Reacher's Neagley Spinoff Can Finally Answer A Question Lee Child's Books Never Did

Lee Child's original Jack Reacher novels and Amazon's Reacher have not resolved one question about Neagley's story, but her upcoming spinoff series could finally provide some answers. Even though the announcement of the Neagley spinoff show may seem surprising, Amazon's Reacher has been paving the way for it for quite some time. From season 1 itself, Reacher intentionally drifted away from its source material to accommodate Neagley into its narrative.

Reacher season 2 even risked diluting the significance of the titular character to portray how talented Negleay is as an investigator. Given how Reacher has been gradually setting the stage for the Neagley spinoff, it is hard not to be excited about what it will bring to the table. However, what makes the show even more interesting is that it might finally delve deeper into Neagley's backstory and explore one aspect of her personality that has not been fully addressed in Lee Child's Jack Reacher books.

Lee Child's Jack Reacher Books Never Explain Why Neagley Has A "No Touching" Rule

The Books Only Reveal She Has A Rare Medical Condition

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Reacher season 2 establishes that Neagley hates being touched. She not only turns down handshakes but also has a signature "no touch" goodbye gesture for Jack Reacher towards the end of Reacher season 2. The only time she willingly touches a character in Reacher season 2 is when she holds Russo's hand to comfort him moments before his death. Amazon's Reacher carries over Neagley's "no touch" rule from Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels but never truly explains the reason behind it.

Related All Jack Reacher Books In Order (Where To Start) The Amazon Prime Video television show Reacher is based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books – read on for all the novels in the lengthy series.

Lee Child's Night School reveals that Neagley has a rare medical condition called haphephobia, which is a fear of being touched. It also features a sequence in which Jack Reacher says that Neagley was born with the condition when a character asks him if her medical condition stems from a childhood trauma. However, since Jack Reacher, too, seems unsure about the real reason why Neagley hates being touched, the franchise has yet to explore the full implications of her haphephobia.

The Neagley Spinoff Can Reveal Why Neagley Hates Being Touched

The Spinoff Will Likely Offer More Insight Into Her Backstory

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In the original Lee Child books, Neagley is treated as a side character who only appears in five installments. Lee Child also never wrote any spinoff novels to explore Neagley's backstory or standalone investigative adventures. Owing to this, the books have seemingly never had the time to fully explore the depths of Neagley's characterization and all the events from her past that have shaped her.

Since Reacher's Neagley spinoff will primarily revolve around the Maria Sten character and treat her as the protagonist, it can finally offer more insight into the character's backstory and reveal the truth behind why she does not like being touched.

Although the Amazon show has given Neagley more importance, Jack Reacher has been its main character since the beginning. Because of its limited runtime, the series, too, has only been able to walk through Jack Reacher's backstory while only giving a glimpse of Neagley's shared military past with Reacher. Since Reacher's Neagley spinoff will primarily revolve around the Maria Sten character and treat her as the protagonist, it can finally offer more insight into the character's backstory and reveal the truth behind why she does not like being touched.