What's it about?
Ever since Michael saw his father Paul blown up when he was just 8-years-old, Becca has always been a tad overprotective. But she couldn't say no to Michael's amazing opportunity to study in Rome. Just a few weeks into his trip, however, Michael disappears. Becca flies to Rome for answers, but no one takes her seriously -- so she takes matters into her own hands. You see, Becca isn't just a mother looking for her son. Both she and Michael's father used to be lethal CIA agents, and whoever took Michael messed with the wrong mother. Now, if Becca wants to find her son alive, she will have to rely on old friends and reopen old wounds. Her resourcefulness, skill and determination will be put to the test -- but a mother's love knows no limits.
You should watch if...
• you're looking for a weekly fast-paced action fix.
• you enjoy the globe-trotting plots and hand-to-hand fights of the BOURNE films.
• you want to see the ever-amazing yet ever-mortal Sean Bean die in yet another TV show/movie.
So, how was it?
I was cautiously looking forward to this series, knowing that Ashley Judd is a very capable actress, that Sean Bean would be making at least a brief appearance, and that it would be fast-paced and action-heavy. The pilot almost lived up to my expectations, although my biggest concern going forward is how the show will sustain itself over a multi-season run (if it were to garner one...it may yet be a moot point).
Ashley Judd does indeed bring the kick-ass as Becca Winstone, the ex-CIA mother of a son gone missing while studying abroad. She is simultaneously worried, determined, furious, sad, and bad-ass. She cries over photos of Michael and strangles a baddie with an electric cord with equal aplomb. Sadly, the rest of the cast can't quite keep up with her. Cliff Curtis is passable but unremarkable as the CIA man ordered to bring Becca in. Adriano Giannini is a walking Italian cliché as Becca's former contact and ex-lover.
Sean Bean appears in the opening sequence as Becca's husband and Michael's father before being quickly dispatched. However, he is listed as a regular cast member, and evidence points to him being featured heavily in flashbacks throughout the series. You don't cast Sean Bean unless you want two things: A) a badass mofo to kick some ass and take some names, and B) a good death scene. (Here's a compilation of Sean Bean dying in 21 different movies.) He's already completed the latter requirement, and now we need to see him fulfill the first. I theorize that his character, Paul, will turn out to be much more important than we think (i.e. not even actually dead and possibly behind the kidnapping). That's just the kind of twist the writers of the show would think is clever.
And that's the problem. We've seen this a thousand times before. Gregory Poirier, the show's creator, is the writer of such illustrious movies as A SOUND OF THUNDER (the horrendous Ray Bradbury adaptation), THE SPY NEXT DOOR (the Jackie Chan family action flick) and NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS (no explanation necessary). This is his first foray into television, and he fills it with all the cliché twists and turns we've come to expect from NATIONAL TREASURE, THE DA VINCI CODE, TAKEN, and all the other international-scavenger-hunt knock-offs we've seen in the past decade. He tries to imbue it with a sense of realistic danger lifted from the BOURNE series, but it just turns the whole episode into a series of interchangeable scenes serving no purpose but to steer Becca towards the next fight. How Mr. Poirier chose to end the first episode is hugely indicative of his sense of the dramatic (spoilers obviously): Becca gets shot and falls off a bridge into the Seine. Ooh, I wonder what's going to happen next?! Clearly he didn't just off his protagonist at the end of the pilot, so where's the suspense in that "twist?" It's just another cliché roadblock in Becca's path to finding her son. (End spoilers)
Rating:
** Okay. I may give it another episode or two to see if it gets better.
The only reason I may be tuning in again is for some more kick ass Ashley Judd and to see if Sean Bean gets any increased screen time. However, I'm afraid the show will be unable to sustain itself over the long haul. Would I pay to see a movie starring Ashley Judd as a mother searching for her son? Absolutely. Will I commit myself week after week to watching her do the same thing? Maybe not. With no promise to end Becca's emotional trauma anytime soon, the show could quickly get exhausting to watch. You know what would make me keep watching? If Becca were to suddenly find her son less than halfway through this season and the show were then to turn out to be about something completely different and bigger (i.e. Paul). Now that would be interesting.
Unfortunately, with MISSING premiering even blow the numbers for the already-cancelled-by-ABC CHARLIE'S ANGELS, we likely won't ever find out what kind of show MISSING could have turned out to be.
Your turn, Fellow Addicts! Were you sucked in by Becca's story? Or have you seen it all before? Will you be tuning in again? Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments!
(For the complete rundown of when all the new shows are premiering, check out my 2012 Midseason TV Preview.)
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