mhubbard-54657
Too bad there are so many of these cases, that the producers have plenty of material. This is not feel good escapist television, other than perhaps it feels good to sit, safe in your living room and watch with growing terror what leads up to the disappearance of these mostly young women. Some were dabbling on the wrong side of the tracks, some weren't. Some had vulnerabilities, such as substance abuse, or mental illness, others were pursuing the American Dream. All were obviously in the wrong place at the wrong time. Much spookier than any horror film, because this stuff really happened and continues to happen.The unsolved cases are particularly chilling.The production quality is not always top notch, but worth watching if you "enjoy" this type of thing. Some of the stories may be hard to forget.
hilaryjrp
I discovered "Disappeared" in 2013 on Netflix. I didn't know what "binge-watching" meant at the time but learned fast. As another reviewer has said, this series is haunting and riveting. No other true crime show--maybe even including beloved Unsolved Mysteries-- comes close.There are several reasons for its effectiveness. Early seasons had minimal musical background. Intrusive music in true crime shows often overwhelms, rivals, or trivializes stories of heartache and ongoing loss. What little music there is conveys the melancholy and ominousness of the "disappeared's" loved ones' lives. The narration likewise is not melodramatic; the single-camera interviews have often brought me to tears, because parents, siblings, police officers look straight into the camera as if they're appealing to you--and they are. So many of these stories remain sincere mysteries. Tragically, a few have been solved with the discovery of remains. Fewer have been solved with the surprise reappearance of a person who consciously chose to disappear (and these stories are often as troubling, in their own way, as those of the poor souls whose fates we have to imagine). No matter what the outcome, "Disappeared" somehow has an unmatched sensitivity in approaching an awful subject. It plumbs the psychological background of any given missing person without being prurient or sensational. It is compassionate to those missing people--generally very young--whom the show freely admits never knew a level playing field in life. I would not recommend that children younger than thirteen watch this show--especially in re-runs or on streaming online "channels." Two stories in particular concern missing children and are among the most disturbing I've ever seen. On the other hand, if I had teenage children, I would make "Disappeared" required viewing. So many of the stories deal with young people trying to rebuild lives ruined by substance abuse, or plain abuse--but who choose to befriend or become lovers of partners whose danger is almost written on their faces. The word "modest" comes to mind when I think of "Disappeared." I know nothing about the producers or history of the series. All I know is that it has remained my "go-to" streaming crime series; I don't feel like a voyeur watching it. I often watch it and say prayers for the parents, the kid sister, the older brother, the bereaved wife or husband, still waiting for peace in the most awful of circumstances.Blessings on every one of these folks still waiting, and on those whose worst fears have been realized. "Disappeared" honors victims; it doesn't glorify crime. Do not miss this superb program.
filmguyCI
I can't believe that there is just one other review for this terrific show. And it's an unfairly negative one at that. A champagne glass?This show profiles true life cases of people who have disappeared without a trace. Through interviews with family members and reenactments , we learn of the events that lead up to the person's disappearance. I have watched every episode of the show's 6 seasons and almost always, I am completely absorbed. A person disappearing without a trace is disturbing and one can only imagine what the family members are going through as they search for answers. I have been so taken with some of these cases that years later I will think about someone I saw on an episode and do a search to see if there is any updated news on the case.I'm not sure if this show has ever been responsible for someone being found as Unsolved Mysteries used to claim back in its day, however, it certainly doesn't hurt to have another forum to get the word out to help find these missing people. I'm happy to learn that a 7th season is being produced due to viewer demand. Smart move by Investigation Discovery as it has been , in my opinion, their most important and highest quality show.
marymorrissey
this show is pretty meager in terms of production, very splashy and annoying in terms of post (incredibly over-dramatic titles used very very liberally. Anyway I'm watching a 2nd episode online, pausing just to make a review inspired by the fact that this character being profiled, this feller who went missing in Colorado evidently liked the company of pretty women and liked to pahr-tayy. OK, so that makes it easy oh hell actually though it starts way before that getting annoying. This guy would like to come to work early and make the coffee and have his ritual bowl of oat meal so we get umpteenthousand shots of the durned coffeepot and these really annoying shots of the bowl of oatmeal. Evidently either production team will not settle for the P-poor resemblances managed by such models for this kinda show as "Unsolved Mysteries" (Cosgrove-Muerer) or else they couldn't manage to find anyone even remotely looking like the subject of the two episodes I watched, thus we have all these absurd headless coverages of these doomed individuals. I had to laugh especially in the oatmeal sequence because the poor actor did try to put as much as he could into it, tapping the spoon on the side of the bowl to settle the oatmeal into the reservoir of the tea/tablespoon. Anyway we get many many many many shots of the coffeepot, the oatmeal-in-action and then later comes that marvelous festival champagne for a benefit. The fact is this show ought to be doing 2 unsolved disappearances per episode and the sloth of taking on only one with the limited material they've captured to put it together results in quite deadly television from which I was doomed to disappear before the end of either of the two episodes I attempted to view!