The Missing 02/11/2016

“The devil is in the details”. Very wise words from Julien Baptiste. If you don’t know who I’m talking about then you’ve been living under a rock for the past four weeks. Or possibly for the last two years. Julien Baptiste is the retired and woebegone French detective who is starring again in the second series of Harry and Jack Williams’ drama series, The Missing. 

When the first series of The Missing came into our lives in 2014, I thought I was one of the only people who had heard of it. I’d seen it advertised on TV and when the first episode aired on 28 October 2014, I was signed off work on sick leave with very little on TV to stimulate my brain. By the time the first episode had finished, I was sat in a state of shock. 

Not only had it captured my entire attention for the full hour (and even better, it really was a full hour as there were no pesky adverts) but I was in awe at the brilliant acting, the unpredictable storyline and the chilling questions I had simmering in the back of my mind all week until the next episode aired. 

I quickly found a little group of people on Twitter who all used the hash tag #TheMissing and together, we discussed theories, we formulated answers and we batted ideas back and forth with each other. People quickly cottoned on to the fact that I was keen on the show and I would get messages on Facebook, emails from people in work, tweets from total strangers, all asking me what I thought was going to happen next. I once spent an entire lunch hour discussing the finer details of the previous night’s episode with a person I had never spoken to before as we toyed with ideas and laughed at our old theories for the story. 

Having never really gone in for the overwhelming amount of reality TV available to us, I’ve always scoured the TV guides for any original British dramas. Once I find them, I cancel plans and move things around to make sure that I can watch every episode and more importantly, make sure that I can watch the episode at the very time it airs to the public. I learned the hard way that it’s terrible stumbling across a spoiler for a programme that you haven’t had chance to watch. 

The types of British dramas I’m referring to are the likes of Happy Valley, Broadchurch, Ordinary Lies, Lightfields, Mayday, Paranoid, The Fall, The Level, Scott and Bailey and more recently, programmes such as One of Us and National Treasure. Anything that gets people talking about more than Kim Kardashian’s arse has got to be a good thing and if it’s written well, I generally enjoy it, but there are the odd exceptions to this rule. This may be an unpopular opinion but I really couldn’t get into Downton Abbey. 

I tried! God knows, I tried. I even asked for the box set for a Christmas present and devoted an entire day to lounging about in bed, nursing a stonking hangover, while I watched one episode after another. But I just didn’t get the same buzz from it that I did from other drama series I’d watched. I remember sitting in work on the day that the final episode of Broadchurch aired and I was literally counting down the hours to get home. 

Was this sad? Probably. Was it necessary? Without a doubt.

So, it might sound odd but by the time the very last episode of The Missing aired, I realised that the show had got a huge amount of attention and rightly so. The most refreshing part for me was that the show didn’t conclude in the way we would’ve expected. Thanks to programmes such as Midsomer Murders and Miss Marple, we expect to be almost spoon fed every answer, every clue. The Missing dared to be different. It made us think for ourselves. And even when we thought we’d cracked it, we were still on the edge of our seats. We ended the episode with unanswered questions, for which we suspected we may never know the answers to.

You can imagine how excited I was when my mum sent me a text message saying “Second series of The Missing starts soon – just seen the advert!” 

And here we are. Four episodes in. For years, I’ve toyed with the idea of blogging about the programmes we see on TV and week after week, I could kick myself for not blogging about The Missing. Tonight, I wrote down a few questions that I have following another nail biting episode and as a last minute thing, I decided to Tweet what I’d written. I went downstairs, made a cup of tea, came back and realised my phone was flashing and buzzing. 150 retweets. 500 likes. 214 comments. 300 new followers, all equally obsessed with The Missing.

Oh, I thought. Maybe they’re right. Maybe I should be writing this down properly. After all, that’s what I do with anything I’m thinking about, struggling with, confused over. So, here we go. Please note that the following comments made are simply my own thoughts and my own theories. None of this is to be taken seriously, nor is it gospel. I might make mistakes with my knowledge of the series so far. After all, I’ve only seen the same episodes as you. If I do make a mistake, apologies – please let me know if this is the case. 

More importantly, if you don’t want to come across any spoilers, this is your warning. Do not read ahead. 

Okay. So, in the first few episodes, we discovered that Alice Webster was a British teenager living on a military base in Germany when she went missing in 2003. In 2014, a young woman stumbled into the German Christmas markets and collapsed on the floor. She was emaciated, she was barely conscious and, most notoriously, she had lips drier than the Sahara desert. When being transported to hospital by ambulance, the paramedic questioned her and the only words the young woman spoke were “Sophie Giroux”. 

In time, we learned that the young woman was Alice Webster and although we might have expected that her return to her family would’ve been a joyous affair, her family (and particularly her mother) were wary. Mr Webster put his daughter’s nervous energy down to the simple fact that she had been held hostage for eleven years. Mrs Webster described Alice as being “different” to what she had remembered.

