When it comes to crime dramas, one of the strongest and most shocking things you can do is kill off a main character unexpectedly. It’s that reminder that the job is dangerous. Alert: Missing Persons Unit just reminded us about that in style.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Alert: Missing Persons Unit season 3, episode 2
If there is one storyline we didn’t expect to come up right away, it was the one to do with Charlie. It was clear that Jason warning Charlie to stay away from Nikki in the season 3 premiere was always going to come back to haunt the team, but I expected it to happen later in the season. So, when Nikki was abducted at the start of the episode, color me surprised.
The surprises didn’t stop there. This was one of those episodes that shook me a little like the Big Sky series premiere. Decisions made show that nobody is ever safe.
Who kidnaps Nikki in Alert: Missing Persons Unit season 3, episode 2?
The episode opens with an introduction to Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s new character, Chief Inspector Bill Houston. While he’s there to make it clear that things are going to change for the way Jason does things, he’s also worried about Nikki. A felon she arrested is out, and now all her calls are going to voicemail.
Well, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that Raina had kidnapped Nikki. When Nikki’s car was found burned out, there was the initial fear that she was in there, but that wasn’t the case. So, the mission was on figuring out where Raina had taken her.
This was where the episode took a turn. Raina was quickly apprehended, so you just knew that she wasn’t the mastermind behind all of this. She folded quickly, sharing that someone got her released early in return for kidnapping Nikki. With a little bit of digging, it turns out that Charlie, the Irish mob boss from the previous episode, was the one to do it.
What happened to Nikki in Alert: Missing Persons Unit?
When a main character is abducted, there’s always the expectation that they’ll survive. Well, Alert: Missing Persons Unit just upped the anti with its decision. Throughout the episode, Mike was terrified that his wife wasn’t going to make it. Houston suggested he come off the case, but Mike couldn’t do it.
I adore the fact that it was Jason and Mike finding Nikki together. They needed each other in this moment. While they’ve had their differences before, they are both close to Nikki in their own ways. Jason once loved (and was married to) Nikki, and Mike is now in love and married to Nikki. The two needed each other, as they realized that the body they found in the woods belonged to Nikki.
It’s some consolation that Nikki was shot in the head, so her death was painless. However, it’s a huge loss to everyone, especially Mike and Sidney. Yes, Nikki is dead! Alert: Missing Persons Unit really went there!
I have to say that I’m surprised that Jason is the one to stop Mike from shooting Charlie, though. If I was Jason, I would let Charlie have it. That’s the only way to keep that guy off the streets. Even as a cop killer, he’s the head of the Irish mob. Of course he’s going to find a way to get free.
This is a huge loss, and not just to Mike and those who knew Nikki well. It’s going to change everything in the Missing Persons Unit. That unit was started because Nikki and Jason lost their son, Keith. Can it keep going without her? Jason is too much of a hot-head, and Mike is now likely to go off the rails. Houston will need to stick around to help keep the team focused.
Alert: Missing Persons Unit airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on FOX. Catch up the following day on Hulu.
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