TL;DR – This is a slow start to the Reacher spin-off, but you do see glimpses of something interesting in between the beatdowns.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service used to view this series.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Neagley Review Introduction–

One of Amazon Prime’s most successful series in recent years has been Reacher, and given its success, it was only a matter of time before someone tried a spin-off. But if you are going to spin off such a successful series, you need to have a good hook, and I think one of the most successful supporting cast members is a good place to start.

So, to set the scene, it is 2 am in Chicago, and a man walks out onto the train line tracks into oncoming traffic and is killed instantly. The man, Tommy Crane (Jhaleil Swaby), was an old childhood friend of Neagley (Maria Sten), who has just finished off a successful resolution of a kidnapping case with a little help from her old boss Reacher (Alan Ritchson). While she had not seen Tommy in years, him getting so high that he would walk out onto oncoming traffic does not sound like him, and so she must investigate. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

Reacher or Neagley

It could be that we have been trained a bit for the first episode of a new Reacher series to come out swinging, but this is a bit of a slow burn. Though, oddly, both this and Season Four of Reacher start with an apparent suicide on a train. Part of this also comes from feeling that we are going through the same bullet points as we would for a Reacher season starter, but with Neagley subbed in. Adding Reacher to this first episode as a guest probably didn’t help in that respect either. It is not a deal-breaker for the season, but it does start it off in an odd spot.

Solid Mystery

While there are some structurally odd moments in the first episode, one of the strengths is that it comes out swinging with an interesting mystery. Pharmaceutical companies, cults, and cover-ups, oh my. There are some interesting layers of mystery going on that make you wonder if there is a level of misdirection going on. We do get to see hints of how Neagley works differently towards the end, setting up stings and intentionally losing evidence to gain better information. They are subtle differences, but if handled right, they are enough to create something that feels like its own beast rather than a reskin of another property.      

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Neagley? I didn’t mind the first episode, but I am not sure it quite caught my attention to binge the entire season. It was enough for me to give one or two more episodes a go to see if I am in for the long haul. Have you seen Neagley yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Neagley
Directed by – Sam Hill
Written by – Nick Santora & Nicholas Wootton
Created by – Nick Santora & Nicholas Wootton
Based On – Reacher by Lee Child
Production/Distribution Companies – Amazon MGM Studios, Skydance Television, Paramount Television Studios, Blackjack Films & Amazon Prime
Starring – Maria Sten, Greyston Holt, Adeline Rudolph, Jasper Jones, Matthew Del Negro, & Damon Herriman
With – Alan Ritchson, Jhaleil Swaby, Tyrone Benskin, Rebecca Liddiard, Joel Keller, Frank Cox-O’Connell, Brian Hamman, L. Dean Ifill, Robinne Fanfair, Nigel Shawn Williams, & Jeff Kassel
And – Kyle McKim, Dennis Nimoh Jr., Jim Monaco, Jordy Trevan, Frank Moore, Wilfred Lee, & Emily Mitchell