Missing: Dead or Alive?

I quite liked this series. I thought the filming was done really well. Being from and overseas location, I was interested to see the countryside, towns etc.

The cases were quit interesting. It is all done quite slowly and could have been sped up a bit, but that's only a minor point.

Yes, some of the dialogue is a bit wooden - but these are cops, not actors. And so you can't expect them to have a conversation about a case and have it come off totally spontaneous.

I was surprised by the amount of effort the cops went to to find these people. I'm guessing they focused on a few cases where they did in fact, put a lot of resources into the search.

I imagine there must be many other cases where they can't devote so much time and energy towards finding a missing person.

I don't know if this show is 100% documentary or somewhat or entirely scripted. I wasn't there. The question is, did I like it? Yes.

I am a huge fan of Dateline and 20/20. I've been watching those shows for years, primarily for the one reason I keep tuning in: I don't know "whodunnit" until the end. I get to figure out the crime along with the experts. This show works the same way - will they be found alive or dead? I can take the journey with the officials in order to find out.

Whether these cases are scripted or not, the theme remains the same: people can go missing at the drop of a hat, and it takes some very skilled and experienced people to try to find them. If that interests you, then this show will probably appeal to you.

A documentary series following a team of officers from South Carolina's Sheriff's department, they explore the cases of Lorraine Garcia, Amirah Watson, David Taylor and Sierra Stevens, all of whom go missing without trace.

So, it's definitely a mixed bag, some of its good, some of it is really bad. I'll start with the negatives, too much effort goes into making it feel as though it was happening in real time. Multiple times the cameraman tries capturing the real life reactions from the officers to all manner of situations, personally I didn't like that side of it.

On the plus side, the cases are all very interesting, the good and bad that people do to one another, for good and bad reasons, there's nothing more interesting than human psychology, we get to see the effects of crime on The Officers as well as the family members, it reinforces the fact that they're Human too.

Each story has a degree of interest, poor David Taylor's story in particular was so interesting, a real tragedy. One gripe I had was the way in which Tony Garcia was treated in the first episode.

Netflix are capable of so much better, but it's ok.

6/10.

Netflix has cancelled some really good shows and not completed others, stating finances and time as the reasons. Mindhunter season 3 not made. Other shows cancelled mid story. Save the money instead of making shows like this. I can't fault the people in it. But staged true crime is so bad to watch. There is no crime. Everything is just so fake. Non actors faking emotions over something that didn't actually happen is cringey. Netflix needs to stop churning out 3 or 4 new shows a week that are awful, and focus on quality not quantity. Subscription prices went up, and seeing this drivel makes you feel robbed.

Roughly midway thru the first episode. I wasn't sure if what I was watching was a true crime documentary, or a drama meant to look like a documentary. To find out, a little checking on google confirms that these are actual cops, and actual missing persons, and suspects. All that just made it worse tbh, because now I *know* they're staging most of it.

The format of the show is modeled after 'The First 48.' They borrowed a lot from it, right down to the timer. I know that show scripts certain things also, it'd have to in order to exist, but they're obviously so much better at it, I hardly notice. I still like that show, knowing as much. It's that they use some discretion with it, they don't insult the viewer.