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.
Please!!!!!!! Keep this show on the air. Absolutely LOVE this show!! One of the best shows on TV right now!! Please do not cancel!!
Dear ABC President,
The TV show Missing is being cancelled ?
The heroine Rebecca Winstone is the female version of Jack Bauer in TV series 24!
All the comments posted on multiple websites indicate Upset with the cancellation of the show. It seemed that the show has a great following.
May be the management of ABC can RECONSIDER their decision.
Thank you for the consideration
Respectfully
Ivan Hronsky MD
Best show on TV. Do not cancel.
BRING THIS SHOW BACK!!!!!….it is the best show on tv!! they need to continue with season 2! There is no show on tv that can measure up to this one!
BRING THIS SHOW BACK!!!!!….it is the best show on tv!! they need to continue with season 2! There is no show on tv that can measure up to this one!
I really like this show and hate the way they ended it when they are not bringing it back.
I love this show, and watch it every week. Ashley Judd is a great actress, and the show has so much intrigue, suspense and different locations. I can’t believe it will be cancelled, is the viewing audience so inept that all they want to watch are unintelligent reality shows. This speaks volumes about the level of intelligence of the American audience—just look at the success of shows like this in Britain…..I would really like to know the reason for cancelling such a wonderful program.
Love this show!! Fast moving, intruiging, and NOT A REALITY SHOW or a dirty comedy!!!!!
Sure hoping it doesn’t get cancelled. Best thing since “24”.
Love this show! Leaves you breathless! Since it’s canceled, it left you hanging at the end with Becca missing. Need another season at least.
i love this how so much i hope the bringet back ther is so much junck on tv
Did they really end the show with Becca injured and missing???? How the crap can they not get another season out of this show?? They have lots more they can explore with this story line – it can’t end like that!! Come on ABC, get real – there are enough reality shows on, give us some action!!!
My Husband and I really enjoyed this show! We hope it continues, were tired of all the reality shows and would love for this one to come back
FINALLY A GREAT SHOW, SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND INTERESTING……THE PLOT’S NOT BORING, ONCE THEY FIND HER SON THEN THE THE HUSBAND/WIFE TEAM COULD TACKLE NEW ESPIONAGE…WHATEVER….BRING IT BACK…..LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS SHOW.
My husband and I love this show. We hate reality TV !!!!
Please do not cancel this program. I love it!