‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit’ Episode 2: Recap And Ending, Explained: Does Sidney Know What Happened To Keith?

After a somewhat decent pilot episode, “Alert: Missing Persons Unit” brought its A-game in the second one, as the team found itself racing against time to pull off a rescue. The first episode showcased the modus operandi of the titular investigative unit by establishing an abduction case connected with the CIA’s extrajudicial tactics in external affairs. The first episode of “Alert” also addressed the central narrative about the mystery of the lead duo Nikki and Jason’s son – Keith’s disappearance and brought him back by the end of the episode under mysterious circumstances. The second episode builds on the suspense by disclosing shocking new information—much like how most of these procedural dramas do—but the central case stands out in the episode.

Spoilers Ahead


What Happens In ‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit’ Episode 2?

The opening scene of “Alert: Missing Persons Unit” Episode 2 shows the bedroom of a middle-aged mother; visual cues and dialogue point out she seems to be deeply affectionate with her son. The scene shifts to the kitchen of a fast-food joint, where a Latino teenager gets off duty after his shift ends. The mother is shown to be covertly waiting for the teen and biding her time until she launches a vicious beatdown on him with a baseball bat, leaving the kid severely injured and unconscious. Thus begins the case of the second episode with a shocking start, and the teen is the missing person.

Elsewhere, Jason and his security firm partner/girlfriend June go to a known associate who has found an authentication bypass in a particular brand of smart TV that allows unsolicited surveillance through the in-built webcam and mic. The associate shows them live footage accessed by the surveillance hack, where the aforementioned teenager is held captive by the mother. Jason calls Nikki to seek her help but finds her initially unwilling to leave Keith just yet. However, the team gathers in the MPU office, where they learn from the live footage that the mother is seeking vengeance for her son’s death, which was caused by Fentanyl overdose, which she believes the Latino teenager had sold him. She forces the teen to overdose on the same drug, which narrows the window for an impending emergency collapse within an hour—the time MPU has to save the victim.

Mike alerts the duo about new information regarding Keith’s abduction: video footage from a shop Keith was at before his rescue shows that he was talking about someone chasing him. Mike asks their permission to interrogate Keith to learn about his captors in detail. Nikki hesitates to bring Keith’s past trauma up in fear it may hurt him, but begrudgingly agrees to allow the questioning in the end. Meanwhile, Kemi finds out the address of the mother by tracing her specs. Upon reaching the house, the team finds it to be vacant but is able to gather information about the boy. Molly Gallagher, the grieving mother of the deceased boy, Asher, had repeatedly informed the local PD about the situation regarding drug peddling and urged them to act. Kemi tries to track Molly’s location using the room measurements.

C, the tech whiz of the team, gets a visit from the caretaker of his physically and mentally paralyzed father, who has to leave him with C due to an emergency situation. Elsewhere, Mike interrogates Keith but receives mostly vague answers. When he tries to ask him about who chased Keith the previous night, he starts acting defensive, and Nikki calls off the interrogation. Sidney visits MPU to escort Keith home but is not at all welcoming toward her brother; rather, she considers him to be an imposter. June, Nikki, Mike, and Jason have a confused, out-of-place, and at times cringe-worthy discussion on the elevator, which ends up with June knowing that Jason was living in denial during Keith’s absence and was deliberately sabotaging the couple’s plan to have children.

The team goes to C, who has found a facial match with the victim and identified him as Hugo Mendez. Upon triggering the alert system, they are visited by Hugo’s brother and learn that Hugo worked in a fast-food chain. Nikki and Jason reach the outlet just in time to nab a cook who was the actual peddler (major Los Pollos vibes). Nikki and Jason trick him into confession. Meanwhile, C agonizes over the fact his father’s paralytic condition has made him lose the man he once knew. Kemi tries to comfort him, and as she leaves, C’s father starts talking again after being triggered by the fragrance of Kemi’s sandalwood. Overjoyed at this, C sincerely thanks Kemi. Meanwhile, Mike informs Jason and Nikki that X-ray results have shown that Keith has multiple fractures from former injuries, which imply that his captors had abused him. Jason grows absolutely livid with anger and contemplates ending the lives of his captors.

Getting call-offs from the alert system, Kemi pinpoints the possible location, and the team moves to raid. En route, Nikki and Jason have a prolonged discussion about morality, during which she advises Jason to abstain from making any decisions regarding Keith’s captors that will hurt their family. Upon reaching there, Jason is able to comfort Molly with a shared experience of losing a loved one and the fact that instead of Hugo, who is an innocent teenager, if Molly exacted her vengeance on the actual perpetrator, he wouldn’t have objected, and that’d have been justified. Finally, they are able to convince Molly and rescue Hugo.

Once again, Mike returns with a lead on Keith’s case; this time, it has been discovered which car was possibly following Keith. Jason gets June’s help to gain access to their security firm’s data mining software, which reveals the location of the car. Nikki and Jason raid the place but find out that the said perp, who was a woman, had left the place just before their entry. As Nikki comforts Jason in the PD, Mike observes them and gets hurt. As a gesture of giving Nikki and Jason some space, he takes back the ring. Jason goes home to find that June has left. As Nikki returns home, Sidney expresses her suspicion to her mother by showing a picture of Keith writing with his right hand, while according to their knowledge, her brother had always been left-handed. Nikki brushes off this suspicion by alluding to his injuries. In the ending sequence, it is revealed through Sidney’s chat with an unknown friend that they know this imposter can’t be Keith, as they both (Sidney and her friend) know what actually happened on that fateful day.


Thoughts

The central case of “Alert: Missing Persons Unit” Episode 2 was a strong statement regarding the rampant drug crisis in the country, and it didn’t hide the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities who propagate this disaster through their inactivity. The second episode of “Alert” also focuses on formerly thought weak links – Kemi, Mike, and C, and all three of them had moments to shine. Even though they are masters in their particular craft, C and Kemi find themselves locking horns more often than not due to their polar opposite dispositions. Kemi is a woman of faith, while C is anything but, yet their differences don’t mar their basic humanity, and that becomes a common ground. Nikki continues to be naïve to the pretty apparently suspicious nature of Keith, but that can be forgiven as motherly instincts. Jason’s mercenary days take hold at times, as he wishes to torture Keith’s captors the same way Molly did to Hugo, and his personal ethics get the upper hand over his professional ones. Mike is right to suspect Keith, and among the team, he is perhaps the only one who has spent so much time behind Keith’s abduction mystery. And that makes his growing insecurity seem even more tragic. “Alert” Episode 2 ends with the shocking information that Sidney knew what really caused Keith’s disappearance, and we can’t help but speculate whether that was related to Jason’s private contractor years. So far, Keith has avoided and deflected most of the questions, and his demeanor is anything but convincing. Keith knows that his parents trust him way more than his sister ever will; now, it remains to be seen whether he will use that as leverage.


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Siddhartha Das
Siddhartha Das
An avid fan and voracious reader of comic book literature, Siddhartha thinks the ideals accentuated in the superhero genre should be taken as lessons in real life also. A sucker for everything horror and different art styles, Siddhartha likes to spend his time reading subjects. He's always eager to learn more about world fauna, history, geography, crime fiction, sports, and cultures. He also wishes to abolish human egocentrism, which can make the world a better place.

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