At this point, we are re-introduced to the fabulous Julien Baptiste, the retired detective hired by Mr Hughes in the first series to help find his missing son. The Hughes story has no relation to the Webster story. The only link between the two series is Julien and as time goes on, we discover that Julien was the lead detective in a different case of a missing girl years before. This girl’s name was Sophie Giroux. 

We also learn that Sophie’s mother committed suicide in front of Julien, something which Sophie’s father had never gotten over and appeared to blame Julien for. In the second episode, it becomes clear that during the investigation of Sophie’s disappearance, Julien either suggested or accused Sophie’s father of having some involvement and that perhaps this was the cause of Sophie’s mother’s suicide. 

Julien contacts the German military police who are investigating Alice’s return. The police are uninterested in his help and shoo him away. The main police officer we meet is heavily pregnant Eve Stone, whose father also works in the military. 

I should probably point out here that in typical The Missing style, the story isn’t just set in 2014. Oh no. It jumps from 2014 to present day. The only way we can differentiate between the two times is on the characters’ appearances. For example, in 2014, Eve is heavily pregnant but in present day, she is not. In 2014, Julien is relatively healthy but in present day, his health has rapidly deteriorated and he later declares that he has a brain tumour. 

It becomes apparent early on that Julien suspects that something is fishy regarding Alice’s return and he isn’t quite as protective of her as everyone else is. In the second episode, this is confirmed when Julien accuses her of not being Alice Webster but actually being Sophie Giroux. Alice leads the military police to the location where she has been held hostage for eleven years and upon investigation of the area (a deserted war bunker in the depths of a murky forest), Julien finds a receipt half hidden by mud and guck. 

The police use the information on the receipt to trace a butcher, who is instantly arrested, despite protesting his innocence. The butcher’s wife, seemingly totally unaware of her husband keeping two girls captive for over a decade, is later brutally attacked by two masked men.

At this point, I’ll switch over to present day. Mr Webster is covered in scars that look as if he has been horrifically burnt at some point between Alice returning and present day. He is also undergoing serious counselling as it appears the army have signed him off sick. Mr Webster is engaging in a sexual relationship with the now not pregnant Eve. And yes, he’s still married to Mrs Webster, who later discovers their affair by spying a pen her husband picked up from the hotel they frequent for their sordid business. 

Matthew Webster, Alice’s brother, has totally gone off the rails. He is hanging around with two bald twins, not doing anything particularly horrific, but recklessly causing trouble in supermarket car parks. At one point, we see Matthew becoming aggressive with the butcher’s wife – who is sporting a scar on her top lip. Matthew also visits the butcher, the man charged with the abduction and imprisonment of his sister, in prison and delivers a message to him which Alice has asked him to deliver. 

The message is “I’m sorry”.

We also learn at this point that Alice has died. Initially, we don’t know how but in the third episode (I’ve gone back to 2014 here) Alice asks her brother Matthew to lock her in the shed so she can sleep. Don’t be alarmed. This is usual practice for Alice and Matthew does it, albeit reluctantly. What he doesn’t know is that hours beforehand, Alice had ran away from the house (after hearing her parents rowing about how different she is compared to before she had been abducted) and she returns with a petrol can. 

You can probably guess what’s coming here but for those who are already baffled, I’ll explain. Mr and Mrs Webster are in bed when they see an inexplicable glowing light coming from the garden. Within seconds, we realise that the garden shed – where Alice has chosen to sleep – is up in flames. Mr Webster attempts to rescue her, which is unsuccessful, and in the meantime he suffers third degree burns. He later explains that he holds Matthew responsible for what happened. At the hospital, Eve Stone informs Mrs Webster that the DNA profile of the burnt body in the shed matches the DNA of Mr Webster.

Meanwhile, in present day, Eve is childless yet is very attached to the ultrasound scan photos which she stores in the bottom drawer in her bedroom. Mrs Webster has been given strict instructions from Julien to meticulously check every photograph taken on a rollercoaster at a theme park. We don’t know why until we flashback to 2014 and Alice boldly declares, whilst eating the driest roast dinner known to man, that her abductor let her and Sophie go to a theme park. Chillingly, she also explains that over the years, she and her abductor did have some happy times together.

At this point, the story line is reeking of Stockholm syndrome as Alice also confirms what the police had already suspected – that during her years in captivity, Alice has had a baby.

Meanwhile, in present day, a very poorly Julien Baptiste is a man on a mission in war torn Iraq as he searches for Daniel Reed, a solider whose father, Henry Reed – also a soldier – unexpectedly committed suicide in 2014. Before Julien’s search for him, the only time we get a real glimpse of Daniel is when he walks into a house and sees a pool of blood on the floor, which he quickly cleans up.

We later discover that Henry Reed paid a large sum of money every month to a mystery man. Julien is hot on the heels of the mystery man, who we later learn is named Mirza Barzani. After days of being shot at in Iraq, Julien tracks Mirza Barzani down and questions him about the monthly payments he had received from Henry Reed until his suicide in 2014. Disgustedly, Mirza tells Julien that Henry paid the money out of guilt due to an incident that occurred involving his sister in 1991. He also implies that Adrian Stone, Eve’s father, was involved.

