While The Missing came out the same year as True Detective and dealt with similar themes, it has been underrated compared to the latter. Crime shows are a staple of TV today, and some of the most successful and longest-running TV shows of all time are crime procedurals. Still, the crime genre has some underrated gems, with many British murder mysteries flying under the radar. This may be because British crime shows tend to be grittier and more serious than their American counterparts, though True Detective had its dark and disturbing moments.
The eerie, mystery-laden anthology True Detective centers around detectives investigating some of the scariest mysteries out there, including conspiracies and murders. While there are some crossovers in the timeline, each season of True Detective can stand on its own as each focuses on a different team of detectives. While the series was riveting, with seasons 1 and 4 being standouts, it could be far-fetched at times and prioritized disturbing visuals over the crime itself. A show that came out in the same year as True Detective and was just as good, however, is the British TV series The Missing.
The Missing Was An Anthology Detective Series About Missing Children
The Missing stars Tchéky Karyo as the retired Detective Julien Baptiste, who worked on the case of Oliver, a young boy who went missing while he and his family were on holiday in France. Baptiste returns to the case many years later after a new piece of evidence reveals that Oliver could be alive. Season 2 of The Missing concerns another missing child, this time in Germany, and Baptiste comes out of retirement again to help with the case. Though The Missing only lasted for two seasons, the popular Baptiste had a spin-off series that also ran for two seasons.
Many crime dramas bring in more gore to keep the viewers’ attention.
Shows like The Missing and True Detective risk being similar, and while many crime dramas bring in more gore to keep the viewers’ attention, The Missing has a different strategy. When Oliver’s father, Tony, played by James Nesbitt, discovers that one of the searchers is a pedophile, he kills him. Tony’s cover-up formed a second point of tension throughout The Missing, and Nesbitt was nominated for several awards for his role. While True Detective often took its action to extremes, The Missing kept much of its story plausible while staying character-driven.
The Missing’s Focus On The Missing Children’s Parents Made It More Grounded
The Missing’s Baptiste Spin-Off Was Well-Received By Critics
The Missing doesn’t show much of the child’s suffering and instead focuses on the parents and their different ways of handling the situation. This allowed for better character development and stopped the show from entering the territory of horror movies. Having a child go missing is enough of a real-life horror story, so The Missing writers’ decision to center the parents rather than the kidnapper kept the show more grounded in reality, and scarier as a result. Baptiste was also critically praised for his realism and way of thinking carefully through every action he took.
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The Missing season 1 was compelling enough, with The New York Times review saying, “The Missing is imaginatively written, well cast, chillingly believable and quite addictive.” However, season 2 was even better received, and with Julien Baptiste looking as though he would become one of the best TV detectives around, he was given a spin-off. Baptiste also starred Fiona Shaw, known for playing Carolyn Marten in Killing Eve, and introduced more twists and turns. This made Baptiste a good successor to The Missing but gave the show a wider scope that was more in line with shows like True Detective.
How The Missing Was Different From True Detective
True Detective Season 5 Could Learn From The Missing’s Best Parts
While True Detective and The Missing aired in the same year and covered murder and missing children, there are some key differences between the shows. True Detective changed its detectives each season, introducing new characters and big names to keep the show fresh. On the other hand, The Missing kept Julien Baptiste as the familiar face of the show, with a new case every season. The Missing also stayed grounded, focusing on the parents and their reactions to the events happening around them, while True Detective introduced wider conspiracies, which were ambitious but did not always land successfully.
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The Missing vs True Detective |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Title |
Year |
Seasons |
Total episodes |
Rotten Tomatoes rating |
|
The Missing |
2014 |
2 |
16 |
91% |
|
Baptiste (The Missing spin-off) |
2019 |
2 |
12 |
86% |
|
True Detective |
2014 |
4 |
30 |
79% |
True Detective has sometimes been criticized for being inconsistent. The first season was highly praised for their character-driven stories, and True Detective season 4 was the most-watched season, but other seasons were bogged down by plot details and complex time jumps. True Detective has been renewed for season 5, and if it is to replicate season 1’s success, it could learn from The Missing. The main storylines in The Missing were relatively simple, but its characters were compelling, making them the focus rather than several ideas at once. True Detective could keep its biggest ideas if it takes some character development tips from The Missing.
Source: The New York Times
