“Missing” stars Ashley Judd as a MILF and former CIA superspy who finds herself chasing and beating up overseas bad guys in an effort to find her kidnapped teen. It was created by screenwriter Gregory Poirier (whose credits include “Gossip,” “See Spot Run,” “Tomcats,” “A Sound of Thunder,” and the 2010 Jackie Chan vehicle “The Spy Next Door”).
It plays like it was pitched as a distaff “Taken,” and it comes off a lot like “Alias,” only without the sci-fi, comedy, cool plot twists and interesting characters. (It also evokes slightly NBC’s short-lived Bad Robot effort “Undercovers” -- only with an ex-agent who owns a flower shop instead of a catering business.)
The first two episodes are enormously predictable. And if Sean Bean’s “deceased” CIA dad isn’t behind the kidnapping? I’ll eat kibble out of my poodle’s dish.
Especially since it’s on opposite “Big Bang Theory” and “American Idol,” I would not expect it to survive past its 10-episode first season. (“Charlie’s Angels” only survived to a 7th episode in the same slot.)
... So what we have here is your basic Ashley Judd thriller grafted onto the plot of “Taken.” It's not deep, but it offers exactly what it promises: action, lots of fierce emoting by Judd, and frequent reminders that while Ashley Judd is an ex-spy looking for her son across various beautiful European landmarks, she's also a mother whom women 18-49 who enjoy "Modern Family" and "Grey's Anatomy" might enjoy having coffee with.…
... isn’t a particularly good show. The dialogue is mostly wooden, and the plot, through two episodes, is standard spy-story stuff. It doesn’t try for anything like the juicy excess of “Revenge,” and it has no sheerly enjoyable performance like Gabriel Mann’s as that show’s needy billionaire. But it has its pleasures and grace notes, like those practical yet impractical sandals, or Becca’s taking time out from grilling her son’s Italian girlfriend to lecture her about the evils of smoking. …
... Unfortunately, Ashley Judd is not Liam Neeson, nor is she Angelina Jolie, and the most promising aspect of the show — Sean Bean as her husband and CIA colleague, Paul — appears to get killed off quite early. … 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.
... I’m all for suspending my disbelief, but “Missing” wants me to take my disbelief, put it in a rocket and send it to Jupiter. Judd is a talented actress, but I just can’t buy this Muay Thai momster who goes around head-butting trained killers. … The acting is solid, the scenery is appealing and Becca’s quest to find her son provides a fair bit of dramatic tension. But what’s really missing is credibility.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... Sloppy in its details and overwrought in its dialogue, ABC’s “Missing” is like a bad Lifetime movie blown up into a weekly series. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… somewhat preposterous, but not in the way you might expect … If U.S. and European intelligence is as inefficient as portrayed here, we're all in big trouble. But watching the show, you tend to go along with the story because Judd is so compelling and because director Stephen Shill paces the action like mini-"Bourne Identities" - lots of quick cuts, loud fight scenes and jerky camera angles. …
... fairly stylish and almost gleefully trite … 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. …
... 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. …
… It may not be groundbreaking, but for Judd fans, Missing isn't the worst way to lose an hour.…
... a supremely silly series that takes itself incredibly seriously ... Let's just say that no matter how fast Becca runs, most of the time you'll still be ahead of her. …
… 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.
Put simply, "Missing" is a gender-swapping version of "Taken," the cathartic thriller in which a young girl's abduction unleashed her father, played by Liam Neeson, to kill everyone until she's rescued. Yet if the movie represented a 90-minute exercise in economy, the new ABC drama promises to stretch a mother's quest over 10 episodes, without much in the way of wit or surprises. Ashley Judd plays the former CIA operative seeking her son -- think "Alias" a couple of decades later -- but while the kid's lost, the first two hours make a poor case for the show being found. …
8 p.m. Thursday. ABC.
