Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Netflix’s Missing You!
The viewers of Netflix’s Missing You have panned the show because of the numerous plot holes and confusing elements that distract from the story. Based on the 2014 eponymous novel by New York Times best-selling author Harlan Coben, the show follows a police detective named Kat Donovan who reinvestigates her father’s murder once her ex-fiance (who left following the death) reappears on a dating app. Based on Missing You’s excellent cast and interesting premise, viewers engaged with the show expecting a decent mystery story.
Unfortunately, audience members quickly took to social media to express their frustration and upset. Missing You is far from the first mystery show to require a suspension of disbelief. However, the Netflix miniseries fails by pushing it too far. For the story to make sense, the audience must buy into contradictory plot details and nonsensical character decisions.
Critics were more positive about Netflix’s Missing You than the audience, as the show holds a 52% Tomatometer score compared to the 27% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes.
8
The Catfish Pushed Kat Away Without Knowing Anything About Her
The Show Contradicts Itself Regarding The Messages Between Kat And The Catfish
In the first episode of Missing You, Kat Donovan gets blocked by her ex-fiance’s dating website account immediately after sending him the song “Missing You” by John Waite and a flirty message about not missing him at all. Then, in Missing You episode 4, the man working with Titus says that he blocked the account because she was “asking too many questions.” He proceeds to show the exact same message exchange as Kat had in episode 1.
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This narrative inconsistency brings attention to the fact that the Catfish account pushed Kat away without knowing anything about her. Her message didn’t make it explicitly clear that she knew the man in the picture in the past, she didn’t ask him any suspicious questions, and they didn’t know that she was a police detective. As such, there’s no internal explanation for why they blocked Kat. It simply moved the plot forward.
7
Nobody Mentions That There’s A String Of Disappearances Linked To The Dating App
The Police Seem Unaware That Eight Missing People Are Connected To The Dating App
Many plot elements of Missing You would have made sense if the show was set in the past, but they don’t fit into current technology, societal attitudes, and systems. A great example of this is the fact that the police don’t realize there’s a string of disappearances linked to the music dating website or the puppy mill. In the mystery show, Titus has eight people on his farm that he kidnapped. The flashback where Clint adopts a puppy implies that the scam of extorting, kidnapping, and murdering people has gone on for at least eleven years.
With these things in mind, there’s zero reason why the police shouldn’t have recognized the string of disappearances sooner. Titus wasn’t going after the most marginalized communities. He seems to be going after affluent people, many of whom had families that would’ve reported them missing. Even if some didn’t have families, the kidnappings only work if the audience believes that nobody noticed a person had disappeared.
At least two victims were from the same area. If more came from Kat’s city, that would offer an even bigger trail. Even if they were from different locations, systems now exist for police in an area to communicate across precincts. It seems outrageous that the police wouldn’t have clocked the pattern sooner.
6
Clint Has An LGBTQ+-Affirming Family But Is Willing To Murder To Stay Closeted
Clint’s Motivation For Murder Feels Completely Out Of Place
The way Missing You handles LGBTQ+ issues is great in some ways and terrible in others. Unfortunately, the Clint part of the storyline feels like a headscratcher. The show needs audiences to believe that a cisgender man in 2013 with an LGBTQ+-affirming family and no obvious religious affiliations who is living in a metropolitan area with a community that accepts an openly trans woman would feel that murder is better than coming out.
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If he lived in a different time or place or had a different cultural background, his attitude would make more sense. However, as it is, Reddit users who watched the show have pointed out that the story and attitudes feel anachronistic. Ultimately, this issue could be rooted in the source material. The book on which the Netflix series is based came out in 2014.
If Clint had been murdered 11 years before, that would be 2003, and he was with Parker for 14 years, placing the start of their relationship in 1989. This timeframe makes much more sense when looking at the attitudes around LGBTQ+ people than in a modern setting. Unfortunately, despite updating Aqua in a positive way, the writers didn’t bother to update crucial parts of Clint’s story from Harlan Coben’s Missing You novel when putting it onscreen.
5
The Detective Investigators Didn’t Find DNA On Clint’s Body
Clint Attacked Aqua Before His Death, So Her DNA Should Have Been On Him
One plot hole in Missing You is the fact that Clint’s murder coverup went on for so long without more people at the police precinct knowing. By the end of the mystery miniseries, it’s revealed that DCI Ellis Stagger helped Josh cover up the murder of Clint so that everyone could move on with their lives. However, nobody else seems to be aware of what really happened.
