Drama
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Captain Pike finally gets his time in the Star Trek spotlight, but his story is one filled with tragedy and foreboding.
There’s something primal about the bond between mother and child: Threaten a cub, and Mama Bear’ll make you pay. And if Mom’s a former CIA agent? Well, the cost may be steep indeed.
Becca Winstone hasn’t been active in the agency for a decade now. After her husband was killed in Europe, she set aside her trenchcoat and gun, settling into a safer, more mundane life—running a small floral shop while raising her son, Michael.
He’s 18 now, and in Rome studying architecture. She’s living text to text as he keeps her updated on his adventure. And then the messages stop. He’s been kidnapped. So Becca wastes no time dropping her facade of normalcy and returning to her danger-dealing past, flying to Europe in full mama bear mode, determined to rescue him.
Missing is serialized escapism—a James Bond-style caper filled with guns, fisticuffs and exotic locales featuring a middle-aged mother instead of dapper 007. Star Ashley Judd shines here, conveying both the desperation and danger the role requires. And through her eyes we see just how powerful motherhood—and family—can be. She will stop at nothing to rescue her little boy from the clutches of evil; she’ll track down every lead, break every rule and knock out every bad guy she sees if she thinks it’ll bring her even a millimeter closer to her son.
That, naturally, is both good and bad news. While her dedication to family is indeed admirable, Missing forces us to ask difficult questions: Is it right to lie, cheat and even kill for the sake of your progeny? Does the end, in such a case, justify the messy means?
They’re worthy questions. But to even reach them, we must swim through our own gauntlet of perilous content: Becca’s adversaries aren’t above killing people who get in their way, and she herself never even once hesitates when it comes to knock-down-drag-outs with thuggish lackeys twice her size. Any given episode’s blood quotient and body count, therefore, can get pretty high.
Neither she nor the other women who appear onscreen are reluctant to downplay their womanly wiles, either. Skin exposure and passionate encounters are sure to be an issue as the season progresses.
So maybe there are a few things better left lost. Not Michael, of course. Just a few of the things his mom has to wade through to get to him.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Becca’s search takes her to Ravella, Italy, where suspicion falls on a mysterious woman aboard a mysterious boat being auctioned for charity. Her pursuit, though, is hampered by the arrival of best friend Mary, who’s in the country for moral support after she learns that her husband had an affair and is leaving her.
Meanwhile, Oksana comes into Michael’s room/cell and strips off her skirt. “I said we would get to know each other,” she says, slithering onto his bed. (Michael, believing his captors sent her, rejects her come-on.) Other women wear low-cut outfits.
We see a bullet enter a woman’s skull. A policeman is killed (offscreen) and left hidden in an alley. Becca knocks baddies unconscious. (In scenes from previous episodes, we see her beat up several more people and watch as her husband dies in an explosion.) Michael is threatened with gunfire.
Becca drinks champagne and Mary verbally longs for a vodka. Characters say “h‑‑‑” once, “b‑‑ch” once and misuse God’s name four or five times.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
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