ReacherauthorLee Childis willing to admit when the TV adaptation of his books is better than the source material.
But he doesn’t have to be happy about it.
“It is really annoying when they do it better than I did it,” Child tellsEntertainment Weekly.
Alan Ritchson and Maria Sten, ‘Reacher’.Credit:Jasper Savage/Prime
“It’s both a tribute and an annoyance.”
It’s a tribute to the skill of [showrunner] Nick Santora and the writing room."
Not good, right?
Alan Ritchson on ‘Reacher’.Jasper Savage/Prime
“But you cannot do that on the screen.
you could’t have Reacher sitting there for eight minutes puzzling something out that’s really bad television.
So you need some mechanism for the exposition where he needs to think out loud, essentially.”
That’s where Neagley comes in to quite literally save the day.
“Alan is fantastic of course, but the thing that has pleased me most is how goodsheis.
Maria Sten is just the surprise star of the show to me.”
“People have asked me, when I think of Reacher now, do I see Alan Ritchson?
And the answer to that is really no,” Child says.
“Because Reacher has been fixed in my mind for so long.
But when I see Neagley, I do see Maria Sten.
I’ve lost sight of how I originally conceived of her.
It’s even harder to get out of,” Child says.
“In the book, how does Reacher get out?
Well, he swims.
And how does he swim without getting soaking wet?
He puts all his clothes in a plastic bag and ties it tight and carries it with him.
But he swims naked.”
Child laughs as he remembers wondering if Ritchson was going to get fully naked for the big escape.
“I thought, ‘How are they going to do that on TV?'”
“No, he swims in his underwear.
So that’s one of the changes, but that’s worth seeing.”
Agent Duffy would certainly agree.
Reacherseason 3 debuts new episodes Thursdays on Prime Video.
