They say the devil is in the details, and that’s never been more apparent than in the
episode, “The Turtle and the Stick.” The key information needed to solve the investigation of
Sophie and Alice’s kidnapping can be found in what’s not being said. More conclusions are
formed by watching emotions flip flop in characters’ eyes, and their uncontrollable quirks.
testament to the actors’ elite level of performances on The Missing, and the keen direction of
Ben Chanan, episode two broadens the mystery of this whodunit without falling victim to what
bogs down most mystery series, beating audiences in the head with obvious hints.
It’s now clear that Alice Webster (Abigail Hardingham) is not who she says she is, and in
2014, Julien Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo) believes the girl pretending to be her is actually Sophie
Giroux. Why Sophie would pretend to be Alice — there could be a hundred reasons, none of
which we can confirm as official. Maybe Sophie didn’t want to return to her father after somehow learning of her mother’s
suicide. Perhaps, Sophie’s father is also abusive, and she didn’t want to move back in with him.
A more grim hypothesis leads us to think that maybe after being held in captivity for so long with
Alice, and having to listen her reminisce in detail about the loving Webster family she missed so
much, Sophie left Alice for dead with the intention of taking over her life. Or maybe Sophie is innocent. She could be so mentally deranged after spending eleven
years in a dungeon being raped and beaten by her captor, that something snapped. And now
she actually believes that she is Alice. While these theories may sound preposterous, history
proves that truth is always stranger than fiction. We don’t even know if the real Alice is still alive.
And aside from the present victim, there’s currently only one other person that may have an
idea as to why Sophie is pretending to be someone she’s not. But that person in present day, Brigadier Adrian Stone (Roger Allam) is suffering from
dementia. While he has moments of lucidity, there are times he can’t recognize his own
daughter, Eve (Laura Fraser). But back in 2014, Brigadier Stone is quite with it, and when he
sits down next to “Alice,” the quick pause he takes before saying her name tells us he knows
she’s not the real Alice. Visibly shaken to be in his presence, “Alice” can barely look at him
without her eyes flooding up with tears. These two have some sort of history, and it’s safe at
assume that it’s not friendly. “How can you live with yourself after what you’ve done?” Alice asks Brigadier Stone,
after he tells her a skewed version of a well-known children’s fable posing as a not so veiled
threat. Stone must have something on “Alice.” Maybe he’s threatened to out her as Sophie, or
perhaps he knows some dark details of the time she spent in captivity. In Alice’s battered state of mind, and after being taken as a mere child, Stone could’ve
easily brainwashed her into thinking something she was coerced to do while being held prisoner
is her fault. And that would also mean Stone was somehow involved in her kidnapping, or was
at least aware of it. In present day, Baptiste is still risking his life, traveling through dangerous parts of Iraq in
order to track down Daniel Reed, and we’re not quite sure how he’s directly related to the
investigation. But it appears to have something to do with Daniel’s father, Henry Reed, and
whatever shady business he was involved with in 1991 with Brigadier Stone. Back in 2014, Daniel is looking for answers of his own. He confronts the butcher’s wife,
ex-army officer Nadia Herz (Lia Williams), after reading about her in his father’s war journal. He
demands to know about the missing pieces in his Dad’s story, but she remains mum and sends
him away. Drama quickly returns to the local butcher shop after “Alice” is able to lead police to the
old World War II bunker she escaped from. Baptiste digs around and finds a receipt that links
right back to Nadia’s husband, Kristian Herz (Filip Peeters). Is Kristian being framed? It’s odd
that the underground chamber is clear of any other hints that would prove a person recently
lived in these secret quarters. It makes us question if this is even one of the locations where
Alice/Sophie were once held captive. Rounding out this jam-packed hour of drama, the Webster household is a hot mess in
2016. Gemma (Keely Hawes) knows her husband (David Morrissey) is having an affair, and
she’s addicted to flipping through the same series of rollercoaster photos on her laptop. Sam,
aside from cheating on his wife, says that they can’t can’t afford to get his damaged skin fixed,
even though the plastic surgeon offers to do a skin graft for free. We don’t know why these amusement park pictures are so important to Gemma, how
Sam got his burns, or why their son almost caused him to lose his job. And who’s this man
following Baptiste around Iraq? There’s so much story still missing! And if this ridiculously
addicting series continues on as usual, there will be even more curve balls to grapple with next
week.
episode, “The Turtle and the Stick.” The key information needed to solve the investigation of
Sophie and Alice’s kidnapping can be found in what’s not being said. More conclusions are
formed by watching emotions flip flop in characters’ eyes, and their uncontrollable quirks.
testament to the actors’ elite level of performances on The Missing, and the keen direction of
Ben Chanan, episode two broadens the mystery of this whodunit without falling victim to what
bogs down most mystery series, beating audiences in the head with obvious hints.
