Gone

GONE is a procedural thriller with terrific character development and backstory. The show is anchored by Kick Lannigan (Leven Rambin) who was abducted as a young girl, and Frank Booth (Chris Noth) the FBI agent who rescued her. This dynamic, and the abduction that still haunts Kick, give the show emotional depth. The pilot sets up the basic premise: Frank recruits Kick to join a small team of agents tasked with finding victims of abduction. The excellent writing distinguishes GONE from ordinary procedural, and the acting is superb. I watched the second episode and I was hooked. The limited series peaks in the middle of the season -- episode 6 entitled "Don't Go" is a stunner -- and by the end I was ready for GONE, Season Two.

Chris Noth is every missing child and parents hero. He plays FBI agent Frank Booth who works missing children cases. A former child abductee named Kick Lannigan (Leven Rambin) who FBI agent Frank Booth rescued a long time ago still keeps in touch with her to the current day. Kick has remained a single adult who owns and operates a self defense school.

A potential client named Bishop (Danny Pino) who wants to learn self defense requests Kick provide him with a private lesson. Although the teacher versus new student defense class does not go as planned for either the teacher Kick, nor her new student Bishop, in walks the FBI agent Frank Booth, who rescued Kick all those years ago with an offer. I thought the fight scene was more than over the top. Ouchhhhh!

Frank asks Kick and another kidnapping survivor named James Finley (Andy Mientus) to join a special kidnap/rescue forces team that he is just forming whose job is to investigate recent child kidnappings. The special kidnapping task force team includes three former actors who all starred in previous successful television crime series. Chris Noth (Law & Order), Danny Pino (Cold Case, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), and Tracie Thoms (Cold Case).

The pilot episode provides the TV viewers with some insights into what each member of the task force brings to the team. Kick is obviously still harboring some demons from her childhood days held in captivity but she knows the ins and outs of these child predators fro first hand knowledge as to how they cultivate their victims and keep them as hostages for years (as she was).

My Pet Peeve: Whenever I see a member of TV's law enforcement who looks like (s)he is still in high school sitting in front of a computer monitor and frantically typing aimlessly on the keyboard in front of them, and within five (5) seconds of air time they have discovered the perpetrators hideout I grow disappointed quickly in the quality of the program as it is a very cheap and lazy screenwriter who cannot build a storyline that captures the audiences attention.

I give the pilot episode a decent enough 8 out of 10 rating and time will tell how this series progresses. I just hope the series Gone loses the phony keyboard typing detective that is so prevalent in so many mediocre TV crime series.

If you went into this expecting that Gone was going to recreate the wheel, clearly you're going to be disappointed. This is a standard procedural, and honestly, it's good! If you've enjoyed "Without a Trace," or "Law & Order," or "Criminal Minds," etc., you're going to enjoy this! It seems like the younger the audience, anymore, the less enjoyment they get out of this kind of TV. I get that. I still enjoy things like Teen Wolf (which had some sublime writing, and wonderful acting!), and The Originals (I always preferred that to The Vampire Diaries), too, so! I see the difference, and I see the appeal to both, it's just that procedurals are an old business.

I find Noth's "father figure" as the lead for this rag-tag bunch awesome. I've loved Noth since he was Mr. Big, so! You can't go wrong there. Where a few others have felt that the lead was over the top, I dare you to watch Blindspot or Quantico, or any of the hundreds of others with over-the-top leads! I don't find Kitt (or Kick) crazily out-of-control (she's still suffering from a mild PTSD, but unlike other dramas, the trauma of it doesn't just shut her down, and it's not something that's overplayed!). As a matter of fact, I think they sort of underplay it sometimes.

Regardless, another person had a problem with the hacker dude, and... I don't find him as cloying, but I can see the issue. It's the same thing as your Garcia's in Crim Minds (talk about an over-the-top character, though! She's lovable as heck!), or your Abby Sciuto's from NCIS! It's nothing that hasn't already been done, and it's important for plot dev, especially with such a skeleton crew. Seeing Danny Pino again (Law & Order: SVU) was a great surprise! He's so muted here, and I love that!

I know this show hasn't scored higher with other folks, but if you're a fan of any of the shows I've mentioned, just give it a try! I think you'll like it. =D

Started off a bit awkward but it's getting its stride and turning into a great show. Hope it continues.

If you've always been a fan of Chris Noth, whether he's playing Mike Logan or Mr Big or that guy in The Good Wife, you'll enjoy Gone. The stories are well written, and, happily, entirely realistic, and the acting is perfectly pitched - no scenery chewing, but enough emotion to keep the viewer entertained.

Leven Rambin is excellent as the female lead - she does a very commendable mix of tough, smart, and vulnerable, and works well with Noth, Danny Pino, and the regulation nerdy guy.

And the funky, high-tech plane the team gets around in is a real treat - it's a nicely original take on the currently fashionable, ultra-sophisticated investigation tools cop shows use these days.

The cast has obviously gelled quickly, and their combined professionalism delivers an interesting, very watchable, show.