Mrs Webster finds the photograph of Alice on the rollercoaster and realises that the girl she is sat next to is actually her daughter. Therefore, the girl who returned to the family in 2014 claiming to be Alice wasn’t Alice. She later zooms out of the photograph and sees a third girl, sat in the row behind Alice and imposter Alice. She is wearing a necklace very similar to the necklace imposter Alice wore the first night she slept in the shed.

Kept up so far? 

We’re nearly done. 

In present day, Adrian Stone is suffering with dementia and during a lapse, he tells Eve that he remembers a beautiful young girl with “alabaster skin”. This isn’t the first time our suspicions are raised by Adrian Stone, as in 2014, when the police presented imposter Alice with photographs of suspects of her abductor, Alice identifies the butcher, who at this point has already been arrested. She freaks out, goes to sit in the garden and is followed by Adrian Stone. Alice, inexplicably, says to him “How can you live with yourself?” They talk a little about a familiar childhood fable and the general message given by Adrian Stone is quite an intimidating one. 

Meanwhile, in 2014, Julien discovers CCTV footage from the three hour period that Alice ran away from home. She goes into a florist and buys a bunch of flowers. The florist explains that the flowers are a symbol of loss and that Alice had gone to the cemetery to place them on a grave. Julien, accompanied by a somewhat shady police officer, find the flowers on the newly dug grave of Henry Reed – Daniel’s late father.

At the very end of the fourth episode, we see a waiter in Switzerland attempt to woo a young woman and when the waiter heads off, unsuccessful in his quest for love, we see that the recipient of his affection was imposter Alice. Alive and well. (Having treated herself to a generous helping of lip balm.)

At this point, if you’re still reading, you’ll likely have a few questions. I’ve already asked some but I’m going to write them here so that hopefully we can answer them after next week’s episode.

The DNA profile matched with Mr Webster’s. Mrs Webster’s was not checked. Is it possible that Mr Webster is the father of both Alice and Sophie?

Mrs Webster’s wording to Eve was odd: “Have you never thought about having a baby?” when she knew that Eve had been pregnant just two years before. Why was this?

During the three hour window when Alice had ran away, could she have got a copy of the key to the garden shed for an accomplice to come and leave a body?

Does Adrian Stone really have dementia or is it a cover up in case he is linked to any criminal activity?

Was Mr Webster the father of Eve’s baby?

There have been three suicides so far in the story – Alice’s, Sophie’s mother’s and Henry Reed’s. Two of these suicides, Alice’s and Henry’s, were suspiciously out of character. Were they murdered?

Whose blood did Daniel Reed clean up?

What happened to the baby imposter Alice gave birth to? Or did she really have a baby at all?

The ultrasound scan photos Eve is attached to – are they all of her baby or could they be of imposter Alice’s baby?

Who is the third girl on the rollercoaster? Is she Mirza Barzani’s sister? We don’t know what happened to her in 1991, other than “something bad”. Did Henry Reed and Adrian Stone abduct her?

The camper van which was used during Alice’s abduction was last seen in Switzerland. Imposter Alice was calmly sipping coffee in Switzerland. What’s the link?

Why did imposter Alice want to let the butcher know that she was sorry? Is it because she knows she has foisted the blame on an innocent man?

Who was the girl with the alabaster skin described by Adrian Stone? Was it Alice? Was it Mirza Barzani’s sister? Was it Sophie? Or is there another girl involved? Was he describing Eve Stone? Is she really his biological daughter or was she abducted many years ago?

Was the receipt planted there to set up the butcher? If so, by who? Imposter Alice and the abductor who she is in love with?

Did the butcher’s wife have any involvement? So far, we’ve assumed that her being attacked was as a result of her husband’s involvement with the case. Is that a double bluff? Was she really involved? After all, in present day, we saw that someone had vandalised derogatory terms on the butcher’s door. Was it aimed at her?

If imposter Alice isn’t really Alice, then whose body was burnt to a crisp in the shed? The DNA matched Mr Webster’s, so it must be a relation of his. Does he have any more children we don’t know about? Or were the DNA results rigged?

Eve Stone received a phone call from someone saying they couldn’t watch over Adrian Stone because of a disturbance. Was this linked to Matthew Webster and the delinquent twins?

In the CCTV footage of imposter Alice emerging from the florist, we can see a van parked up. Is it the abductor’s camper van? 

Why was imposter Alice laying flowers on Henry Reed’s grave? Is it possible that Henry Reed rescued the girls and his ‘suicide’ is nothing more than murder to shut him up?

Where is Sophie Giroux? Is Sophie really imposter Alice, drinking coffee in Switzerland? Do we know that Sophie actually has any involvement whatsoever? Other than imposter Alice murmuring her name in an ambulance, there hasn’t been any proof she’s involved.

If imposter Alice really is an imposter, when did she get the tattoo on her hand? Did the third girl on the rollercoaster also have a tattoo?

The burnt body in the shed – was this person already dead when the shed went on fire? Could it be imposter Alice’s child?