It’s now clear that Alice Webster (Abigail Hardingham) is not who she says she is, and in
2014, Julien Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo) believes the girl pretending to be her is actually Sophie
Giroux. Why Sophie would pretend to be Alice — there could be a hundred reasons, none of
which we can confirm as official. Maybe Sophie didn’t want to return to her father after somehow learning of her mother’s
suicide. Perhaps, Sophie’s father is also abusive, and she didn’t want to move back in with him.
A more grim hypothesis leads us to think that maybe after being held in captivity for so long with
Alice, and having to listen her reminisce in detail about the loving Webster family she missed so
much, Sophie left Alice for dead with the intention of taking over her life. Or maybe Sophie is innocent. She could be so mentally deranged after spending eleven
years in a dungeon being raped and beaten by her captor, that something snapped. And now
she actually believes that she is Alice. While these theories may sound preposterous, history
proves that truth is always stranger than fiction. We don’t even know if the real Alice is still alive.
And aside from the present victim, there’s currently only one other person that may have an
idea as to why Sophie is pretending to be someone she’s not. But that person in present day, Brigadier Adrian Stone (Roger Allam) is suffering from
dementia. While he has moments of lucidity, there are times he can’t recognize his own
daughter, Eve (Laura Fraser). But back in 2014, Brigadier Stone is quite with it, and when he
sits down next to “Alice,” the quick pause he takes before saying her name tells us he knows
she’s not the real Alice. Visibly shaken to be in his presence, “Alice” can barely look at him
without her eyes flooding up with tears. These two have some sort of history, and it’s safe at
assume that it’s not friendly. “How can you live with yourself after what you’ve done?” Alice asks Brigadier Stone,
after he tells her a skewed version of a well-known children’s fable posing as a not so veiled
threat. Stone must have something on “Alice.” Maybe he’s threatened to out her as Sophie, or
perhaps he knows some dark details of the time she spent in captivity. In Alice’s battered state of mind, and after being taken as a mere child, Stone could’ve
easily brainwashed her into thinking something she was coerced to do while being held prisoner
is her fault. And that would also mean Stone was somehow involved in her kidnapping, or was
at least aware of it. In present day, Baptiste is still risking his life, traveling through dangerous parts of Iraq in
order to track down Daniel Reed, and we’re not quite sure how he’s directly related to the
investigation. But it appears to have something to do with Daniel’s father, Henry Reed, and
whatever shady business he was involved with in 1991 with Brigadier Stone. Back in 2014, Daniel is looking for answers of his own. He confronts the butcher’s wife,
ex-army officer Nadia Herz (Lia Williams), after reading about her in his father’s war journal. He
demands to know about the missing pieces in his Dad’s story, but she remains mum and sends
him away. Drama quickly returns to the local butcher shop after “Alice” is able to lead police to the
old World War II bunker she escaped from. Baptiste digs around and finds a receipt that links
right back to Nadia’s husband, Kristian Herz (Filip Peeters). Is Kristian being framed? It’s odd
that the underground chamber is clear of any other hints that would prove a person recently
lived in these secret quarters. It makes us question if this is even one of the locations where
Alice/Sophie were once held captive. Rounding out this jam-packed hour of drama, the Webster household is a hot mess in
2016. Gemma (Keely Hawes) knows her husband (David Morrissey) is having an affair, and
she’s addicted to flipping through the same series of rollercoaster photos on her laptop. Sam,
aside from cheating on his wife, says that they can’t can’t afford to get his damaged skin fixed,
even though the plastic surgeon offers to do a skin graft for free. We don’t know why these amusement park pictures are so important to Gemma, how
Sam got his burns, or why their son almost caused him to lose his job. And who’s this man
following Baptiste around Iraq? There’s so much story still missing! And if this ridiculously
addicting series continues on as usual, there will be even more curve balls to grapple with next
week.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT