Review: Neagley is a worthy spinoff to megahit Reacher

剧评：《尼格利》（Neagley）是热门剧集《侠探杰克》（Reacher）一部值得一看的衍生剧

Prime Video looks to have another hit on its hands with Neagley, a new spinoff series set in the same universe as the streaming platform’s critically acclaimed Reacher, now in its fourth season. Both shows are solidly addictive escapist fare, and while Neagley has some uneven elements, it mostly sticks to the successful formula while exploring new ground to give a very different main character her due. (Some spoilers below, but no major reveals.)

Prime Video 似乎又打造出了一部热门剧集——《尼格利》（Neagley）。这部全新的衍生剧与该平台广受好评、目前已播出至第四季的《侠探杰克》（Reacher）共享同一个世界观。两部剧集都属于令人沉迷的消遣佳作；尽管《尼格利》在某些方面表现尚不均衡，但它基本沿用了成功的创作公式，同时又开辟了新领域，让这位风格迥异的主角大放异彩。（下文包含部分剧透，但无重大情节泄露。）

Reacher fans will already be familiar with Frances Neagley, played to perfection by Maria Sten (Swamp Thing). She’s arguably the most diehard friend of former US Army military police officer turned drifter Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), coming to his aid again and again as he confronts a bevy of dangerous criminals over four hugely entertaining seasons. (Of course Ritchson’s Reacher makes an appearance in an opening scene, lending his muscle to rescue a kidnapped child.)

《侠探杰克》的粉丝们对弗朗西斯·尼格利（Frances Neagley）一定不陌生，该角色由玛丽亚·斯坦（Maria Sten，《沼泽怪物》）完美演绎。她可以说是前美国陆军宪兵、现流浪者杰克·里奇（阿兰·里奇森饰）最忠诚的朋友。在四季精彩纷呈的剧集中，每当里奇面对众多危险罪犯时，她总是挺身而出提供援助。（当然，里奇森饰演的里奇在开场戏中也客串亮相，展现身手救下了一名被绑架的儿童。）

Now a corporate security professional based in Chicago, Neagley is shocked when her childhood bestie, Tommy (Jhaleil Swaby), is killed on the L train tracks, seemingly walking into an oncoming train while high. It’s ruled an accidental death, but Neagley feels something is off. She starts poking around—against the express wishes of her boss, Gerald York (Joel Keller)—and ropes in ambitious administrative assistant Renee Birdwhistle (Adeline Rudolph) for good measure. Det. Hudson “Rats” Riley (Greyston Holt) also thinks there’s something suspicious about Tommy’s death and insists on co-investigating with a reluctant Neagley.

尼格利现在是一名常驻芝加哥的企业安全专家。当她儿时的挚友汤米（Jhaleil Swaby饰）在“L”线地铁轨道上丧生时，她感到震惊。汤米似乎是在吸毒后走进了迎面而来的列车。警方将其定性为意外死亡，但尼格利觉得事有蹊跷。她不顾老板杰拉德·约克（Joel Keller饰）的明确反对开始私下调查，并拉上了雄心勃勃的行政助理蕾妮·伯德惠斯尔（Adeline Rudolph饰）帮忙。警探哈德森·“老鼠”·莱利（Greyston Holt饰）也认为汤米的死因可疑，并坚持要与不情愿的尼格利共同调查。

Their investigation takes them to Echo Canyon Farm, a commune run by a charismatic cult leader, Lawrence Cole (Damon Herriman); Tommy had been living there at the time of his death. Neagley suspects there’s more going on at the commune than growing crops and singing folk songs—something to do with a small sample of rye flour Tommy sent to her before he died and a psychoactive drug surreptitiously being developed by a pharmaceutical company. She befriends a young street kid, Keno (Jasper Jones), and sends him undercover at the farm. But whoever is ultimately backing the enterprise is more than willing to kill—and they have Neagley in their crosshairs.

