The Missing

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  • Crawley CutieCrawley Cutie Posts: 10,934
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    Andy-B wrote: »
    The artist obv. served a simple emotional point in a marriage breakup. Hers was when she invited whatshisface into her hotel room. It wasn't subtle but it meant blame could be shared without distracting from the main threads.



    Tony's interlude with the artist was not contributory to the marriage breakup. It was in the present day, after their divorce.....

    Not being a know-all :blush:..... Just saying x
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 340
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    One question I did have too, was why was the Moroccan Cop killed in the prison? Was the time coincidental or it known that he was about to talk about the medal and orchestrated by the mayor?

    His conversation with Baptiste and Tony where he promised to tell them what evidence he had discovered was, was overheard by the black guy at the opposite table (there is quite a lengthy shot of them listening in).

    They must have fed this information back which reached the Mayor and so he acted to hide his and his brother involvment. I would imagine there was quite a queue to kill Zaine considering he was a ex-cop in prison.
  • Andy-BAndy-B Posts: 6,800
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    Tony's interlude with the artist was not contributory to the marriage breakup. It was in the present day, after their divorce.....

    You're right: schoolboy error on my part!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 340
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    Andy-B wrote: »
    In general, it felt to me like the end of act 2 and all of act 3 were reworked - presumably when it was decided the overall quality was worth a second series.

    I don't think that's the case because the writers have said that the second series will focus on a completely different case with different characters.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 340
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    I didn't think the wedding nor time devoted to it, added anything.

    I felt this was effective in showing how Emily had now moved on, her marriage previously being on hold, and how Tony was merely keeping up appearances.

    Emily's speech in particular I found very touching and I felt it drew some conclusion to the situation. When she envisaged Oliver there with them, and recognised he will always be with her, I think that was a powerful understated moment.
  • MrTheDMrTheD Posts: 184
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    I felt this was effective in showing how Emily had now moved on, her marriage previously being on hold, and how Tony was merely keeping up appearances.

    Emily's speech in particular I found very touching and I felt it drew some conclusion to the situation. When she envisaged Oliver there with them, and recognised he will always be with her, I think that was a powerful understated moment.

    I interpreted the wedding and speech scene in exactly the same way as you. 'Closure' to the situation as it were on Emilys part.

    However, I do feel the scene lost some of it's impact due to the subsequent scene back inside the house with Tony. In that scene she still appeared lost and desperate to cling to Tony in some way in order to remember Ollie.

    I know that is realistic and plausible, but if the narrative was to be 'Are you accepting like Emily or still think hes alive like Tony' then it did muddle the message a little.
  • sconescone Posts: 14,850
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    MrTheD wrote: »
    I interpreted the wedding and speech scene in exactly the same way as you. 'Closure' to the situation as it were on Emilys part.

    However, I do feel the scene lost some of it's impact due to the subsequent scene back inside the house with Tony. In that scene she still appeared lost and desperate to cling to Tony in some way in order to remember Ollie.

    I know that is realistic and plausible, but if the narrative was to be 'Are you accepting like Emily or still think hes alive like Tony' then it did muddle the message a little.

    I think that's the actresses fault not the scene itself, she had a similar look all through the series
  • FrankBTFrankBT Posts: 4,218
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    His conversation with Baptiste and Tony where he promised to tell them what evidence he had discovered was, was overheard by the black guy at the opposite table (there is quite a lengthy shot of them listening in).

    They must have fed this information back which reached the Mayor and so he acted to hide his and his brother involvment. I would imagine there was quite a queue to kill Zaine considering he was a ex-cop in prison.
    Not sure if there was a connection between Mayor and Ziane's murder.. The Mayor knew nothing about Ziane's find. I'm not sure Karl Seig or Alain even knew. And since the evidence was kept by the journalist for 8 years I don't think Ziane would have been killed for revealing anything at this stage. It was probably just down to him being overheard as a grass.
  • Cissy FairfaxCissy Fairfax Posts: 11,794
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    I felt this was effective in showing how Emily had now moved on, her marriage previously being on hold, and how Tony was merely keeping up appearances.

    Emily's speech in particular I found very touching and I felt it drew some conclusion to the situation. When she envisaged Oliver there with them, and recognised he will always be with her, I think that was a powerful understated moment.

    Maybe, I could agree with some of that, the speech was an emotive one. But then having her marry the liaison officer, sort of minimises the impact of her moving on.

    Again, knowing what we know now, or the lack of it, I'm not sure what the thinking of the writers was, in having her marry him and would be interested to know.

