Prime Video Officially Confirms Its Reacher Replacement

Published May 15, 2026, 12:30 PM EDT Faith Roswell is a Senior Writer on Screen Rant's Classic TV team. Since earning her degree in Creative Writing over a decade ago, Faith has written articles on film and TV from a variety of different angles. Faith now combines her knowledge of psychology with her love of monster movies to give more insight into what makes the best ones. You may have read her Screen Rant lists and features covering horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, or read her Amazon Top 10 book, "Movie Monsters of the Deep." Faith has had an extensive career as a writer, appearing on BBC live radio, researching true crime for Rotten Mango podcast, and writing for publications including Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and The Daily Jaws before beginning here at Screen Rant. Exciting and unpredictable action TV shows have become the flagship genre for Prime Video, with Reacher dominating the genre after phenomenal success. Reacher was the perfect series for the platform, blending action, suspense, bone-crunching violence, and some hilarious one-liners. That said, one downside to the series' popularity is the fact that it has overshadowed other excellent must-watch action shows on Prime Video that are just as good, if not better, than Reacher. It can often feel that any action series with a strong male lead will get described as "the next Reacher." However, there are some contenders for the position among Prime Video's overlooked action shows. One of these is The Terminal List, which is also based on a bestselling novel series featuring a main character with military experience. The show follows Navy SEAL James Reece (Chris Pratt) after he is one of the only survivors of an ambush while deployed, and finds himself involved in a much deeper mystery. There is no doubt that Reacher's action scenes are some of the best in any TV show, and that Alan Ritchson was perfectly cast as the titular character, fitting the description in the novel series while also being a fan himself. That said, while The Terminal List has some similarities, it is not a Reacher copy. The Terminal List has a much darker tone, with a focus on combat trauma and emotional turmoil, which makes it stand out from other, pulpier, shows. The Terminal List was not well received by critics, but its spinoff, The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, redeemed it and likely contributed to the continuation of the original series thanks to great performances from Pratt and Taylor Kitsch. The show has been renewed for a second season, which is due to premiere this fall, which sets The Terminal List season 2 up to rival Reacher, which could result in a potentially massive streaming battle between the platform's action series. Still, The Terminal List does not just have to contend with one successful action show, as Prime Video has other well-regarded crime TV thrillers like Reacher, even if none of them have achieved the same streaming success. Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan is a longer-running action series with four seasons, and Citadel: Diana is a fast-paced spy thriller spinoff full of twists and turns. These have all been well-regarded by critics, and if The Terminal List can impress critics as well as audiences, it could become one of the biggest action thrillers on Prime Video. Why The Terminal List Polarized Critics And Audiences Justin Lubin/Prime The Terminal List: Dark Horse is considered better than the original series, but this does not tell the full story. The spinoff might have won over critics, who gave the series a 75% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but while audiences rated it 80% positive, they gave the original The Terminal List a near-perfect 94% score. With critics rating it just 42% positive, this is an unusually polarizing score. Reviews criticized several aspects of the show, including the plot, which was considered "boring," and the theme, which some compared to a false patriotism that verges into racism. The Hollywood Reporter covered the response from Jack Carr, the book's author, who spoke with far-right podcaster Tucker Carlson, saying that "the viewer rating, audience rating, makes it all worth it. We didn’t make it for the critics." This commitment to the show's themes and tone and support from Carr implies that the creator and showrunner, David DiGilio, may not be willing to change his vision for the series in order to attract better reviews from critics. He would not be the first person to refuse to compromise a vision, and time will tell if this pays off. Comparing The Terminal List to Reacher Title Year Seasons Released Rotten Tomatoes Critics' Rating Rotten Tomatoes Audience Rating Reacher 2022 3 96% 80% The Terminal List 2022 1 42% 94% One factor that is important to note when considering Rotten Tomatoes scores is the fact that the longer a show runs, the more disparity there may be in the overall score. One bad season can bring a show's entire rating down a few points, even if the series is generally met with extremely positive reviews. While Reacher has demonstrated consistent quality, we have only seen one season of The Terminal List yet, and season 2 might just change the game with a masterpiece, or be another simultaneous audience success and critical flop. Source: The Hollywood Reporter The Terminal List 5/10 Release Date June 30, 2022 Network Prime Video Cast Jeanne Tripplehorn Secretary Hartley