in Reacher season 2. Since Roscoe stayed behind to help rebuild Margrave, it would be tricky to logically stage a reunion between her and Reacher.

However, the chemistry between the two characters would make viewers forgive the convenient plotting it might take to bring them back together on another case. Plus, Reacher still has her phone number.

6. Lt. Colonel Fields

There are many times in Child’s books that Reacher’s army past pulls him back into danger, such as in the 19th novel Personal. The second season featured many flashbacks to his years running the 110th, where his friendly relationship with commanding officer Lt. Colonel Fields (Josh Blacker) goes very wrong when he disobeys direct orders to abandon an investigation.

Fields is responsible for disbanding the 110th, so if season 3 features Reacher pulled back into some army business, he could encounter the vengeful Fields once again.

5. Dixon

Another key member of the 110th, Dixon (Serinda Swan) also had an obvious crush on Reacher during their army days. Their reunion in Reacher’s second season sees them finally act on that attraction – in-between taking down the bad guys.

Like Neagley and O’Donnell, Dixon is another person the titular character would reach out to if he really needed help. There’s also the possibility Dixon or the others would seek out Reacher’s assistance too, though Dixon and O’Donnell have yet to appear outside of the Bad Luck and Trouble novel, which season 2 adapted.

4. Josephine Reacher

Josephine Reacher (Leslie Fray) is Jack’s mother and one of the strongest influences on the man he became. While Josephine passed away from cancer years before the events of season 1, she was seen in flashbacks throughout.

Depending on the novel being covered for the third season, she could reappear again. Josephine appeared in stories like The Enemy, and while the series’ updated timeline makes her World War II backstory from the novels impossible, there’s room to explore more of the Reacher clan’s past.

3. Stan Reacher

If Josephine returns, there’s little reason Jack’s marine father Stan (Matthew Marsden) couldn’t reappear too. Like his wife, Stan had a major effect on who Reacher became, being a decent, humble man who was nevertheless an effective killer when the situation demanded.

If Reacher season 3 adapts Past Tense – which features a deep dive into Stan’s past that unearths shocking surprises – he would be guaranteed a return.

2. Joe Reacher

It’s the murder of Reacher’s older brother Joe (Christopher Russell) that sets off the events of the first season, and he also reappears in flashbacks throughout.

Joe grew up to work for Homeland Security but was later murdered by the Kliner family while investigating their counterfeiting operation in Margrave. Joe returned in several of the Reacher novels, so the door is always open for him to pop up via flashback in another season.

1. Finlay

While Finlay seemed to retire at the end of the first season, his surprise return in season 2 confirmed this plan didn’t stick.

He helps Reacher and the 110th out on a case, so if season 3 takes Reacher back to New York – the setting of many Jack Reacher books like Tripwire – he could easily run into his old pal again. Maybe Finlay could Reacher for help on a case too, but again, the latter’s nomad lifestyle would make such a request tricky.