ABC's 'Missing' Premiere Reviews: Great Action, Reservations on Judd, Character
Critics gave the premiere episode of ABC's new action-drama series 'Missing' mixed reviews lauding its action sequences but expressing some reservations about lead actress Ashley Judd, and the character she plays, a mother who is an ex-CIA agent on a quest to find her kidnapped son.
The series which premiered Thursday night follows Becca Winstone (Judd) as viewers learn in the episode's opening flashback sequence that her fellow CIA agent husband died in a car explosion as their son watches.
The event prompts Becca to dedicate herself to raising her son. Ten years pass and the now college age son goes missing in Rome. After a week without being able to contact him she begins her action-packed search.
The series will last 10 episodes.
New York Daily News reviewer David Hinckley says that for viewers, "watching 'Missing' will require a commitment, not occasional whim."
He says Judd is playing two characters "who are just different enough so it's sometimes hard for both of them to fit comfortably on the same screen."
"We like her, but we're not always sure who she is - Mom or the Baddest Becca in the West," he writes.
LA Times TV critic Mary Mcnamara says, citing Judd's "expressionless" delivery of her lines, "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."
KenTucker of Entertainment Weekly says Judd "was best when she wasn't speaking - when, indeed, she was delivering sharp elbows and chin-strikes to guys attacking her."
Tucker said he was expecting "some glint that Becca might, after committing to the agony of find her son, possess some wry self-awareness that, then years on, here she was doing battle with baddies once again."
He said the story by screenwriter and series creator Greogy Poirier generated "minimal suspense."
"You sensed very early on that you were in for some action scenes, some Becca-reconnects-with-old-colleagues scenes, and a cliffhanger that in no way possible would even hint that Michael might be rescued anytime soon."
"The series jumps to another country next week, and that one is almost interchangeable with this week's debut. I wish Ashley Judd had herself a better show," he writes.
