If you loved ‘Last Seen,’ watch these mystery thrillers next
If you loved ‘Last Seen,’ watch these mystery thrillers next
From Harlan Coben twists to a very weird murder mystery, these shows should keep you guessing.
Mystery thrillers are probably my favorite kind of thriller. The mystery drives you through the story. It usually follows ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances, like missing family members, murders, or impossible sightings. And the audience gets to participate, trying to put the clues together and figure out what’s really happening. That’s definitely what Tara and I did for the run of “Last Seen” on Apple TV. This was the weekly show for us, as Ian Ridley refused to give up the search for his daughter… and we did too! Now that it’s over, we need a new mystery to solve. Here’s what to watch next if you loved “Last Seen.”
Last Seen
When emergency dispatcher Ian Ridley receives a frantic call from a teenager he believes could be his long-missing daughter, he stops at nothing to find her.
Loved ‘Last Seen’? Watch: ‘I Will Find You’
“I Will Find You” is the obvious next watch if you missed it. Tara and I came to this Harlan Coben adaptation a few weeks late, but once we started it was a pretty quick binge to the finish line. It follows David Burroughs (Sam Worthington), who’s serving life in prison for the murder of his young son. He maintains his innocence, which becomes important when his former sister-in-law (Britt Lower) comes to him with a photo… of what looks like his son, taken very recently. From there, Burroughs is all in on finding him — so he finds a way to break out and goes on the run as a fugitive to solve this mystery.
Obviously, the DNA is almost exactly the same as “Last Seen” — a father who finds evidence that the child they thought was dead is actually alive… and someone has them. Both Burroughs and Ridley have the same manic, get-them-back-at-any-cost energy. And they both have ex-wives to convince that their child is really alive. It’s a little more twisty and a little less grounded than “Last Seen” (it can be melodramatic at times — in a fun way), but it scratches exactly the same itch.
I Will Find You
Wrongfully imprisoned for murdering his own son, a father sets out on a desperate rescue mission after learning the boy may still be alive.
Check out: ‘All Her Fault’
Tara and I binged this one pretty much immediately when it dropped on Peacock. Out of all the shows on this list, “All Her Fault” may have the most captivating premise from the jump: Marissa Irvine (Sarah Snook) goes to pick up her son, Milo, from a playdate… except the woman who answers the door has never heard of Milo. There is no playdate. And Milo is gone. It’s a nightmare scenario, to be sure, but what unfolds over the series is just as troubling. Suspicion runs rampant through her friends and family as they all try to find Milo, and there’s this low-key blame put on Marissa — as if this is somehow all her fault (get it?).
Besides the obvious parallels to “Last Seen” (missing child, a family desperate to find them, potential kidnapping, etc.), both shows ground the mystery in great emotional performances. Just like Ridley gives us insight into his mental state, the relationship between Marissa and Dakota Fanning’s character, Jenny Kaminski, shows us what’s happening underneath the kidnapping. The guilt, the mental load of handling the household, and how society pretty much blames moms when things go wrong. Oh, and the ending is incredible. Out of every show on this list, it lands the plane the smoothest.
All Her Fault
In Chicago, Marissa Irvine arrives at 14 Arthur Avenue, expecting to pick up her young son Milo from his first playdate with a boy at his new school. But the woman who answers the door isn’t a mother she recognizes. She isn’t the nanny. She doesn’t have Milo. And so begins every parent’s worst nightmare.
Watch next: ‘Furious’
I just wrote about how “‘Furious” is the most underrated thriller on Hulu. That’s how much I love this show. It follows Emmy Rossum as Alice Black, an FBI agent at the bottom of the food chain, looking into a series of murders connected to Catherine (Lola Petticrew). You know who the killer is right from the start, so the mystery isn’t so much who… but why? And even more than that: is it justified?
The overlap here is that both leads are damaged former detectives now doing something else… but still can’t let those old instincts die. Black is answering phones on the FBI hotline, while Ridley is answering phones on the emergency dispatch. For both of them, the case becomes personal, and both blur the line between professional detective work and obsession. Now, “Furious” is much more a cat-and-mouse serial-killer story than a straight-up mystery thriller. But the moral ambiguity you begin to feel once you know why Catherine is doing what she’s doing is very similar to the “Last Seen” reveal when you learn why Henry and Jenna Reid are doing what they’re doing. Suddenly, things feel a lot less black and white.
Furious
FBI agent Alice Black is on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating female serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur.
Wildcard pick: ‘DTF St. Louis’
“DTF St. Louis” is the weirdest show on this list (though “Furious” is a very close second). I was totally mesmerized by this show — it feels different from almost everything on mainstream TV. The series follows Jason Bateman, David Harbour, and Linda Cardellini at the center of a very weird middle-aged love triangle that ends with somebody dead. You don’t need to know much more than that, but don’t expect to get answers quickly.
There are two timelines and multiple perspectives, mostly told from Bateman and Cardellini’s points of view. Just like “Last Seen,” each new piece of info makes you reassess what you think really happened. And “DTF St. Louis” is even more aggressive in that because you’re getting unreliable accounts from the leads. Both shows are also as much about the damaged people going through this as the mystery itself. Now, “DTF St. Louis” is much funnier and weirder. You get strange scenes of infidelity, sexual frustration, embarrassment, and the malaise of middle age. It’s a different beast, which is why it’s the wild card, but if you haven’t considered it, put it on your list.
DTF St. Louis
A love triangle among three adults experiencing middle-age malaise leads to one of them ending up dead.
More to watch after finishing ‘Last Seen’
‘Black Snow’ | AMC+
Black Snow
Unsolved murders, missing people, cold cases. How do you cope with not knowing what happened? Detective James Cormack (Travis Fimmel) is focused on solving cold-case mysteries. At the same time, he’s haunted by his personal quest to find his younger brother, who vanished when they were children.
‘Black Bird’ | Apple TV
Black Bird
As Jimmy Keene begins a 10-year prison sentence, he gets an incredible offer: If he can elicit a confession from suspected killer Larry Hall, Jimmy will be freed. Completing this mission becomes the challenge of a lifetime.
‘Presumed Innocent’ | Apple TV
Presumed Innocent
A horrific murder upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney’s Office when one of its own is suspected of the crime—leaving the accused fighting to keep his family together.
‘Safe’ | Netflix
Safe
After his daughter goes missing, a widower begins uncovering the dark secrets of the people closest to him.