Prolific writer Harlan Coben’s novels have been adapted to television in series like Prime Video’s “Harlan Coben’s Shelter,” Netflix’s “The Stranger” and most recently, the streamer’s megahit “Fool Me Once.” Despite being a bit absurd, the show became a viral hit at the top of last year. Now, Coben’s streak continues with Netflix’s latest mystery thriller, “Missing You.” Adapted to television by Victoria Asare-Archer, the five-part limited series is shocking, engaging and revelatory from the beginning to the final scene. The show reminds us that although it’s natural to desire answers to questions, accepting the truth is something else entirely.
Set in the U.K., “Missing You” follows Detective Inspector Kat Donovan (an exemplary Rosalind Eleazar), who leads the Missing Persons department. Tenacious and strong-willed, Kat is hyper-focused on her career. However, her romantic life isn’t quite as robust. After being prodded by her best friends Aqua (Mary Malone) and Stacey (Jessica Plummer), she joins a dating app to put herself back out there. However, things take a sharp turn when Kat stumbles on the dating profile of her ex-fiancé Josh (Ashley Walters). Encountering an ex can be a triggering experience, but for Kat, who was ghosted by Josh more than a decade ago, it brings up long-buried feelings.
As Kat decides what to do about Josh’s random emergence, she is also reeling from the news that her father’s murderer, Monte Leburne (Marc Warren), is dying of cancer. Kat’s dad, Detective Sargent Clint Donovan (Lenny Henry,) was killed in the line of duty several years earlier. With Monte clinging to life, Kat is determined to see him and get answers about why he killed her father. As the past bubbles toward the present, “Missing You” showcases a woman trying to reconcile her shifting perceptions of the men she thought she knew while working on two bizarre cases: a vanished professor and a missing single mother.
Beautifully paced, with no scene or word of dialogue wasted, “Missing You” unfurls several mysteries as Kat works doggedly to piece together fragments of her past. Still grappling with the loss of her father and the shock of being abandoned by her fiancé, Eleazar’s Kat illustrates how loss and anguish infuse and settle into our lives, never really leaving, no matter how hard we work to move forward. Moreover, though Kat and her emotional turmoil are at the center of this tale, “Missing You” unpacks how communities and friendships can impact how various events are perceived and why good and evil exist on a sliding scale.
While the conundrums surrounding Josh’s disappearance and Clint’s death are compelling enough, Asare-Archer carefully weaves in the missing persons cases, which expand to become far more sinister than expected. There are more than a few villains and liars, but the riddles in the storyline are so delicately constructed that the audience is always scrambling to determine the truth.
Intriguing and deeply emotional, “Missing You” is an exhilarating puzzle that follows several lives over the span of a decade. The series explores how deception can eat away at relationships, altering them irrevocably. Though the clues themselves aren’t explosive, kidnappings, ax fights and even a massive fire give the show intensity. The supporting cast is also quite good, specifically Steve Pemberton, who portrays the sinister dog breeder Titus and delivers a performance that could have easily leaned into camp in the wrong hands. Moreover, just when the audience thinks it has learned everything, the narrative shifts in unforeseen directions. Ultimately, it’s clear that no matter how much you may love someone, truly knowing them is a different experience.
“Missing You” premieres on Netflix Jan. 1.
