Based on Lee Child’s Persuader novel, Amazon Prime Video’s Reacher season 3 needs to include some key Jack Reacher book moments in order to succeed.

Shortly after Reacher season 2’s finale, Alan Ritchson confirmed on Instagram that the Amazon Prime Video series would adapt Lee Child’s Persuader, the seventh Jack Reacher novel, for its third outing. Notably, season 1 took on Child’s debut, Killing Floor, and Reacher season 2 adapted Bad Luck and Trouble, Child’s eleventh book. It’s clear that the series has no problem hopping around in time and mining Lee Child’s 28 Jack Reacher books for stories that feel fresh. Much like season 1, Persuader is a solo outing for Reacher — one that plops the former military police officer into unfamiliar territory.

True to the books’ standalone approach, Reacher season 2’s ending tied up all the loose ends in the scheme against Reacher’s former 110th Special Investigations Unit. In Persuader, Reacher teams up with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in an unofficial capacity in order to help the federal agents bring down a suspected drug smuggler. However, Jack Reacher also has his own personal stake in the case. While Reacher season 3 will likely change certain elements of Persuader in order to better fit the medium of television, the source material provides a solid road map for Ritchson’s next outing.

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Persuader Drops Readers Right Into The Action
The Opening Scene Actually Happens In The Story’s Middle Section

One of the most memorable aspects of Child’s Persuader novel is its opening sequence. On a college campus, Reacher waits in hiding to pull the trigger on an apparent police officer. Given Jack Reacher’s military backstory, it’s a startling opening image. Of course, the reader discovers that Reacher has been tasked with disrupting the staged kidnapping of Richard Beck, so that Reacher can gain the trust of Richard’s father, Zachary Beck. Chronologically speaking, the opening scene actually happens in the present-day story’s middle section, but it’s a brilliant way to hook an audience.

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The Key Persuader Moment Must Be Executed Well

Not only is Persuader’s opening scene memorable, but it must be executed well. Not only does Reacher thwart the staged kidnapping and elude law enforcement, but he gains Richard’s trust. This allows him to infiltrate the Beck family — both for the DEA’s sake and his own. That said, if the abduction-disrupting action sequence isn’t handled well, it could set Reacher season 3 off on the wrong foot. Not to mention, it also has the potential to set up a satisfying story that doesn’t move chronologically, adding another fun narrative wrinkle to the by-the-book action series.

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Persuader Gradually Reveals Jack Reacher’s Personal Stake In The Plot
Reacher Sees A Man From His Past He’d Presumed Dead

In addition to throwing readers into the middle of the action, Persuader excels because it gradually reveals its story’s layers. The military police officer-turned-drifter has teamed up with the DEA in an unofficial capacity because he has something to gain from working together. That is, Francis Xavier Quinn, a former Military Intelligence agent who Reacher assumed was dead, seems to be connected to the drug-busting case. Out of the blue, Reacher sees Quinn on the streets of Boston, prompting him to follow the lead — and seek revenge.

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Reacher Season 3 Must Adapt Persuader’s First-Person POV
Putting Viewers On The Same Page As Reacher Is A Good Idea

Persuader is one of a few Jack Reacher novels that’s told entirely from a first-person perspective. This point of view allows readers access to Reacher’s every thought. While the TV series can’t adapt this narrative approach in a straight-forward way — a Reacher season 3 featuring voice-over narration just wouldn’t work — it can borrow other elements. For example, viewers (like readers) can be given the same access to information as Reacher. Instead of straying from Reacher’s perspective and giving the audience extra insight, the show can stick with its main character more in season 3.

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Reacher’s Showdown With Paulie
Persuader Includes A Classic Jack Reacher Showdown

Some of Reacher’s best fight scenes unfold when the show’s titular character is dropped into a one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat situation. Since Alan Ritchson’s version of Reacher is such a hulking, imposing figure, he takes most enemies out with ease. That makes it even more fun when he’s up against another “big guy.” Persuader features one of the most memorable one-on-one match-ups: Reacher fights the 400-pound, 7-foot tall Paulie — a guy so menacing that he doesn’t even flinch when Reacher kicks him with all his might.

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Reacher Season 3 Needs To Make Viewers Care About Dominique Kohl
After Reacher Season 2, It May Be Hard To Introduce The Character

One of Reacher season 2’s biggest problems was its over-reliance on its supporting cast of characters. Since Amazon Prime Video hasn’t fully established Reacher as a lone wolf drifter to the same degree the source material has, the sophomore outing didn’t pack the emotional punch it wanted. There wasn’t a ton to be gained from contrasting Reacher and his former colleagues (at least not yet). In Persuader, the brutal murder of Dominique Kohl, a Sergeant First Class assigned to Reacher’s unit, is what propels Jack on his mission to hunt down Quinn, so viewers must care about the stakes.

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Persuader Is Mostly Set In An Opulent Mansion
Reacher Season 3 Should Make Use Of The Single Setting Premise

After Reacher “saves” Richard from the staged abduction, he brings the college-aged kid back to his family’s home in the fictional Abott, Maine. By aiding Richard, Reacher gains access to Zachary Beck — the alleged drug smuggler who Reacher believes to be working for the not-so-deceased Quinn. In order to further gain Zachary Beck’s confidence, Reacher works for him as a bodyguard and hired gun, which means he spends a lot of time at the Beck family’s opulent mansion. While most Reacher stories see Jack on the go, Persuader makes great use of limited settings.

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Reacher Refuses To Leave The Case
The DEA Tries To Pull Reacher Out

Although Reacher works hard to gain Zachary Beck’s trust, it all starts to unravel when he uncovers the truth about Beck’s operation: he’s running guns — not drugs. That said, the DEA is forced to back out of the situation. While the agency tries to pull Reacher out too, the drifter isn’t really working for them, so he sticks to the case in order to hunt down Quinn. A welcome surprise, the plot twist must be handled well in Reacher season 3.

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Reacher Season 3 Must Make Its Past & Present Storylines Equally Compelling
Season 3 Can Improve On Season 2’s Biggest Misstep

Much like Reacher season 2, Persuader balances two storylines and two timelines. In the present, Reacher works as a hired gun for the Beck family in order to get closer to Quinn (and aid the DEA). In the past, Reacher and Quinn’s history is gradually revealed, as is the military intelligence officer’s brutal murder of Dominque Kohl. While Reacher season 2 struggled to make its flashbacks matter, season 3 must give both stories an equal weight if it hopes to pull off Persuader’s fan-favorite narrative.

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Persuader Builds To Reacher and Quinn’s Reunion
Reacher Season 3 Must Pay Off A Slow-Burn Setup

Reacher gets involved in Persuader’s off-the-books operation because he wants another chance to take out Francis Xavier Quinn. The former military intelligence officer mutilated and murdered Kohl, Reacher’s colleague, a decade earlier. Reacher presumed Quinn dead after their last meeting, which adds a lot of weight to their inevitable Persuader encounter. Lee Child builds an incredibly suspenseful, slow-burn narrative that makes the conclusion all-the-more thrilling. When Reacher finally killed Langston in season 2, it was strangely underwhelming, so Reacher season 3 might need to stick closer to the source material to avoid that problem.