    Imagining a plot where she married a completely unrelated character doesn't seem to create any storyline issues and to me would've improved it. It was only the suspicions around him or his son that made that angle worthwhile and I am not sure if that was intentional.
  • RichmondBlueRichmondBlue Posts: 21,279
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    I wasn't going to post again, having made my feelings clear after the final episode. But I see the thread is still very much alive, so I'll add a bit more.
    As a series, it grabbed me from the start, so no complaints there. This thread is a testimony to the skill of the writers in keeping us interested and involved.
    As I said in my post immediately after the last episode, my problem was with the final solution to Ollie's disappearance, but particularly with the motives of the people involved.
    Perhaps I'm wrong, but when watching any drama (or even a soap) I try to put myself into the position of the characters involved. If I find their behaviour bizarre or unbelievable it spoils things for me. This was the case with the "reveal" in The Missing.
    The whole business of a drunken Alain accidently running down Ollie, barely checking if the boy was still alive, putting him in the boot of his car, then ringing his brother, just didn't make sense to me. His brother (the mayor) arriving, not even bothering to check on the boy, and then devising some elaborate plan involving Romanian gangsters to get rid of the body, made even less sense.
    The disappointing thing for me was that we were all on here for weeks trying to figure out what happened. I wouldn't have minded at all if the solution was logical, but to me it wasn't. I just couldn't really believe the individuals involved would have behaved in the way they did in the circumstances. Therefore we were given a puzzle that was unsolvable by logic.

    But it was still highly entertaining, and this thread has been great. :)
  • Reality SucksReality Sucks Posts: 28,538
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    I wasn't going to post again, having made my feelings clear after the final episode. But I see the thread is still very much alive, so I'll add a bit more.
    As a series, it grabbed me from the start, so no complaints there. This thread is a testimony to the skill of the writers in keeping us interested and involved.
    As I said in my post immediately after the last episode, my problem was with the final solution to Ollie's disappearance, but particularly with the motives of the people involved.
    Perhaps I'm wrong, but when watching any drama (or even a soap) I try to put myself into the position of the characters involved. If I find their behaviour bizarre or unbelievable it spoils things for me. This was the case with the "reveal" in The Missing.
    The whole business of a drunken Alain accidently running down Ollie, barely checking if the boy was still alive, putting him in the boot of his car, then ringing his brother, just didn't make sense to me. His brother (the mayor) arriving, not even bothering to check on the boy, and then devising some elaborate plan involving Romanian gangsters to get rid of the body, made even less sense.
    The disappointing thing for me was that we were all on here for weeks trying to figure out what happened. I wouldn't have minded at all if the solution was logical, but to me it wasn't. I just couldn't really believe the individuals involved would have behaved in the way they did in the circumstances. Therefore we were given a puzzle that was unsolvable by logic.

    But it was still highly entertaining, and this thread has been great. :)

    I agree that the reveal didn't make a lot of sense. Too many people making stupid decisions - Alain, Georges and then the Romanian. That Ollie died that way left you feeling frustrated.

    However, as a whole, the series was brilliant. Especially the relationships between Emily and Tony and Tony and Julien. I don't know how they could have ended it in a way that we would have all been happy with though. I wanted an end to their suffering and that wasn't going to happen, unless by some miracle, Ollie was still alive. And then people would have complained that it was unrealistic.

    I have watched the whole thing again since it finished (being a bit of an obsessive, like Tony) and one niggle I have is why Tony wasn't charged with GBH on Vincent Bourg. One minute he was banged up, the next he was released and the same evening went on to murder Ian Garrett. The police didn't even check his alibi at the time (having dinner with Emily in Lille)
  • KapellmeisterKapellmeister Posts: 41,322
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    I've just finished watching it over the last four days or so. Fortunately I managed to remain spoiler-free so the twists and turns came as a surprise.

    I thought it was brilliant. Thought-provoking and compelling. I must say though that the standout for me was Tchéky Karyo as Baptiste. What an incredible, subtle and understated performance. He totally sold the character from his first scene to his last. If he doesn't get a BAFTA nomination then it'll be quite an injustice.

    The ending could easily be seen as Tony just being consumed with doubts and the not-knowing, heading off to Russia on a wild goose chase. Olly's dead. Tony can't accept it and now he's unhinged. End of story.
  • HHGTTGHHGTTG Posts: 5,941
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    I've just finished watching it over the last four days or so. Fortunately I managed to remain spoiler-free so the twists and turns came as a surprise.

