The Villain In Netflix’s ‘Missing You’ That No One Is Talking About
As is customary with streaming services, we have a new Harlen Coben adaptation to watch. Netflix’s new thriller series, Missing You, brings the drama.
When detective Kat Donovon spots her ex-fiancé on a dating app, her whole world turns upside down. She hasn’t seen him in 11 years since he disappeared from her life without a trace. And, when his reemergence starts to coincide with a few mysterious disappearances in the present day, she has to face ghosts from her past to solve a series of increasingly personal mysteries. While there are several shady characters that can be classified as the mini series’ antagonist, there’s an underlying villain from Missing You that not enough people are talking about–and it’s one that could find any of us.
Spoilers ahead! Go watch the mini-series first, then come back here to see if you agree.
There isn’t exactly a lack of villains…
Truly, as you go from one episode to the next, you’re presented with a whole slew of antagonists in Missing You. At some point it feels like literally everyone is out to get Kat.
By the end, there are a few standouts, though: The dog breeder who’s been kidnapping, extorting, and murdering innocent people off of dating apps. The death-row inmate who may not have killed Kat’s dad, but is still a monster. The mob boss who has everyone under his thumb. Even Kat’s father himself, who let his life of lies turn him into a woman-battering madman. You could even say Kat’s ex, Josh, is a bit of a villain in the end for his part in her father’s death and his insistence on reuniting with her without telling her the truth.
And that brings me to the biggest villain of all in Missing You…
The real villain is the lies we learn along the way.
By the end of Missing You, Kat Donovan’s world has been completely turned upside down. Not only has everything she’s ever known turned out to be untrue, absolutely everyone in her life has been lying to her about it.
There’s her dad’s true role as a police mole for the local mobster, which her mom, boss, and older coworkers all knew. And the lover his father had, which all of them including her friend Aqua and her ex Josh knew about.
Aqua lies about seeing or speaking with Josh, then lies about what they talked about. And Aqua, Josh, and her boss, Stagger, lie about the manner in which he died. Not only does Stagger lie about this, but he continues to gaslight her into thinking that she’s the problem–that him taking her off the case is because she’s being crazy. Even her newer friend, Stacey, who wasn’t around for any of the drama from 11 years prior, still lies about plenty.
Of course, everyone has their “good” reasons for keeping these lies. Rather than admitting they felt guilt or shame for their role in what happened, they again put the lies on Kat. They hid the truth from her for her benefit. So they wouldn’t hate her dad.
Who’s the real villain of Missing You? It’s the lies. It’s a community of people working in tandem or separately to keep a woman so thoroughly in-the-dark that, when she finally learns the truth, her psyche cracks.
And you can see it in the end. In the last moments of the final episode, Kat takes Josh’s hand, even though he had a part in her father’s death and hid this at every turn. When he held the key to her relief and didn’t use it until he was literally caught lying, she forgives him because she’s been told that everyone lied to protect her.
May none of us have this kind of “love” in 2025.