Absentia - General Discussion

[Rushmoras]

On 5/29/2019 at 6:15 PM, Rushmoras said:

Well, you'd be pissed off then, cause his BDSM activities are not even addressed in S02 (at least up until E08, haven't yet seen the remaining three eps, but who knows). It's like he's a totally different person in the second season 😄

OK, so, having watched the remaining season, I stand somewhat corrected. He did address it himself somewhat, while talking with Alice on the phone (you don't know in what dark place I was before I met you, paraphrasing). However, I get the feeling that this will be the Following No. 2 where all of the seasons revolve around one bad guy, that has been dealt with, but somehow that bad guy still is spinning things in motion. Instead of Joe Caroll we have... um... what's her name (dammit, really can't remember, the chick with the mask, who worked with Lu Fang Shen).

Edited June 19, 2019 by Rushmoras

[jiminycrispies]

I was looking for a show to help scratch my mystery loving itch and started watching this a couple of days ago. I enjoyed the first season, it wasn't perfect but it was good enough for me to start season 2. What a disconnect! Right off the gate I was super annoyed with Emily's dumb earring. Idk why, the random black hoop bugged me. What I liked about season 1 was that there was a single mystery to latch on to and there was a clear story-line. I thought the cases this season were really weak. I'm not thrilled that they had to connect yet another case to Emily and was bored by the FEMA attack case even though it had potential to be really good.

The end of season 1 was already frustrating as a viewer because of how everyone was turning on Emily (I hated her husband and his wife by the end of the season) but season 2 just doubles down on it. Yea, she might not be the best person but everyone seems to forget that she was apparently tortured for SIX years!? I also did not like her new love interest and was so annoyed when they predictably killed off Tommy. I stopped watching after episode 7 so not sure if everything makes sense with the remaining 3 episodes, but super disappointed about this show's sophomore slump,

[NeenerNeener]

I see my hatred for Alice in season 1 was justified. Now I'm wondering about that new FBI head.

Edited June 23, 2019 by NeenerNeener

[preeya]

On 6/23/2019 at 1:34 PM, NeenerNeener said:

• I see my hatred for Alice in season 1 was justified. Now I'm wondering about that new FBI head.

Called the killer, didn't see the killer's killer coming.  Wonder what next season will bring with the new FBI head?

Edited June 26, 2019 by preeya

[Chaos Theory]

I have always meant to get around to watching this but for whatever reason never did.  This is the exact kind of psychological thriller I enjoy.  Yes it is improbable as all hell but I really enjoy the unreliable lead aspects of it.   You were never completely sure if Emily was actually innocent of a bunch of murders and her disappearance became more and more suspicious.  I really enjoyed watching the police and her ex wonder if she was the actual serial killer.

 I have just finished season 1 and I really enjoyed the mystery.  Since there is still nothing much on the I am going to start up on season 2 shortly.

Edited September 11, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[Chaos Theory]

Ok just blew threw season 2 and I mostly enjoyed it.  There were a couple of slow spots and I am not sure how I feel about the Alice reveal (actually I think it is a major cop out for the show.  One of the things I really liked was the Emily’s return wasn’t all happy happy joy joy.  Her son barely remembers her and her husband has a new wife.   I thought that Emily having to move on was a clever story but now if there is a third season (is there a third season)  with the death of Alice and Tommy  it looks like everything is almost exactly back as she left it)    But otherwise I thought the two mysteries that blended into each other were very well done.

Edited September 12, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[tljgator]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

(is there a third season)

I'm not sure there's been an "official" announcement, but Stana said on her twitter there is a third season (I guess she would know, lol).

[TheOtherOne]

The news dropped today:

Stana Katic Series ‘Absentia’ Officially Renewed For Season 3 By Amazon With New Showrunner, 2 Cast Additions

[topanga]

On 9/26/2019 at 3:48 PM, TheOtherOne said:

The news dropped today:

Stana Katic Series ‘Absentia’ Officially Renewed For Season 3 By Amazon With New Showrunner, 2 Cast Additions

Maybe I should try to watch season 2 again. But the end of season one got confusing, so I guess I’d have to watch season one first. Sigh. I'm not sure if it’s worth it. 