调查将他们引向了“回声峡谷农场”（Echo Canyon Farm），这是一个由极具魅力的邪教领袖劳伦斯·科尔（达蒙·海瑞曼饰）经营的公社；汤米去世时就住在这里。尼格利怀疑这个公社不仅仅是种庄稼和唱民歌那么简单——这可能与汤米死前寄给她的一小份黑麦面粉样本，以及一家制药公司秘密研发的精神类药物有关。她结识了一名街头少年基诺（Jasper Jones饰），并派他潜入农场。然而，幕后黑手显然心狠手辣，且已将尼格利列为目标。

Neagley is also dealing with some personal issues. There’s her grief over Tommy’s death and desire to avenge him. And her father, Calvin (Tyrone Benskin), is dying and refuses to talk about the past—a checkered history that may hold the key to Neagley’s lifelong haphephobia, i.e., fear of touch, although it doesn’t bother her when she’s beating people up.

尼格利同时也在处理一些个人问题。她不仅要承受失去汤米的悲痛并渴望为他复仇，还要面对垂死的父亲卡尔文（泰隆·本斯金饰）。父亲拒绝谈论过去，而那段复杂的历史可能正是尼格利终身患有“触碰恐惧症”（haphephobia）的关键所在——尽管这并不妨碍她在痛扁对手时大打出手。

Neagley gets off to a sluggish start, with a workmanlike, rather clumsy first episode largely spent establishing the main characters and central plot—and the writers lean a bit too hard on constant Chicago callbacks. But the pace picks up after that and barrels toward the inevitable violent conclusion as the narrative threads all come together. The bad guys are mostly stock characters, but they serve their purpose, although I do wish Herriman’s cult leader exhibited a bit more personal charisma to explain the draw he holds for his flock.

《尼格利》的开局略显迟缓，第一集拍得中规中矩且有些笨拙，大部分时间都在铺垫主要角色和核心情节，编剧对芝加哥元素的反复提及也显得有些刻意。但在此之后，节奏明显加快，随着叙事线索的汇聚，剧情向着不可避免的暴力结局疾驰而去。反派角色大多比较脸谱化，但完成了他们的功能性任务；不过我确实希望海瑞曼饰演的邪教领袖能展现出更多个人魅力，以解释他为何能吸引那么多追随者。

The psychedelic plotline is a bit silly and not especially fresh, rife with MK Ultra conspiracy vibes. And this is not how drug development actually works. But over-the-top scenarios are a staple of the Reacher universe, and the show is so well-paced and entertaining, it’s easy to just give the silliness a pass. Ditto for the many very illegal actions Neagley and her cohorts (including Hudson) commit in the course of their investigation. I would very much like to see more crime-fighting shows where the “good guys” actually observe the rule of law for a change.

迷幻的情节设定有些荒诞且缺乏新意，充满了“MK Ultra”式的阴谋论色彩，而且现实中的药物研发也并非如此。但夸张的场景本就是《侠探杰克》宇宙的标配，且该剧节奏极佳、娱乐性强，观众很容易忽略这些荒谬之处。对于尼格利及其同伙（包括哈德森）在调查过程中采取的许多违法行为，情况也是如此。我真心希望看到更多犯罪题材剧集能让“好人”偶尔遵守一下法律。

The real question is whether Sten’s Neagley—by far the most interesting recurring role on Reacher—is a strong enough character to carry a series on her own. Reacher has his massive size and strength and noble drifter philosophy; Neagley has her haphephobia and daddy issues, plus a top-notch brain, athleticism, and lethal skills, all of which she…

真正的问题在于，斯坦饰演的尼格利——作为《侠探杰克》中最有趣的常驻角色——是否拥有足够强大的角色魅力来独挑大梁。里奇拥有庞大的身躯、力量和高尚的流浪者哲学；而尼格利则拥有触碰恐惧症和原生家庭问题，外加顶尖的头脑、运动天赋和致命的格斗技巧，所有这些……