"A busy working mom, played by Sarah Snook, rings the bell of a house to pick up her 5-year-old son from an after-school play date. Her son is not there. Neither is the other boy. And the befuddled homeowner has no clue what is going on. Confusion turns to panic, then fear that her son has been kidnapped. Revealed over eight episodes are the sordid secrets of one of the most dysfunctional extended families in narrative history."
"The local police (this is Chicago) hold a press conference where the mom is expected to generate sympathy and ignite community spirit to help find the missing child. I am about to scream again, thinking about the ensuing scene. After the distraught mom makes a brief statement begging for help from the media and the public, a female reporter stands up and poses a question implying that the mom is somehow to blame. Another reporter stands and shouts a similar question. Then another."
An eight-part streaming drama follows a busy working mother who discovers her 5-year-old son missing after an after-school playdate. The plot reveals sordid secrets across an extended, dysfunctional family and implicates many characters. Multiple working mothers struggle with careers and unreliable partners while societal blame targets women for putting work before child safety. A Chicago police press conference turns into a public appeal, during which reporters ask accusatory questions that imply the mother is at fault. The portrayal presents journalists as confrontational and sensationalist, generating intense viewer frustration at the media depiction.
Read at Poynter
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