Episode 7 of The Missing opens with a brand new family and a brand new tragedy.
The disappearance of a French boy in Chalons du Bois in 2009 brings Olly’s unsolved disappearance back into the public consciousness, Tony and Emily’s grief is exposed anew and the strain on their marriage reaches its zenith.
Back in the present day timeline Tony, Emily and Julien Baptiste visit Khalid Ziane in prison only to find him unwilling to talk without the presence of his estranged son. It’s at this point you can’t help but feel for the Hughes couple. As questionable as Tony’s actions have been in the series when, week after week, they seem to come up against a new obstacle, the frustration would be enough to drive anyone to make some bad decisions.
Yet again the Hughes’s are thwarted in their attempts to find the truth when Ziane is brutally murdered before he can give them any information. It’s a horrible moment for obvious reasons, but the sense that some malevolent puppet master is somewhere behind the scenes pulling these strings is deeply troubling.
For one fleeting moment we see Malik Suri does have a fragment of a conscience when he hands over the evidence that should have been submitted during the initial investigation of Olly’s disappearance. He’s not completely redeemed, however, as we discover he hacked Tony’s answerphone and heard Emily talking about the murder of Ian Garrett, thus cementing Arsher Ali’s character as one of the most hateable creations to have appeared on our screens all year.
The only thing that seems strange is the continued presence of Vincent Bourg. It’s unclear what role he has to play in Episode 8 (if any) and, in this episode especially, his scenes are an unnecessary addition to the show.
Titus De Voogdt remains eminently watchable, but Vincent’s story arc feels like it should have ended back in Episode 5. His story may well weave back into the central narrative for the series denouement, but for the time being it feels oddly separate.
The episode ends with yet another tantalising cliffhanger as all our main characters converge on Chalons du Bois to follow this new piece of evidence. The cast have turned out beautiful performances all series and Episode 7 is no exception. The mirroring of Tony and Emily’s relationship breakdown and their reconciling in present day is masterfully done with James Nesbitt running through every conceivable emotion in a role that will surely see a BAFTA nomination.
So, as we head into the finale, the question on everyone’s lips is ‘are we going to find Olly?’. The common rules of storytelling dictate that we should have a resolution and writers Jack and Harry Williams have promised “closure”, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the pair subvert our expectations yet again with one of their brilliant rug-pull moments.
The Misssing has proved to be a top notch drama and our hopes are high for the thrilling finale this series deserves.
Aired at 9pm on Tuesday 9 December 2014 on BBC One.
> Order The Missing on DVD on Amazon.
What did you think of the episode? Let us know below…