How Dixon’s Ending Sets Up Roscoe’s Return In Reacher Season 3

While Reacher season 2 marks the end of Reacher and Dixon’s relationship, it secretly paves the way for Reacher and Roscoe’s reunion in the future.

Warning: spoilers ahead for Reacher season 2’s finale.

SUMMARY

 Reacher Season 2 ends with Reacher and Dixon going their separate ways, providing closure to their relationship.
 The ending suggests that Reacher and Dixon’s relationship was more about resolving the past than building a future together.
 Reacher’s relationship with Roscoe remains unresolved, leaving room for a potential reunion in the future.

Dixon’s Reacher season 2 ending seems to set the stage for Roscoe’s return in season 3. Based on the 11th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series, Reacher season 2 marks the inception of a new adventure for the titular character, where he teams up with the former members of his 110th Special Investigations Unit from the military.

Reacher season 2 unfolds over two years after season 1’s events, and many of its initial moments highlight that the titular character has forgotten Roscoe.

Even when he meets Finlay in season 2’s episode 4, Reacher does not even acknowledge Roscoe, which seems to significantly reduce the odds of her return in the show’s future seasons.

Although Reacher briefly talks about Roscoe in episode 7 when Neagley asks him about her, he calls her a friend from Margrave, further confirming that Roscoe holds a place in his past rather than his present. However, Reacher season 2 seems to change this narrative in its ending moments by bringing an end to Roscoe and Dixon’s relationship.

Reacher Season 2’s Ending Leaves No Future For His Dixon Romance

Reacher and Dixon’s relationship gets well-rounded closure in season 2

In many ways, Reacher season 2’s ending parallels that of season 1. Once Reacher is done serving justice to the villains who harmed his loved ones, he leaves New York City to move to a new location with his toothbrush.

However, what makes Reacher season 2’s ending different from season 1’s is that it gives a satisfying closure to Reacher and Dixon’s relationship.

Unlike season 1, where Reacher confesses to Roscoe that only she could make him stay in Margrave, season 2 shows Reacher and Dixon acknowledging that their relationship was more about resolving the past than building a future together.

While this does not mean that Reacher and Dixon will never cross paths again, it confirms that they have a mutual understanding of how their relationship was never meant to go the distance.

In the original Lee Child novels, Jack Reacher anyway gets involved in several temporary romantic endeavors but never truly settles for anyone and continues living as a hobo.

By highlighting how Reacher and Dixon are at peace with whatever they had during their season 2 journey and do not hold on to the hope that they will reunite as lovers sometime in the future, the Amazon show confirms that they have ended their relationship for good.

Dixon’s Ending Means Roscoe & Reacher Can Have A Future Together

Reacher season 2’s ending could set the stage for Roscoe’s return

His final words to her suggest that he had a heavy heart and a part of him believed that his relationship with Roscoe could have lasted longer.

On the surface, Reacher season 2’s ending seems reminiscent of season 1’s because the titular character packs his toothbrush and leaves for a new city despite getting attached to his team members. However, one season 2 ending detail makes it significantly different from that of season 1.

Reacher’s relationship with Dixon in season 2’s final arc ends on a high note, where both characters seemingly have agency over their separation. Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher also makes no promises or tall claims about how much he admires Dixon and how she could make him stay.

Reacher season 1’s ending, in contrast, seems far more poignant and bittersweet because the titular character explicitly mentions that Roscoe could be the anchor that could make him settle down in Margrave. Considering that Reacher never lies and is always blunt about how he feels, he probably did not say that to Roscoe just to please her.

Although he still leaves Margrave, his final words to her suggest that he had a heavy heart and a part of him believed that his relationship with Roscoe could have lasted longer.

Roscoe and Reacher never see each other again after Killing Floor‘s events in the original books, but the fact that Reacher and Roscoe’s relationship ended on an uncertain note leaves some room for a potential reunion between them in the show.

Why Reacher Season 3 Really Needs Roscoe (& More Finlay)

Roscoe and Finlay arguably had a better Dynamic with Reacher than his 110th team members

Reacher season 2’s main characters, Neagley, Dixon, and O’Donnell, initially seemed to be great replacements for season 1’s Roscoe and Finlay because they allowed the show to explore the titular character’s military background and past relationships.

However, as the season progressed, it became evident that Reacher had a better and more entertaining dynamic with Roscoe and Finlay because they contrasted his stoic and aggressive nature with their groundedness and by-the-book methods of solving crime.

While Neagley, Dixon, and O’Donnell encouraged Reacher to do “cowboy s**t” in season 2, Roscoe and Finlay kept his morals in check.

The humor in the Amazon show’s season 1 also hit more often than it missed because it revolved around all the hilarious ways in which Reacher differed from Finlay.

Unlike season 2, where Reacher and his former team members from the 110th Special Investigations Unit already had a well-established camaraderie, season 1 had more room to walk viewers through all the provisions Reacher, Roscoe, and Finlay had to take to work together as a team.

This, in turn, made the trio’s season 1 journey of storming, norming, and performing together as a team more captivating. Therefore, if any characters from seasons 1 and 2 return in Reacher season 3, they should be Roscoe and Finlay.

Reacher seasons 1 and 2 are available on Prime Video for streaming.

Reacher Season 2 Set Up Roscoe’s Return – But Not For Season 3

Roscoe is likely not returning anytime soon

The Jack Reacher in Lee Child’s original novels never settles. However, the Amazon show seems to have already hinted that its version of the character will eventually end his hobo adventures and plant his roots in one place.

During his interaction with David in season 2’s episode 4, Reacher admits that he would settle down with a few dogs if he ever purchased a piece of land for himself. Reacher season 2 features several other moments where the titular character cannot help but reconsider his lifestyle choices and wonder about everything he has missed out on over the years.

While this does not confirm that Jack Reacher will someday lay down his vagrant hat, it raises the possibility that Amazon’s Reacher will end with the titular character choosing stability over endless wandering.

Since Reacher’s relationship with Roscoe remains unresolved after season 1, she, too, could be a part of his eventual decision to settle down. This would be a major deviation from what happens in the original Lee Child books, but it could give Amazon’s Reacher a better and more conclusive ending.