Missing You is bingeable but overstuffed

There is a certain kind of show that hits the spot after a couple of weeks of festive indulgence, the sort with a straightforward plot, easy-to-remember characters, and a minimal number of episodes—and one that’s forgiving if you take a five-minute nap in the middle of any given installment.

Netflix’s new thriller Missing You is hoping to be that type of show. Adapted from the Harlan Coben novel of the same name, this is the latest entry into the streamer’s Harlan Coben Collection (consisting of eight shows, excluding Missing You, although it’s likely most people are only really aware of Fool Me Once). Like with the Fool Me Once adaptation, this new series transplants the action from America to the U.K. (Book fans might find this move noticeable, but for anyone coming straight into the show, everything should feel natural here.) 

In Missing You, plots intertwine and diverge, all revolving around missing persons detective Kat Donovan (Rosalind Eleazar). When Kat matches with her ex-fiancé Josh (Ashley Walters) on a dating app, eleven years after he ghosted her, she’s thrown. Re-investigating her police officer father’s murder—thanks to the terminal illness of his killer Monte Lebrun (Marc Warren)—on her own time and the case of two missing people on work time, Kat discovers possible links to Josh, making it imperative that she find him.

It sounds a little more complicated than it actually is, and Missing You is in fact pretty adept at setting up its premise and protagonist immediately. Episode one opens with a jarring scene of a panicked man on a horse in a dark rural landscape that’s intercut with soft-focus moments of a blonde woman. The man, we later discover, is Rishi Magari (Rudi Dharmalingam), and he’s missing, although the show’s initial focus on him is slightly misleading. He’s shoved aside pretty fast for the second missing person, Dana Fells (Lisa Faulkner), who’s introduced later in the show’s run. 

Kat’s introduction, right after Rishi’s, is designed to tell you exactly who she is: charming, sexy, funny, clever, independent. As she has drinks with a gym bro (Busted’s Matt Willis, much to the delight of thirtysomething British women everywhere) and then stops a knife attack in the pub’s kitchen, Missing You sends the message that this is a woman not to be messed with and that she’s going to go after what she wants. Eleazar’s performance is excellent, both as present-day Kat—focused, loving, and yet slightly emotionally closed off—and in flashback, where she’s sparkling and filled with joy.

Surrounding Kat is a network of friends and family. Her mother Odette (Bridget Zengeni) and her “aunties” are fun to watch, and it’s easy to see why they’re such a solid support system for each other. Kat’s friends Stacey (Jessica Plummer) and Aqua (Mary Malone) are initially presented as independent and interesting, but unfortunately soon become fairly one note and in service of Kat’s obsession with tracking down Josh and her father’s real killer, which is a waste of both actors. Stacey’s private-investigator job has her swanning in and out of scenes in various costumes trying to ensnare cheating partners, as if she’s a bad 1990s-rom-com friend, while helping Kat with her investigations on the side. Meanwhile, if Aqua isn’t sitting in a bar or leading a yoga session, she’s looking suspicious and clearly hiding a Really Big Secret. 

Secrets are, of course, the bread and butter of a show like Missing You, but at times it feels like there are far too many. Josh, Aqua, Stacey, Odette, Kat’s boss Stagger, and even Kat’s mum Odette and dad Clint (Sir Lenny Henry) are or were all hiding something. Thrillers need a secret or two, but having every character keep something from Kat is excessive and lessens the impact of the show’s key mysteries.

And that’s before the series even gets to its “villains,” a group of guys led by the creepy dog breeder Titus (Steve Pemberton), who Kat is investigating (unbeknownst to her). No animals are harmed, which is the best thing that can be said about this plot-line. It’s unrealistic, and that’s saying something when it comes to a TV thriller. And when it finally concludes, there are too many unanswered questions, all of which poke holes in this story. While Missing You does connect Kat’s case to her investigations into Josh tangentially, it often feels like watching two different television shows unfold.

Where the series succeeds is in its performances, which are strongest among the older and more experienced cast members. Even through flashbacks in which he’s largely silent, British comedy legend Henry is charismatic and draws attention any time he’s on-screen. James Nesbitt really only appears in one scene, as crime boss Callighan, and yet is enjoying himself so much that an entire show revolving around him wouldn’t be unwelcome. Warren, again only appearing properly for one scene, is satisfyingly unsettling as alleged cop killer Monte Leburn, while Zengeni as Odette exudes warmth and love and is exactly the kind of person everyone aspires to be later in life.

Despite all of the complications mentioned above, at a short five episodes (all of which are around the 45-minute mark), Missing You is easy viewing. Netflix is counting on it being a binge watch for New Year’s Day, when tiredness, a possible hangover, and a potential return to real life all require nothing more taxing than sitting in front of the TV. And it should rack up some big viewership numbers because of that, if nothing else. 

 Missing You premieres January 1 on Netflix