In ABC’s Missing, a former CIA agent named Rebecca Winstone (Ashley Judd) travels to Europe in search of her son Michael (Nick Eversman) who’s disappeared while on a summer internship in Italy.
She’ll use any means necessary to get her son back but will enough viewers want to follow along? Will the show be cancelled before she can find her boy?
Here’s what some critics are saying about Missing:
NY Daily News: “Rome isn’t conquered in a day, even by Becca, and watching Missing will require a commitment, not occasional whim. As drama it has a few holes and clearly a lot of backstory that will unspool at its own pace. Some of the action scenes, in keeping with special-effects tradition, are filmed in near-darkness. But the narrative is crisp, fast and easy to follow, and in the end the real issue is pretty simple: Do we like Becca Winstone enough to follow her every week down a long and bloody winding road?”
Boston Herald: “The mix of soccer mom and expert operative can turn funny: Becca interrupts her own interrogation of Michael’s girlfriend to scold her about smoking. Judd, who serves as series co-executive producer, makes for a surprisingly convincing action hero. It’s when she stops to emote in full mommy mode that the show drags. Missing might as well be about Becca’s identity crisis. ‘I am not CIA! I am a mother looking for her son,’ she protests. For this series’ sake, here’s hoping Becca finds her son soon and realizes her true calling is rescuing the rest of the world — or at least the eight o’clock hour.”
Washington Post: “Missing is certainly no 24, but like that show, it prefers action at points where it could really stand to slow down and build out a slightly more creative story. It’s the very definition of a guilty-pleasure series, which ABC is getting good at, but it’s also a reminder of how far we’ve fallen since the more complex Alias days. You know how some people can get their father a spy novel and a sweater every Christmas — and he’s always satisfied? This is just his kind of show.”
LA Times: “She can say, “I’m not a spy, I’m just a mother looking for her son” as often as she wants (and she does, with wearisome regularity), but since Judd makes it so difficult to engage with her character, Becca’s quest becomes less, rather than more, emotionally evocative. What viewers are left with, then, are some excellent fight and chase scenes, an outstanding supporting cast (who, alas, only highlight the main character’s deficiencies) and a lot of truly beautiful location work. It may be enough, but it could, and should, have been so much more.”
USA Today: “Judd is certainly a game action star. But like many Hollywood stars her age, male and female, a certain plasticity has seeped in that damages both the character and her abilities as an actor. Whether through natural or artificial means, her face often appears to be immobile. And beyond the distractions, which include wondering how it can be possible that Becca has fewer wrinkles than her son, it limits her performance range. The scenery is pretty, though, and it’s not supposed to move. You’ll have to decide if that’s enough.”
NY Times: “The fights and action sequences are good by TV standards, and there’s a bit of classic international thriller ambiance, courtesy of location filming in the Czech Republic and a few scenes that actually appear to have been shot in Rome and Paris. Mostly it has Ms. Judd, who, with a mightily clenched jaw and the help of some excellent stunt doubles, is surprisingly credible as a starched, middle-aged action figure battling unknown kidnappers, every intelligence agency in Europe, her former C.I.A. handlers and, most critically, her own maternal instincts, which alternately help and hinder her.”
Hollywood Reporter: “Eventually, Missing stops demanding that it be taken so seriously. Your eyes are in for a treat, and Judd grows on you. Some of the hokey plotting fades into the background after that… If you want an hour of escapism and entertainment each week — and why wouldn’t you? — credit ABC for making an hour disappear into thin air.”
Newsday: “Nice locales (Paris! Rome!), a couple of decent action sequences… but otherwise a tepid potboiler over-seasoned with too many spy tropes and a plot with too many gaping holes.”
What do you think? Does Missing sound like it’s worth watching? If you’ve seen it, will you tune in again?
Image courtesy ABC.
I love Ashley Judd in Missing!! It’s the first new show i have enjoyed in 10 years! I love Ashley in most things especially in dramatic or action films so Ashley Judd was the main reason i started watching it – but then I also grew to love the action, scenary, other characters, twists and turns!!! It is definately worth watching and i love her character!!!Please continue with the show!!!
My husband and I love Ashley Judd in Missing. Why would you cancel a great series? Aren’t there enough bad shows on the air? This was a truly great show and we will miss it. Please bring it back!!!
Amazing show! My favourite. Ashley Judd never disappoints! Hoping this show gets renewed. Don’t cancel excellent programming.
Keep it…my whole family watches
Missing is one of the best, most exciting shows on TV. Please don’t cancel it!
Missing is one of the best shows on tv. Please don’t cancel it!
I love this show. I look forward to watching it each week. I actually have my husband watching it with me! Please do not cancel the show.
I can not believe that this show will be cancelled. What do you have to do to keep it on the air. ?
Finally a show that is worth watching. It would be a mistake to cancel!
This show is awesome, my girlfriends all love it & cannot wait until the next week. Please do not cancel this show ABC & replace it with some boring sitcom or ridiculous “reality” show!!! Also, I wish all the critics of Ashley Judd would just lay off, it’s refreshing to see a woman in hollywood age gracefully! Find something meaningful to complain about!
love the show it rocks
I love this show. It is one of the few “must see this” I am intent on watching weekly.
I hope it comes back with some variation to the theme.
We love Missing – it is a female Jack Bauer. Why would you cancel such a good show? Please reconsider.
I have never been one for series shows..till Missing. This was the one show I couldn’t wait to watch every week. So nice to see a strong woman that can handle her own! This show has actualy motivated me to work out and take self defense classes..all positive from Missing. I cried when Rebecca reunited with her son. This show must continue. It would be a big mistake not to.
Please don’t leave us hanging. This is my favorite show of the week and I can’t believe after the cliff hanger you gave us last night you still want to cancel this show!!!