YMMV / 1-800-Missing

• Adorkable: You wouldn't expect a guy like Pollock to have an adorable side to him, but it comes out in force around his kids. When we see him interact with them, he first asks them both how they want to spend their day, and when they give different answers, he says "I'm the father, and I say we do BOTH". It's clear how much he loves them and their mother.
• Awesome Ego:
  • Jack Burgess is an arrogant douche who basically insists that Jess is lusting after him no matter how much she insists otherwise, but Brad Rowe just has so much fun with the character that the boasts become charming instead of annoying. It also helps that he refuses to genuinely take advantage of Jess in any way and proves that, in his own backward way, he does actually care about her.
  • Assistant Director Pollock is basically built on this concept. He's a complete asshole who spends most of his time in the background taking credit for things he didn't do, but as time goes on and he contributes more and more, his boasts prove themselves accurate and instead show just how much of a badass he is.
    Pollock: Dr. Reynolds is great. A master liar, a genius manipulator... I'm just better.
• Complete Monster: See here.
• Designated Hero: Nicole is violently volatile, rejects the concept of proper conduct by literally throwing out the handbook, pulls her gun on people without considering the situation first, and damn near tortures suspects on the mere possibility they have a small amount of information - and the narrative treats all of this as a good thing. It's especially noticeable because while Brooke was similarly gun-ho, it was at least treated as a flaw. Luckily, season three tones this down.
• Growing the Beard: The series truly hits its stride in season three. The episodes are far more narrative-based instead of standalone, the focus on the characters and their relationships with each other increases exponentially, the plots become far more intricate and even focus on real-world issues, and Jane begins interacting with her visions, giving Caterina Scorsone far more material to work with.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Pollock does his damndest to hide it, but it's clear that he loves his wife and kids quite dearly, to the point that domestic abusers are his Berserk Button. His season three arc has him finally strike a balance between his home and work lives, and by the end, he's gleefully expecting his third child.
  • "Spring Break" ends on an incredibly sweet note. When the team learns that Caroline and Luke are actually the same person, the team all comfort Luke down from the edge of a building by reaffirming that there's nothing wrong with him, with his mother providing support. She has some struggle accepting that her son is trans immediately, but she immediately puts her own discomfort aside and tells Luke that it's nice to meet him and she can't wait to get to know him more.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Assistant Director John Pollock is the leader of the Missing Person's Task Force and, despite his arrogant demeanor, proves to be far more capable and intelligent than he lets on. Coming into his own when he releases a dangerous criminal so she'll lead them to a dangerous weapon, Pollock uses his knowledge and connections to benefit any case he can, using varying strategies like going on a date with a suspect and giving her his PDA to track her; blackmailing an ambassador through the knowledge of his affairs; having a fleeing criminal kidnapped by a Brazilian General, even telling the General to do whatever he wants to him; and often working his own angles on cases while the rest of the team works theirs. Whether it's kidnappers, murderers, or even other departments of the government, Pollock knows when to fight and when to back off, always ensuring that the FBI comes out on top of any other agency or person that tries to take him down.
  • "Delusional": Karen Moore is the personification of Brianna Norton's mental illness who corrupted her into a ruthless Serial Killer. After Brianna was Forced to Watch a businessman murder her sister, Karen convinced her that all businessmen were out to get her, managing to make Brianna act normal enough to be released from her mental institution before they began killing. When Jess gets visions of Brianna, Karen begins corrupting her as well, convincing her that everyone she knows is out to get her with subtle yet accurate observations, turning her into a paranoid mess within a day and leaving her unsure of just what is real. Although she dies with Brianna, Karen manages to cause more damage to Jess than any other killer despite not even being real.
  • "Mr. Nobody": The imposter is a mysterious hitman who works to ensure he won't go down for his crimes. Hired to assassinate Seth Peters, the imposter kidnaps Martin Hallenbeck, a nobody, and begins a weeks-long effort to frame him for Peters' murder, planting incriminating evidence on forums in Martin's name and legally buying a rifle in Martin's name. When seen by Rebecca Flynn, he kills her to cover his tracks before hiding her body, staying ahead of the FBI even when the murder sets them on his trail. Later on planting evidence pointing towards a false target to buy himself some time, the FBI play along until the last moment, leading to the imposter almost succeeding in his plan.
