Harlan Coben’s latest TV adaptation gives star Rosalind Eleazar little to do but tries to keep an exciting pace
“I don’t miss you at all. »
Celebrated author Harlan Coben is known in the literary world for writing detective novels with tantalizing characters and premises that challenge readers’ notions of reality. His books have been adapted for the small screen in recent years, primarily through Netflix, many of which feature actor Richard Armitage in some capacity. Its latest Netflix adaptation, produced by Coben, “Missing You,” follows a similar formula in a five-episode limited series that aims for quality but falls short in the mystery department.
“Missing You” stars British actress Rosalind Eleazar as Detective Kat Donovan, a hard-nosed investigator with a lot of emotional baggage. Having lost her father in a gruesome murder years ago, Kat is determined to live out his legacy by throwing herself into police work. She focuses on solving multiple cases at once, earning her the respect of her colleagues and a department that still reveres her father’s work as a fellow police officer.
Eager to move on with her personal life, Kat downloads a dating app and instantly connects with local single men. Surprisingly, one of those matches is Kat’s ex-boyfriend Josh (Ashley Walters). The kicker? Kat’s ex disappeared suspiciously from her life over a decade ago, leaving no trace of him.
As her past begins to materialize again in the present, Kat finds herself at a crossroads between her personal struggles and her attempt to impress her boss (Armitage). She confronts her father’s killer as he lies dying in prison, only to expose more confusing elements of an ongoing saga. A murder thought solved years ago may have been carried out by someone else.
But who could have killed his father? Why has her boyfriend ghosted her for over 10 years? Is everyone involved in a massive cover-up? Who can she trust? And why does a creepy, uptight dog breeder (Steve Pemberton) emerge from the fray with the key to solving all his puzzles?
The answers to these questions, and more, appear in “Missing You,” rarely in a satisfying way. Harlan Coben’s latest TV adaptation is a jumble of subplots that focus on multiple disappearances simultaneously, as Kat discovers that the many men in her life are constantly betraying her. She is on a crusade to uncover the truth about her father’s possible corrupt intentions and her ex-boyfriend’s potential involvement, while investigating several cases involving other missing people.
Simply put, there are an absurd number of “disappearances” to keep track of, but they could all be linked to each other.
“Missing You,” much like Coben’s other Netflix projects, “The Stranger” and “Safe,” involves convoluted storytelling that leaves the main character with very little to work with in his quest for the truth. There always seems to be a final twist in the very last episode of these types of shows, and “Missing You” is no different. The twist ending attempts to wrap everything up in a neat bow, but the gift is never as rewarding as the journey to unwrap it.
Rosalind Eleazar does a fantastic job with the material she’s given, leaving ample space for Kat’s angst and traveling to the past in order to convey a troubled woman about to open the crime-ridden box of Pandora. The series understands the limitations of telling a compelling story in five episodes, without ever filling it with fluff but rather getting straight to the point. This structure appears fearless in its approach to keeping the principle running quickly.
Still, some problems arise, like when Kat and Josh pair up on the dating app immediately after she downloads it — a truly remarkable turn of events that leads her to seek out the truths hidden from her.
Quick flashbacks of Kat and Josh on the same karaoke stage to the tune of John Waite’s “Missing You” don’t replace the essence of their past romance. The series, adapted from the 2014 novel of the same name, never lives up to the promise that this relationship was worth fighting for. Uncovering the truth about Josh’s whereabouts and his father’s murder, secrets are revealed to Kat in surprising, but often forgettable, ways, largely due to the lack of villains with concrete motives and a final ending that you could see coming from a mile away.
“Missing You” premieres Wednesday, January 1 on Netflix.
