Most critics like Neagley, and their reasons hardly change from review to review. It keeps the shape of Reacher, with wrongdoers beaten up at regular intervals and a mystery that keeps moving, and it is the better for not fiddling with that. The praise gathers around Maria Sten, who is credited with making Neagley more vulnerable and more bruised than her mentor, and with carrying both the fights and the quieter scenes of a woman dealing with what has been done to her.
The reservations are about what is missing rather than what is wrong. Several reviews miss the comic timing of the parent series, and The Hollywood Reporter finds the pace sags whenever exposition and backstory take over from the chases. Variety is the one clear dissenter, arguing the series lacks its predecessor’s star power and that the central mystery never catches, with the Reacher cameos the only bright spots. The spread is otherwise narrow.