    I thought it was brilliant. Thought-provoking and compelling. I must say though that the standout for me was Tchéky Karyo as Baptiste. What an incredible, subtle and understated performance. He totally sold the character from his first scene to his last. If he doesn't get a BAFTA nomination then it'll be quite an injustice.

    The ending could easily be seen as Tony just being consumed with doubts and the not-knowing, heading off to Russia on a wild goose chase. Olly's dead. Tony can't accept it and now he's unhinged. End of story.

    BiB. Come on! A bit OTT but anyone would seem so in comparison with the awful fixed expressions and acting of James Nesbitt and the almost equally bad actress that played his wife/ex wife. They spoiled this series for me, unfortunately.
  • Crawley CutieCrawley Cutie Posts: 10,934
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    HHGTTG wrote: »
    BiB. Come on! A bit OTT but anyone would seem so in comparison with the awful fixed expressions and acting of James Nesbitt and the almost equally bad actress that played his wife/ex wife. They spoiled this series for me, unfortunately.


    Nothing or nobody could spoil this series for me :).....It was my TV highlight of 2014.

    And.....Julien Baptiste is a great favourite, on this thread :D

    IMO, James Nesbitt played his part well. Yet, Emily, the wife, has been nominated for an award :confused:

    Anyway, hoping my fellow, "Missing" stragglers , all have a lovely day. Compliments of the Season to you xx
  • Cissy FairfaxCissy Fairfax Posts: 11,794
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    I wasn't going to post again, having made my feelings clear after the final episode. But I see the thread is still very much alive, so I'll add a bit more.
    As a series, it grabbed me from the start, so no complaints there. This thread is a testimony to the skill of the writers in keeping us interested and involved.
    As I said in my post immediately after the last episode, my problem was with the final solution to Ollie's disappearance, but particularly with the motives of the people involved.
    Perhaps I'm wrong, but when watching any drama (or even a soap) I try to put myself into the position of the characters involved. If I find their behaviour bizarre or unbelievable it spoils things for me. This was the case with the "reveal" in The Missing.
    The whole business of a drunken Alain accidently running down Ollie, barely checking if the boy was still alive, putting him in the boot of his car, then ringing his brother, just didn't make sense to me. His brother (the mayor) arriving, not even bothering to check on the boy, and then devising some elaborate plan involving Romanian gangsters to get rid of the body, made even less sense.
    The disappointing thing for me was that we were all on here for weeks trying to figure out what happened. I wouldn't have minded at all if the solution was logical, but to me it wasn't. I just couldn't really believe the individuals involved would have behaved in the way they did in the circumstances. Therefore we were given a puzzle that was unsolvable by logic.

    But it was still highly entertaining, and this thread has been great. :)

    Agree completely. Oliver running after the fox was a logical plot as a kidnapper having pulled it off in those circumstances and in that time would've been difficult. (I'm still not sure how the second boy was taken from the car in the time he was and without the sound of the car door opening).

    But from the moment Oliver was knocked down, almost every strand to every plotline seemed daft and never the best option available.
  • mike 13mike 13 Posts: 6
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    Nothing or nobody could spoil this series for me :).....It was my TV highlight of 2014.

    And.....Julien Baptiste is a great favourite, on this thread :D

    IMO, James Nesbitt played his part well. Yet, Emily, the wife, has been nominated for an award :confused:

    Anyway, hoping my fellow, "Missing" stragglers , all have a lovely day. Compliments of the Season to you xx

    How on earth is the wife being nominated for an award, her performance was wooden throughout, same facial expression from the beginning.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 468
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    jalal wrote: »
    Is this show fairly similar to Broadchurch and The Killing?

    Might give it a go if it is.
    I've seen the first 3 episodes now and I have to admit the show is a slow burner, you go through an hours worth of viewing with hardly any plot improvement.

    Certainly not as gripping as Broadchurch nor the killing but I'm remaining hopeful as there isn't any suspect when the kidnapping occurred so this could all be a big revelation in the finale.

    Think it could be Tony's brother involved for some reason.
  • Reality SucksReality Sucks Posts: 28,538
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    mike 13 wrote: »
    How on earth is the wife being nominated for an award, her performance was wooden throughout, same facial expression from the beginning.

    I thought she was amazing. The scene by the pool when she imagined being reunited with Ollie made me cry, as did the scene where she had to go to the bathroom and weep when her new family made her breakfast in bed. I always felt the grief buried just below the surface with her. James Nesbitt's was etched all over his face. They were both brilliant as was Tcheky Karyo. I've rarely been so moved by a TV drama.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 468
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    jalal wrote: »
    I've seen the first 3 episodes now and I have to admit the show is a slow burner, you go through an hours worth of viewing with hardly any plot improvement.

