The Boys Meets Reacher In A Scene From Prime Video's New 8-Episode Action Spinoff

Published Sep 17, 2026, 8:30 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. 

Prime Video's latest spinoff is already establishing its own unique tone, combining Reacher's fast pace and excellent action scenes with The Boys' unpredictability. While the streaming platform's flagship action show, Reacher, is going from strength to strength, with its latest season showing a new side to its main character, the series is still remarkably consistent, including its sense of humor. One of the best differences between the book and TV versions of Jack Reacher is the fact that Reacher has some stoic but hilarious one-liners. Still, this leaves the door open for an action show with a different tone.

Reacher was always going to be a hard act to follow, and while Neagley (Maria Sten) is one of Reacher's best supporting characters, a spinoff focused entirely on her was met with some skepticism. However, Neagley has already attracted rave reviews and a 91% positive critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This is in part due to the fact that Neagley is not trying to be Reacher, leaning into the factors that made Neagley a fan-favorite in the first place, while carving out its own place in the Reacher universe by including scenes that the original show would never have done.

Jerry O'Connell's Cameo In Neagley Feels Like Something Straight Out Of The Boys

Investigating the apparent but unlikely suicide of her childhood friend, Neagley discovers a conspiracy concerning a new drug that has dire implications. This might sound "so far, so Reacher," but the spinoff tells the story in a wildly different way, and this can only be a good thing. With Neagley's family being a prominent fixture, this already anchors the character, but the show went further with a scene straight out of The Boys in episode 5. In a cheerful advert that is trying much too hard, Jerry O'Connell plays himself while advertising the drug at the center of the story.

Breezily introducing himself as the actor many of us are familiar with, Jerry O'Connell (The Big Bang Theory, Star Trek: Lower Decks) walks across a set while referencing his own unnamed problems in life as a man sits in a darkened room, looking depressed. As the sun comes up, his life transforms into a joyful scene at the beach, as O'Connell hits the final invitation to "come, join us in the light," with Tranqlara, which sounds much too good to be true and, as we have already seen through Neagley, who is suffering the effects, it is.

This scene would be out of place in most action TV shows, but it is right on brand for The Boys. The Boys satirized Marvel and DC characters to highlight ongoing issues in the US, and casting a beloved actor as themselves is a meta twist that linked The Boys to the real world despite its superheroes. While prescription drug scandals have happened and celebrities often advertise products, Neagley is not a satire. Instead, O'Connell's cameo proved the show's willingness to get creative, which it can afford to do because, unlike Reacher, it has yet not cemented its storytelling style.

It's Hard To Imagine Reacher's Main Show Doing The Jerry O'Connell Scene

New viewers can begin Reacher with any season, as the show has such a well-established format and tone. The series' four seasons are predictable in the sense that they hit certain story beats and include elements like witty remarks and standout fight scenes, while still bringing unexpected twists to each storyline. Reacher has plenty of humor, but this is generally linked to the characters themselves and their predicaments, with the show giving the audience something to laugh at rather than laughing with the audience as The Boys often did through its meta moments.

Reacher's original show might have included Jerry O'Connell's advertisement, but it would almost certainly be playing on TV for the characters to see and react to, rather than inviting the viewers into the ad itself. Reacher's fast pace means that the show is very economical with its set-dressing, and rarely has moments of exposition that the main characters are not directly involved in. The ad scene would not have fit in the way that Neagley used it, but neither approach is a bad creative choice.

Comparing Neagley's first season with Reacher's
Title	Year	Rotten Tomatoes critics' rating	Rotten Tomatoes audience rating
Reacher	2022	92%	91%
Neagley	2026	91%	89%

It would have been a mistake for Neagley to copy Reacher's style because it would set the show in direct competition with Reacher, making it a copy rather than an extension of Lee Child's Jack Reacher universe. Instead, Neagley is perfecting its own winning formula while still taking creative risks that offer potential viewers something new. Whether Neagley will have another season remains to be seen, but after Jerry O'Connell's very surprising scene, it will be interesting to see where the show goes next.

Neagley

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  Greyston Holt

  Detective Hudson Riley

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  Maria Sten

  Frances Neagley