The second edition of this hit anthology series took us, viewers, on a wild adventure to find 3 missing girls. Detective Julien Baptiste (Tchéky Karyo) returned as the main protagonist to get to the bottom of a kidnapping mystery filled with past mistakes, deceit, and secrets. Although season 1 didn’t give a happy ending as such, this season manages to deliver a more satisfying ending with some wholesome moments. Still, viewers were left confused over putting all the pieces of the story together due to its complex wild goose chases.
Caution – Spoilers ahead
A kidnapped girl comes home after 11 years
The season opens in 2014 with Alice Webster (Abigail Hardingham), a girl who had gone missing 11 years ago, coming home. She reveals that she was held captive and her body is badly beaten while a medical check reveals that she has given birth to a child.
During dinner, Alice speaks of another kidnapped girl called Sophie Giroux (Eulalie Trillet) and she tells how they spent a day at a carnival riding rollercoasters. Alice meets a past connection called Brigadier Stone and she leads the police into a bunker where she was held captive.
Julien finds a receipt inside the bunker that links with Kristian Herz (Filip Peeters), the husband of ex-army officer Nadia Herz (Lia Williams). The police arrest Kristian and Alice sends her brother to meet him at the prison to say that she was sorry, meaning that Kristian is being framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
Meanwhile, Julien finds out that the missing girl who came home isn’t Alice, but another girl that went missing during the same time called Sophie Giroux. When Julien confronts Alice about this, she commits suicide by making her brother lock her inside the bunker and later set it on fire.
The kidnapper is identified along with the kidnapped girls
In a twist to the plot, Sophie, who pretended to be Alice had committed a fake suicide and is still alive in 2016. This means someone else was killed during Sophie’s fake suicide.
In present-day 2016, Alice’s mother Gemma Webster (Keeley Hawes) combs through old roller-coaster pictures of the carnival in a long shot to find her real daughter who she thinks is alive. She manages to find a picture of her real daughter Alice, together with Gemma, and she also notices another kidnapped girl with them in the picture.
Gemma shows the picture to Eve, the previous police officer who was working the case. Eve gives this picture to German detective Jorn Lenhart (Florian Bartholomai). He tracks down the picture and meets the mother of the third missing girl. After the mother reveals that Lena Gerber also went missing during the same time as Alice and Sophie, the detective meets with the former military press officer, Adam Gettrick (Derek Riddell).
During their conversation, a child appears with Sophie’s features. She shows a drawing of her and her mother and reveals that she is in the basement. Lenhart soon understands that this child is the daughter of Sophie, who is locked in Adam’s basement. Before Lenhart could react, Adam grabbed a power tool and drills it right into his skull, killing him.
Nadia reveals Adam’s past
In 1991, Nadia, then known as Major Evett, explains to Baptise that she was living with Stone, Adam, and Reed at Camp Jambar in Iraq. Nadia had known that soldiers were sleeping with local women, but she had turned a blind eye to them.
During that time Stone and Reed reported Adam had been missing, but Nadia doesn’t put much effort into finding him. The two soldiers sneak to the village and catch him sleeping with a 13-year-old girl called Mirza Bazani. A fight happens, and Adam, Stone and Reed kill the girl’s father and set the house on fire. Young Mirza later reveals that her sister was inside the house at the time, and she too gets killed in the fire.
The revelation explains Adam is pinning the abduction of Sophie and Alice on Nadia’s husband as revenge for what happened.
What happened to Alice, Sophie, and Lena?
In 2014, Adam had killed Lena for being “too difficult” and Sophie had gone seriously ill under Adam’s captivity. He blackmails the now brigadier Stone and Reed by recording their chat about having sex with underage girls. Adam wants Reed to help him take care of Sophie, but he refuses. Adam then kills Reed.
With Henry dead and no other choice to get help to Sophie, Adam takes her to the woods and sets her free, but he keeps her daughter Lucy back to force her to do his bidding. Adam tells Sophie to pretend as Alice and get help. He also tells her to pin her disappearance on Nadia’s husband and tells Brigadier Stone to get rid of any evidence of Lena after she is burnt in the fake suicide.
In the present day, Julien figures out that Adam is behind all the kidnappings and tracks him into Switzerland using a piece of evidence Adam had left behind. Julien along with Sam and Gemma Webster gets lucky when a waiter notices Sophie and points them towards the house. Adam sees them coming and shoots Sam. Just then the police arrive and take Adam into custody.
Meanwhile Sophie’s child Lucy runs towards the police and Sophie tries to commit suicide thinking that her daughter is lost. However, Julien convinces her to live, and Sophie survives. Alice is finally freed while Sam later passes away from his gunshot wounds.
The season ends with Adam admitting to all the murders and kidnappings. Nadia’s husband is released from prison and Alice has an emotional reunion with her brother. The final scene of the season shows Julien undergoing surgery for his brain tumour.
The final season ends with some closure and some sweet notes are given that Alice and Sophie survive. This season also sparked a spinoff series called ‘Baptiste’ which revolves around the life of the detective and his adventures.
Also Read: The Missing season 1 ending explained – Is Ollie dead or alive?