    Certainly not as gripping as Broadchurch nor the killing but I'm remaining hopeful as there isn't any suspect when the kidnapping occurred so this could all be a big revelation in the finale.

    Think it could be Tony's brother involved for some reason.
    Well just binged watched the entire series on boxing day, glad I waited till it was all over as the last 4 episodes had me hooked.

    An absolutely thrilling series from the very first episodes, while it does become a bit melodramatic at times (given the circumstance it's acceptable) & a little slow during episode 2/3 they never lose sight of the direction and keeping it within the thriller genre.

    Incredible show and a whole lot better than Broadchurch with a very fitting finale/ending.
  • Crawley CutieCrawley Cutie Posts: 10,934
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    jalal wrote: »
    Well just binged watched the entire series on boxing day, glad I waited till it was all over as the last 4 episodes had me hooked.

    An absolutely thrilling series from the very first episodes, while it does become a bit melodramatic at times (given the circumstance it's acceptable) & a little slow during episode 2/3 they never lose sight of the direction and keeping it within the thriller genre.

    Incredible show and a whole lot better than Broadchurch with a very fitting finale/ending.


    I was going to ask - would it be worth my while to watch the 2nd series of Broadchurch ?

    I didn't see the first one......
  • AKFEAKFE Posts: 6,870
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    I thought she was amazing. The scene by the pool when she imagined being reunited with Ollie made me cry, as did the scene where she had to go to the bathroom and weep when her new family made her breakfast in bed. I always felt the grief buried just below the surface with her. James Nesbitt's was etched all over his face. They were both brilliant as was Tcheky Karyo. I've rarely been so moved by a TV drama.

    While I didn't think the actress was terrible, I can see why many found her "wooden". Emily did appear expressionless in most scenes and tended to walk around like a zombie but that could be explained as "acting" how a mother who lost her son would be. I tend to agree with those who found the character unlikable because of the way she was played, which is maybe a bit harsh. Personally, I don't think she deserves an award. I respect your contrary opinion but regarding the scenes you say made you cry, for me they were just what the story had the character do, and although they may have been poignant scenes, I was not at all moved by the actual acting.

    I do agree about Nesbitt and Karyo, however!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 468
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    I was going to ask - would it be worth my while to watch the 2nd series of Broadchurch ?

    I didn't see the first one......
    Would definitely recommend watching season 1 of Broadchurch before attempting season 2. First the characters are the same, so you'll be missing key character developments.

    Second, season 2 could be absolutely pants as far as we know. At least the first season is widely accepted to be a very entertaining show.
  • Reality SucksReality Sucks Posts: 28,538
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    AKFE wrote: »
    While I didn't think the actress was terrible, I can see why many found her "wooden". Emily did appear expressionless in most scenes and tended to walk around like a zombie but that could be explained as "acting" how a mother who lost her son would be. I tend to agree with those who found the character unlikable because of the way she was played, which is maybe a bit harsh. Personally, I don't think she deserves an award. I respect your contrary opinion but regarding the scenes you say made you cry, for me they were just what the story had the character do, and although they may have been poignant scenes, I was not at all moved by the actual acting.

    I do agree about Nesbitt and Karyo, however!

    I didn't see her acting as being wooden. I felt that her pain was just below the surface and much as she tried to move on, she never really did. I can only go by how I reacted emotionally to the characters, and it was always Emily's scenes that moved me the most. She was always going to carry the image of her lost little boy in her mind for ever in spite of her desire to move on. She would try to bury her feelings, while Tony would continue to act on his.

    I thought there were subtle differences in the way she played her part in the aftermath of the abduction in 2006, to the breakdown of her marriage when she was unable to communicate with Tony, he was so lost in grief and self loathing, to the present day at the start of the series where she treated Tony with aloofness, keeping him at arms length to protect herself from false hope and finally when she softened towards Tony and allowed herself to feel something again.
  • KapellmeisterKapellmeister Posts: 41,322
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    HHGTTG wrote: »
    BiB. Come on! A bit OTT but anyone would seem so in comparison with the awful fixed expressions and acting of James Nesbitt and the almost equally bad actress that played his wife/ex wife. They spoiled this series for me, unfortunately.

    Oh well. I thought he was brilliant, partly perhaps because Baptiste came across as one of the most likeable characters I've seen on TV for a long time, especially when compared with the extremely unlikeable Tony. I agree about Tony's wife though: not a good actress, IMO.
  • Crawley CutieCrawley Cutie Posts: 10,934
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    Hurrah.....my DVD is on it's way :)
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