[jabRI]

I just binged season 2, I didn't mind that there wasn't all that much connection to season 1 (but some highlights of the main players would have been nice).  My biggest complaint is that it seemed to have been shot in total darkness for most of it.  I don't know why they have to do that.  I don't know why that new FBI boss had to take out Alice in that last scene, that made me suspicious

Poor Nick and Flynn

[rove4]

I finally got around to watching this, binged all 20 episodes over the weekend.  I'm surprised that so many people thought Alice was treating Emily unfairly at first.  I was suspicious of her almost immediately because I thought she was being too understanding and nice, lol.  My suspicions waned when she started pushing back and left Nick to go to her sister's house (though of course my initial suspicions turned out to be correct as the end of S2 showed).

I felt for everyone.  Emily, of course, but also for Nick and Alice.  It's an impossible situation to have to deal with - first wife coming back from the dead after six years.  I personally don't blame Nick for starting to believe that Emily could be guilty.  All the evidence pointed to her and the story could've easily taken the twist of having her actually be guilty, even if it were in some sort of Stockholm Syndrome way.  As a viewer, I wasn't always 100% sure of her innocence and I had access to information that Nick didn't.  

As for the plot itself, I confess that the mystery seemed convoluted to me.  I'm not sure it all made sense to me.  If Emily was never selected as a child by Dr. Shen for his experiments, then why was she having visions of the bleeding eye?  And what did the flower names have to do with anything? Did they ever uncover who the mole in FBI's Boston office was?

The plot for S2 seemed even more bizarre.  So apparently that Quill research project spawned two mad scientist types, Dr. Shen and Dr. O.  And then Dr. O somehow convinced student Alice to falsely embed herself into Nick's and Flynn's lives?  And if she started out as Nick's therapist, when did they start dating? Because it definitely couldn't happen while Nick was still in her care and there are rules for when it can happen once therapy is completed, if at all.  I want to say it's something like two years after completion of therapy.  I do believe that Alice grew to love Nick and Flynn for real.  Her terror and protectiveness of Flynn when they were both captives in S1 were exactly how a mother would react. 

Emily rejoining the FBI just like that was dumb.  No drug testing?  No requirement of clearance from a mental health professional after all the trauma she's endured?  

I really hope that the show isn't setting up Cal to be the next love interest.  With all the face and forehead touching (how unprofessional), I'm not holding my breath.  That'll make Emily's father and brother the only men on the show who don't want to take Emily to bed. 🙄

Don't even get me started on Alice's affair with Emily's brother.  

[MaiaH]

It looks like season 3 will be dropping on July 17.  There is also a trailer for season 3 at this link TVLine

[Valny]

On 6/18/2020 at 4:14 PM, MaiaH said:

It looks like season 3 will be dropping on July 17.  There is also a trailer for season 3 at this link TVLine

Thanks for that info, I had forgotten it was getting a season 3!

[Chaos Theory]

I am rewatching this to get ready for season 3.   I forgot how much I really enjoyed season 1.    Season 1 was really in my wheelhouses.  The unreliable lead that you were never really sure of.  I mean it hit every single trope and I was kinda disappointed that Emily turned out to not be the serial killer in the end but that was a small nitpick.  I burned through season 1 in a couple of days and what I liked (her return after being declared dead caused a lot of problems for her family who really had moved on for the most part) and that one bad thing she did as a kid had a ripple effect.    

[yourmomiseasy]

I was thinking about refreshing because I remember nothing from season 2, but then I saw that I posted that I would not be doing that, so I'm going to trust past me on this one.

[Chaos Theory]

On 7/13/2020 at 3:31 PM, yourmomiseasy said:

I was thinking about refreshing because I remember nothing from season 2, but then I saw that I posted that I would not be doing that, so I'm going to trust past me on this one.

Actually i liked the 2nd season better the second time I watched it.   I still have a couple issues with the Alice reveal but I really enjoyed both seasons on rewatch more then i did the first time.

[yourmomiseasy]

I'm still not sure I'm going to watch season 3.  If I do and I'm confused maybe I'll go back and watch 2.  But then again, given this show, maybe there will be no continuity between 2 and 3 to worry about.

