Amazon Prime’s hugely successful crime-drama Reacher unveiled its crowd-pleasing second season in 2024. Based on the novels by Lee Child, the iconic character has been brought to life on the small screen by the towering figure of actor Alan Ritchson.
The first season is set against the backdrop of a small Georgian town rocked by violence and corruption. Reacher’s uncompromising sense of justice ultimately sees him unravel complex conspiracies while confronting formidable adversaries.
The same tight pacing, sharp dialogue, and stellar performances greeted audiences in season 2. His sophomore outing sees him team up with his old army unit to solve the mysterious deaths of former colleagues.
While both series take place in the United States, very little was shot outside Canada. The production was based in Ontario which was used to stand in for the show’s various U.S. locations.
Where are Reacher’s Ontario filming locations?
All of season 1’s exterior scenes were filmed in Ontario. A bigger budget from Amazon allowed the production the opportunity to go further afield in season 2. While interiors were shot on soundstages in Ontario, there are a handful of shots of New York City to set the scene when the characters go there to investigate. However, when we see Reacher supposedly on the streets of the Big Apple, it’s Toronto. There’s a good reason why the city is known as the New York of the north.
Elsewhere, it would be impossible to fake the recognizable casinos of Atlantic City, so again exterior footage is included. However, the interiors were shot in Canada. The country is home to a lot of casinos which could have hosted the interior shots of Reacher and Karla Dixon playing blackjack. Indeed, there are five in Toronto where much of season 2 was shot. The province itself is well-known for gambling. As well as its physical venues, live casino Ontario based outlets provide Canadians with the opportunity to enjoy poker, roulette, blackjack, and other games like slots online.
Turning Ontario into Margrave
In the first season, which took place in the Georgian town of Margrave, we witnessed many iconic locations in Ontario. The imposing Kingston Penitentiary in Kingston stands in for Margrave Prison, for instance, while the scene in which Reacher gets arrested in the café was filmed at Lakeview Restaurant in Toronto.
After Reacher begins working with Sergeant Roscoe, they dance to Patsy Cline at the Maple Leaf Motel in Scarborough. In the scene when he beats up three thugs in a dark Margrave parking lot, the production went to Stratford Suburban Motel. And in episode 5, when Reacher gets into a fight at a diner, the Piano Inn and Café in Port Perry is used. Also filmed close by was the sequence in which the hero talks to Roscoe outside her house.
For the second season, the port city of Hamilton was utilized for numerous scenes. Its streets are most notable during the chase sequences involving NYPD homicide detective Guy Russo when he’s fleeing from some of Shane Langston’s henchmen. Other prominent scenes were shot in Oshawa in southern Ontario.
So there you have it. The magic of television. Without even knowing it, Ontario is as big a part of Amazon Prime’s popular crime-drama series as actor Alan Ritchson’s