Reacher season 2 ends with Jack Reacher and Karla Dixon going their separate ways, raising questions over why their relationship couldn’t continue.

Warning: spoilers ahead for Reacher season 2’s finale.

SUMMARY

 Reacher and Dixon’s relationship was based on unresolved feelings from the past, not a future commitment.
 Despite their genuine feelings for each other, Reacher and Dixon understood that their connection had a time limit.
 Dixon’s amicable departure sets up the possibility for her return in future seasons, as well as her willingness to help Reacher in future cases.

Reacher season 2 concludes with Alan Ritchson’s character and Dixon leaving their romance in the past, and there are good reasons their relationship gets killed off. Despite facing down gangsters, criminals, and assassins without ever losing his cool, even Jack Reacher is scared of something.

Unfortunately for the women in his life, that something is commitment. Nevertheless, things seemed different when Dixon joined the Reacher season 2 cast, as the pair had a history that was missing with Roscoe.

Their attraction went ignored at the time due to Reacher professional code of ethics as leader of the 110th Special Investigators, but it didn’t take long before their season 2 reunion moved into the bedroom.

Reacher and Dixon acted like a newly-minted couple throughout season 2, and that gave hope their tryst would last beyond the finale’s end credits, unlike with Roscoe from season 1. Alas, history does indeed repeat itself.

After one final motel liaison – some say David O’Donnell is still waiting in the parking lot to this day – Reacher and Dixon part ways, with Ritchson’s protagonist returning to his nomadic wanderings from state to state.

This may seem surprising after Reacher and Dixon’s connection held such promise over the past eight episodes, but for several reasons, their decision makes perfect sense.

What Dixon Means By “Old Business” In Reacher Season 2’s Finale

The key conversation takes place in the 110th’s motel room during the Reacher season 2 finale. Dixon describes the couple’s situation as “old business,” and Reacher can’t agree faster. The term is ambiguous, but essentially confirms Reacher season 2’s romance storyline was about the past rather than the future.

Reacher, of course, never intended to settle down with Dixon, and Dixon knew Reacher well enough to realize not even she could pull him away from an attachment-free life.

Instead, Reacher and Dixon have been acknowledging the unresolved feelings they held for each other in the past, like scratching an itch that never quite went away. And, according to Neagley, scratching it quite loudly.

What Reacher and Dixon had throughout season 2 wasn’t just a hook-up or an officers-with-benefits situation, but it wasn’t the start of a blossoming future either.

Both parties had real feelings for each other beyond mutual lust, but Reacher and Dixon were also mature enough to realize that whatever they had was on a strict time limit. They enjoyed that while it lasted, but amicably parted ways when the time came to move forward.

Reacher Season 2’s Ending Means Dixon Can Return In Season 3

Breaking Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book canon, Reacher season 2 brought back season 1’s Finlay, once again portrayed by Malcolm Goodwin. Finlay’s cameo proved the Amazon TV show is willing to incorporate past characters, and that means the surviving few Special Investigators can potentially appear in Reacher season 3 and beyond.

Dixon looks especially likely to come back, given how her story ends in Reacher season 2. Not every woman would have taken their lover’s exit so happily, but the season 2 finale’s motel scene allows Reacher and Dixon to part on friendly terms. Reacher can now call on his former “bean-counter” for help with future cases.

Moreover, Dixon has now confirmed that she doesn’t realistically expect Reacher to ever settle down. Whereas Roscoe handed over her phone number in Reacher season 1’s finale with the hope that they could one day be together, Dixon holds no such expectations.

Once again, this means Dixon will be among the first people Reacher will call should he find trouble in Amazon’s future seasons. And if there is one thing Jack Reacher does better than avoid romantic commitment, it’s finding trouble.