[preeya]

On 7/15/2020 at 4:56 AM, yourmomiseasy said:

I'm still not sure I'm going to watch season 3.  If I do and I'm confused maybe I'll go back and watch 2.  But then again, given this show, maybe there will be no continuity between 2 and 3 to worry about.

I watched the first episode of S03 and I'm not sure where this is going. There were a few mentions of S02 but it seems to be disconnected.

[Chaos Theory]

1 hour ago, preeya said:

I watched the first episode of S03 and I'm not sure where this is going. There were a few mentions of S02 but it seems to be disconnected.

I am half way through season 3 and the biggest connection is the death of Alice and a possible mole in the FBI.     Technically you don’t have to rewatch season 2. But I might recommend watching the last episode just to get the gist of what is going on.    
 

Basically Emily is on mandated leave because new boss suspended her for two weeks for the fentanyl case.   But Emily being Emily is doing her own thing and even after new boss got cleared after shooting Alice is investing her anyway.  Not to mention anyone who even gets near Flynn or Nick.  Then you know a source of Nick’s shows up at the house in a panic and the rest of the season goes bad fast.
 

Edited July 18, 2020 by Chaos Theory

[preeya]

3 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I am half way through season 3 and the biggest connection is the death of Alice and a possible mole in the FBI.  

Isn't there always a mole in the FBI.  I'm getting bad vibes about "new boss."

[Chaos Theory]

2 hours ago, preeya said:

Isn't there always a mole in the FBI.  I'm getting bad vibes about "new boss."

I thought so too and I am on episode 7 now and I just got the feeling that her being such a good political suck up makes her a really good unintentional source for the real mole HER BOSS.    She basically told of her subordinates to keep everything on the down low and then told her boss everything that was going on the very next sentence.  
 

ok edited to add I was wrong about about new boss lady - and how.    But the mystery of who the mole was turned out to be a be a really good one that collected really well with season 2.

Also really liked how the show connected Flynn into the season.   He’a been a loose thread this season but they’ve been asking the question all series “whose child is he” in the metaphorical sense.   Is he like mom or dad and they answered it.  He is very much both in a lot of ways.  He has his fathers sense of honor but when it comes down to it he is very much like his mother when it comes to fight or flight.   The way he dealt with the bad guy dude who came after his grandfather and uncle at the farmhouse was very much his mother.

I am very glad the show didn’t immediately go back to Emily and Nick /one big happy family at the end of the season.   I kinda like Emily and Cal.  
 

Edited July 18, 2020 by Chaos Theory

[yourmomiseasy]

So is season 3 worth the time?

[HollyG]

5 minutes ago, yourmomiseasy said:

So is season 3 worth the time?

I liked it. It's only slightly connected to the first 2 seasons, but was much easier to follow.

[yourmomiseasy]

21 hours ago, HollyG said:

I liked it. It's only slightly connected to the first 2 seasons, but was much easier to follow.

Thanks!  I'll give it a shot.  I liked season 1 for the most part, but it seems like season 2 was kind of all over the place.

[HollyG]

3 minutes ago, yourmomiseasy said:

Thanks!  I'll give it a shot.  I liked season 1 for the most part, but it seems like season 2 was kind of all over the place.

I felt the same way.  But I really liked S3. 

[yourmomiseasy]

On 7/21/2020 at 10:31 AM, HollyG said:

I felt the same way.  But I really liked S3. 

Thanks for the encouragement.  I watched it and I liked it.  At this point I think I'm appreciating that you can watch each season as a standalone.

[BellyLaughter]

On 7/22/2020 at 3:31 AM, HollyG said:

I felt the same way.  But I really liked S3. 

Yep, S3 was far and away the best season of this show.... really good!  And left it in a place that could be the end or leave you wanting more.   It was really well done....

[Rushmoras]

 While I liked S3, but I keep thinking that this is just the same old story only the other way around.

Spoiler

Instead of Emily being abducted and Nick, and the FBI looking for her, now Nick is abducted, and Emily and the FBI is looking for him.

Although, in this season, Emily is much more darker than in the previous ones, All in all, a good season, which, if there will be no S4, at least it ended with almost everything settled.

[WendyCR72]

The show is dunzo:

Season 3 was the end of Absentia.