While Reacher season 3 highlights a major difference between Susan Duffy and season 1’s Roscoe Conklin, questions remain over the Prime Video show’s latest romance angle. As Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher continues his third attempt to bust a criminal enterprise in as many seasons, so too does he move onto his third love interest. Reacher season 1 ended with the title character semi-reluctantly leaving Willa Fitzgerald’s Roscoe behind in Margrave. In Reacher season 2’s finale, he wrapped up a cathartic final fling with Dixon. In season 3, it’s the DEA’s Susan Duffy who gets pulled into Reacher’s vortex of charm.

The concept of finding a new woman in each town derives from Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books, but something about his bond with Roscoe felt special. Part of that comes down to being the very first love interest of Prime Video’s Reacher series, but Willa Fitzgerald’s performance and effortless chemistry with Ritchson also helped win over the audience. Reacher season 1’s ending softly suggested that if the wandering hero settled down for anyone, it would be Roscoe, and I still harbor hopes of a reunion somewhere down the line. That is, of course, after Reacher and Duffy have fizzled out.

Duffy’s Reaction To Kissing Reacher Proves She’s Different To Roscoe & Dixon

Reacher Isn’t Used To That Kind Of Reaction

Reacher‘s first attempt to replace Roscoe – Dixon in season 2 – worked because the two women were inherently different. Unlike Reacher and Roscoe, Reacher and Dixon shared a degree of romantic history that season 2 allowed them to reexamine. The familiarity of their attraction and the motivation behind it couldn’t have been further from season 1’s romance storyline with Roscoe. In Reacher season 3, however, Duffy and Roscoe share a lot more in common. Sonya Cassidy’s character is another law enforcer working with Reacher on a case for the first time, making it harder to separate her and Roscoe.

Duffy hopes to avoid romantic entanglements with her giant new friend in order to focus on the job at hand.

Reacher season 3, episode 6, however, reveals a major dividing line between the two characters, and it comes during Reacher and Duffy’s first real romantic interaction. Unable to hold back after five episodes of increasing sexual tension, Duffy quite literally launches herself at Reacher’s mouth during a conversation in “Smoke on the Water.” Curiously, she then leaps back in a mixture of horror and disgust, exclaiming: “What the sh*t?! That is not happening twice!”

Far from a condemnation of Reacher’s kissing skills, Duffy’s reaction to the smooch highlights her biggest distinction from season 1’s Roscoe. Roscoe fell for Reacher gently over the course of their time together, then accepted what was happening and ultimately wanted something deeper by the end of their collaboration.

Duffy, on the other hand, is desperately attempting to maintain a line of professionalism. She hopes to avoid romantic entanglements with her giant new friend in order to focus on the job at hand. And even if she does end up giving into temptation, there is no suggestion that Reacher and Duffy will evolve into anything more than a satisfying hook-up.

Reacher & Duffy’s Relationship Means There’s Still Hope For Reacher & Roscoe

So You’re Saying There’s A Chance?

Reacher may be at the precipice of starting another romance, but season 3, episode 6, weirdly proves hopes for a Reacher & Roscoe endgame are still very much alive. Reacher and Duffy’s kiss, as well as her reaction to it, reveal a clear attraction between Alan Ritchson and Sonya Cassidy’s characters. It also strongly suggests that the pair will be taking their passion further before Reacher season 3 comes to an end.

Roscoe remains the only one of Reacher’s romantic partners who could still potentially become a long-term girlfriend.

The scene also, however, confirms that this is purely lust, not love. Based on Duffy’s reaction, it seems like she and Reacher will blow off some steam after a season of chasing down bad guys, then happily go their separate ways with no questions asked – unlike with Roscoe in season 1, where awkward questions were certainly asked.

Reacher Love Interest
How It Ended

Roscoe
Giving Reacher her phone number on a candy wrapper.

Dixon
Agreement to be close friends.

If Reacher and Duffy become nothing more than a casual, one-time thing, the path is clear for Roscoe to return in a future Reacher season and rekindle her relationship with Margrave’s tallest tourist. It was a similar situation with Duffy in season 2, as she and Reacher decided to leave the past behind them by not taking their feelings forward. Despite bouncing between three love interests across three seasons, therefore, Roscoe remains the only one of Reacher’s romantic partners who could still potentially become a long-term girlfriend, and someone Reacher could stay with permanently once his roving days are over.

Duffy Didn’t Need To Become A Romantic Interest To Be A Great Character

I’m Not Sure What This Romance Is Adding To Reacher Season 3

Reacher and Duffy not being a serious thing is good news for Roscoe fans, but raises questions about the storyline itself. After successive romances in seasons 1 and 2, a third in season 3 always felt somewhat unnecessary, especially with Reacher spending the majority of his time undercover and mostly speaking to Duffy over the phone. Duffy herself, meanwhile, is a great addition in her own right. Her determination to locate Teresa at all costs, her evident love for Villanueva and Eliot, and her search for professional redemption all combine to ensure Duffy is a fully-realized character in Reacher season 3.

New Reacher season 3 episodes release Thursdays on Prime Video.

Duffy’s attraction to Reacher adds very little to either protagonist’s arc, and offers nothing at all to the overarching narrative of season 3. There’s no true love between them, so it cannot be said that Duffy’s feelings for Reacher are raising the level of danger and suspense that come from Reacher being undercover.

The “will-they-won’t-they” that made Reacher and Roscoe’s story a success in season 1 is missing, replaced by a glowing neon sign that reads, “they will.” Reacher and Dixon getting together, meanwhile, served as resolution to their stint in the 110th Special Investigations unit, making that particular romance relevant to their respective stories. Once again, this doesn’t apply with Duffy. Instead, it feels like the primary force driving Reacher and Duffy into bed is the well-worn trope that a love story of some description must occur, and every action hero needs a woman falling into his arms after the day is saved.

The fewer women Reacher becomes involved with in future seasons, the greater the chance of him eventually rolling back

In that sense, Reacher is cut from the same cloth as James Bond, who shares a similar distaste for romantic commitment. And yet even the notorious 007 has started to change his ways. No Time To Die broke tradition by carrying over Bond’s lover from the previous movie, Madeleine Swann, while other female characters such as Nomi and Paloma humorously brushed off the notion of sleeping with the secret agent.

It’s an evolution that Reacher season 4 should consider copying. If a romance angle isn’t going to be a key subplot, as it was with Roscoe in season 1, nor a source of character development like in season 2, it doesn’t necessarily need to happen. That is especially true if the characters already have enough intrigue and substance to them, which is absolutely the case with Duffy. And, of course, the fewer women Reacher becomes involved with in future seasons, the greater the chance of him eventually rolling back into Margrave to pick up where he left off with Roscoe.