This doesn’t make sense, though. DCI Ellis Stagger wasn’t the person in charge of the murder investigation. Another one of Kat’s bosses says that he’s the one who talked to Leburne and found the knife at his house, making it seem like he took charge during the murder investigation.
Additionally, they did enough investigation to find other fingerprints on the murder weapon. With these things in mind, they should have found trace DNA from Aqua and Josh on Clint’s body. If they did, more people would need to be involved in the coverup.
4
Nobody Contacted Parker For 11 Years After Clint’s Murder
The Timeline In Missing You Seems Implausible
Many details in Missing You’s story seem highly unlikely and too coincidental. A prime example of this is the fact that Kat is the first person to search out Parker, Clint’s lover, eleven years after the murder. This isn’t an indictment of Kat’s mother because she had a good reason to ignore her husband’s male lover. She explains that it was easier for her to look the other way. However, it seems weird that the police didn’t talk to Parker about the murder, even if just to notify him about the death.
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Parker says he’s been waiting for someone to come knocking when Kat arrives at his apartment. The show presents it like everyone at the police station knew about the affair, and the relationship lasted for 14 years. It’s perplexing that they would just completely ignore Clint’s long-term boyfriend during the investigation and aftermath.
3
Titus Setting His Farm On Fire Brings More Attention To Him, Not Less
Titus’ Actions Do The Opposite Of Their Intended Purpose
At the end of Missing You, Titus sets his farm on fire, seemingly to cover up the extortion and murders he’s been committing. However, this decision is a bit of a headscratcher. He knows that Kat might be suspecting him of a crime. Firefighters look for signs of arson. Even though arson detection is an inexact science, there would’ve been noticeable signs that petrol was used to start the fire. Consequently, Titus burning down the farm surely would have brought more attention to him, not less.
Moreover, the farmhands are shown disposing of the bodies in an incinerator. Bones don’t fully burn, so the increased attention could have uncovered the human bones or bone fragments of his victims. So, his choice to burn the farm would’ve served as a catalyst for him getting caught. Ultimately, it might not be a plothole, but the decision is, at the very least, confusing and foolish on the part of Titus – a man who is smart enough to cover up his crimes from the start.
2
The Technology Barriers In Missing You Make No Sense
Everyone In Missing You Seems Unaware Of Basic Technology Concepts
The tech barriers of Missing You make virtually no sense, and the lack of internet footprint for the dating website is just one example. The police in Missing You try to trace the conversations between Rishi and a woman he met on a dating website, but they hit a dead end because the website is air-tight. However, they never attempt to trace the IP address, a blatantly obvious detail that could have pointed them in the right direction.
In another example, Charlie could locate the fact that Josh’s daughter set up the Facebook profile but couldn’t find him. The police investigator never asks for or looks at the IP address attached to the account, which would have identified the approximate location. He also doesn’t look into the identity of the child who registered the account.
Plus, they don’t even look at the email attached to the Facebook account, which might have given them a traceable name. There are just so many steps they could have taken, but instead, the show acts like it’s the 1990s. Considering the Harlan Coben adaptation is set in the modern day, a police investigator trained in digital forensics should have had more answers
1
Stacey And Kat Couldn’t Find Josh Anytime In The Past Decade
A PI And Detective Should Have Easily Located Josh
The most obvious and egregious plot hole within Missing You is the fact that Kat is agonized by the fact that she lost Josh without any explanation, but she and her Private Investigator best friend, Stacey, haven’t bothered to find him anytime in the past decade. Stacey brags about the fact that she’s the best PI, discovering any information on anyone. Kat has access to all the police resources as a lead detective.
Between the two, they should have been able to locate Josh. It’s not as if he moved out of the area or went into witness protection; he was only miles away. They would have known about his fight much sooner if they just bothered to look, considering Stacey found it within a day or two. Josh also should never have stayed hidden, given the fact that marriages and most name changes are public records in the UK.
Realistically, this whole show could have ended before it even began. With Stacey’s PI knowledge and Kat’s resources, they could have given Kat closure instead of making her suffer with the lack of knowledge. Unfortunately, Missing You offers no reasonable answer as to why Kat stays completely in the dark about his location, his marital status, or his child.
- Release Date
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January 1, 2025
- Network
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Netflix
- Cast
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Rosalind Eleazar
- Character(s)
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Kat Donovan
, Stacey Embalo
, Ellis Stagger
, Clint Donovan
, Titus
, Monte Leburne
, Sally Steiner
, Dana Fells
, Aqua - Producers
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Daniel Brocklehurst
, Nicola Shindler
, Harlan Coben
, Richard Fee - Seasons
-
1
- Writers
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Victoria Asare=Archer
- Directors
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Sean Spencer
