The Ending of Harlan Coben's 'Missing You' on Netflix Explained

I have come to begrudgingly admire the annual Harlan Coben Netflix series. They are humorless, devoid of real character development, feature rote (if not wooden) acting, and are entirely forgettable once they end. Yet, they’re undeniably popular — last January’s Stay Close was the most-watched TV season of the first half of the year, even though a year later, no one can recall the title. There have been seven or eight of these Coben series; I’ve seen every one, but without looking them up, I can name maybe two — Safe and Shelter Me. I couldn’t recount the plot of any of them, though if I guessed they starred Richard Armitage, I’d probably be right. Honestly, I remember more about 20-year-old Law & Order episodes than these series.

And yet, I watch them all voraciously. They’re the Netflix equivalent of an airport bestseller — something to devour on a cross-country flight and leave behind in the seat pocket. They’re no-frills, 100% plot-driven stories that end in ways that somehow manage to feel both obvious and surprising. They’re also oddly perfect for early January: television palate cleansers. At this point, I genuinely look forward to them.

The latest, Missing You, stands out, not because it’s better — they’re all mostly interchangeable — but because it’s only five episodes and its title is explicitly tied to a mediocre John Waite song, making it easier to remember (and ensuring that earworm has been lodged in my brain for two days).

There are two main storylines. Rosalind Eleazar (Slow Horses) plays Detective Kat Donovan, investigating the mysterious disappearances of several people (eventually linked to a dog breeder outside of town, played by Steve Pemberton) while also dipping her toe back into dating. On a dating app, she matches with her ex-fiancé, Josh Buchanan, who vanished 11 years ago, right after her father’s death. Strangely, Josh is now engaged to Dana Fells, one of the missing women. Dana’s son seeks out Kat, believing her past connection to Josh might hold clues to his mother’s disappearance.

Meanwhile, Kat reopens her father’s murder case after the convicted killer, on his deathbed, confesses to taking the fall for the crime. This man was an employee of Dominic Calligan (James Nesbitt), who somehow ties back to Kat’s father. At the same time, Kat’s boss, Ellis Stagger (Richard Armitage), urges her to stop digging into her father’s case and accept the original conviction.

Both storylines ultimately connect through Josh Buchanan (Ashley Walters), Kat’s estranged fiancé, who has been missing for 11 years.

Now, for the ending—for those who skipped the five episodes of this exceedingly palatable mystery or are just curious, knowing you’ll forget this by the next post (Spoilers):

Josh Buchanan’s dating profile was fake. The dog breeder created it to catfish victims, luring them to his property, where he extorted their bank details, murdered them, and cremated their remains. He was just unlucky in that he used the picture of a cop’s ex-boyfriend to do his catfishing. Kat’s investigation led to the breeder, who tried to torch his farm (with hostages inside) before Kat arrived. Dana Fells escaped in time to save the others, and Kat ultimately shot and killed the breeder.

As for Kat’s father, he turned out to be a corrupt cop who used bribe money to fund a second life with his true love, a man named Parker. Though Calligan had bribed him, he didn’t kill Kat’s father — Josh Buchanan did. Kat discovered this after reuniting with Josh, who had married, had a child, and lost his wife during the intervening years. While they quickly rekindled their relationship, Kat learned Josh had accidentally killed her father. The incident occurred when Parker, fearing exposure after being spotted kissing his boyfriend by Kat’s friend Aqua (Mary Malone), tried to silence Aqua. Josh intervened to protect Aqua, and in the scuffle, Kat’s father was killed. Ellis Stagger, Kat’s boss, helped cover it up, believing Kat’s family didn’t need to know the truth about her father’s double life. He even arranged for another man — already serving time for two murders — to take the fall. And yes, his name is really Ellis Stagger.

In the end, despite knowing Josh killed her father, Kat seems inclined to stay with him, convinced it was an accident.