  • "Truth or Dare" two-parter: Jared Hart is a suave Con Man who proves dangerous to both the FBI and the Bianchi crime family. Upon his wife being kidnapped by the family, Jared makes it even by giving them the location of a witness currently in protection. When this entices them for more, Jared pretends to be an FBI agent, putting them on his wife's trail as well as giving himself access to the Witness Protection database. Along the way, he not only believes Jess's visions but utilizes them, beating everyone to a witness who he manages to save before later using the team's skills of analysis to secretly tip Nicole off to a meeting. Though he's ultimately arrested, Jared's actions ensure his wife's safety and he accepts defeat gracefully, confidently stating he'll be back with his wife soon enough.
  • "John Doe": The kidnapper is a surprisingly competent adversary who keeps up with the FBI despite his low class of crime. After hearing Derek Conway complain about his rich employers, the kidnapper comes up with a plan to kidnap Victoria Farlow for ransom, using Derek to get the codes to shut off the house's alarm. Meticulously covering all of his tracks, including taking the security camera footage with him, the kidnapper then arranges a secure ransom drop, only to have his men successfully ambush the FBI and get away with the cash. Later managing to track down Conway and torturing him for Victoria's whereabouts, the kidnapper then shoots him in the head when he doesn't get the information and leaves with his money. Only tracked down due to a series of small details, the kidnapper then remains calm in his interrogation, simply telling Nicole everything before quietly hanging his head.
• Moment of Awesome: At the end of "Puzzle Box", when "Captain America" confronts his confined slaves, he tells them that Mai Ling, the reporter investigating him, must stand up or he'll kill every woman in the room. In response, every woman stands up at once, dumbfounding him enough for another of the slaves to get him down before the FBI arrives. It's a truly stunning moment of unity from a group of random people.
• Narm: Rather tragically, the ending of the show is unintentionally hilarious in how goofy it is. Antonio getting in his car only to be blown up is an incredibly tragic moment, especially since poor Nicole had to watch it happen. The problem is that the episode ends on a dramatically frozen shot of Nicole's grieving face (a stylistic choice never seen before in the show) and the specific frame it chooses makes it look like Nicole's only mildly annoyed instead of devastated, meaning the show ends on a very conflicted note overall.
• Realism-Induced Horror: In a series filled with serial killers, robbers, and even rapists, by far the most horrifying villain is Stephen Dawson from "Off the Grid". There's no fun or interesting gimmick, no over the top monologuing, and not even any personal emnity with the team to make him entertaining - he's simply a Domestic Abuser who uses his charm and connections to get away with his crimes, and every chance he gets he finds his way back to his wife to continue abusing her. In perhaps the most shocking moment of the show, he manages to get past the FBI and kill her, a horrifying reality shared by many abused spouses in real life.
• So Okay, It's Average: This seems to be the general consensus for the show as a whole. It's nothing particularly special, but it's not particularly bad either, especially for the time period, and thanks to the actors invovled it manages to pull out some genuinely impactful moments here and there.
• Tear Jerker:
  • One night, Pollock goes home to his wife late, only to find the door locked. His wife has had enough of him not ever being home thanks to his work and kicks him out, leaving him basically stranded in his office and a random hotel room while he desperately tries to reconcile their marriage. Fortunately, a combination of him coming home more often and her seeing the results of his work firsthand bring them back together, and by the end they're expecting another child.
  • Everyone's reactions to Janey's death. They range from disappointment to guilt to uncertainty to clear grief, as all four of the cast process the death in different ways. Rather surprisingly, Pollock ends up taking it the worst and ends up getting a medical suspension because his head is so far out of the game.
  • In the final episode of the series, the killer has been caught, Pollock's expecting a baby, and Nicole and Antonio make plans for a date the next morning. Then Antonio gets in his car and it explodes while Nicole can only watch, with the show ending on her crying in confusion and devastation.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: In "Truth or Dare", Antonio is supposed to be seen as in the wrong for not informing Nicole of his previous marriage, with Nicole clearly being heartbroken by the omission. The problem is that not only is his previous marriage not any of her business whatsoever, but she'd spent the entire season rejecting his clear advances up to this point, so she has no reason to be heartbroken - plus, one of her defining traits is her refusal to talk about her past. The result is that Nicole looks like a needlessly jealous Hypocrite who guilts Antonio for having ever had a life outside of her while still refusing to trust him with anything.

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