Alert: Missing Persons Unit is coming back for season 3, so here’s a quick refresher on what to know about the show!
Premiering on Fox in January 2023, Alert: Missing Persons Unit focuses on the Philadelphia police department’s Missing Persons Unit, which, as the name implies, hunts for missing folks in the city.
The central characters are Captain Nikki Batista (Dania Ramirez) and her ex-husband, Detective Jason Grant (Scott Caan). The two had been married only to break up following the abduction and apparent murder of their son, Keith. They were thus overjoyed when the now-teenage Keith appeared to turn up alive.
Season 1 took various twists and turns before the finale revealed that “Keith” was actually Max, a youth pushed by his criminal mother to pose as Keith to trick Nikki and Jason out of money. Having come to care for them, Max didn’t want to go through with the plot and was shot dead by his own mother. That wrapped up the first season on a major note.
What was the Alert: Missing Persons Unit season 2 arc?
Season 2 was a bit lighter in tone, with Nikki and Jason having overcome their grief, knowing Keith was truly dead. They kept up working at the MPU while Nikki prepared to marry boyfriend Detective Mike Sherman (Ryan Broussard). Jason and Mike were partnering up on cases, with Mike having let go of his feelings for Nikki so she could be happy
The Alert: Missing Persons Unit season 2 premiere had the team on a case of someone hijacking a bus and demanding the release of a notorious “fixer” named John Martiz. The team stopped the hijacker only for a car bomb to kill Martiz, with a dying bomber taking credit for it.
Jason insisted on working on the case on his own, aided by hacker Wayne Pascal (Alisha-Marie Ahamed) who he soon got into a relationship with. While handling a variety of cases, Nikki butted heads with new Inspector Hollis Braun (Gil Bellows), who seemed a bit too intense on making sure the Martiz investigation was dropped.
Who killed Martiz and why?
The season 2 finale had Wayne going missing and the team realizing that Braun was behind the bombing. It turned out that a year earlier, Braun’s brother, Emerson, a rising politician, had accidentally killed a family in a car crash. Hollis enlisted Martiz to cover it all up as an accident.
When Maritz was arrested on other charges, the Brauns were worried that he would reveal what they did as a get-out-of-jail card. They thus arranged for the hijacking and explosion to take out Martiz. Emerson then abducted Wayne when she was getting too close.
All the Brauns’ actions ended up doing was just exposing them after all, with the team rescuing Wayne and both Brauns being arrested. The season ended with Nikki and Mike’s wedding where co-worker Kimi surprised everyone by showing up with Taye Diggs as her guest!
That could have worked as a series finale, so what’s coming in season 3?
What’s Season 3 of Alert: Missing Persons Unit about?
Season 3 will premiere with a two-episode event that will introduce two new characters. The first is Chief Inspector Bill Hudson, played by TV veteran Malcolm-Jamal Warner. He’s been sent to clean up Brauns’ mess and his rules-bound mentality (he’s a former Army captain) will naturally clash with Jason’s maverick attitude.
The other new character is Lt. Gabrielle Bennett (Megalyn Echikunwoke), a former protegee of Jason’s who has a sharp drive and humor but is haunted by some issues in her past.
The big turn of the season premiere is Nikki herself being abducted which may be tied to Irish mob boss Charlie McGannon (guest star Ian Tracey). Nikki had used McGannon as a criminal informant back when he was a low-level mobster, only for him to take over his gang. While she’s tried to cut ties, it may be that McGannon wants Nikki taken out for some reason.
So with a hot run of 10 episodes and the cast better than ever, Alert: Missing Persons Unit season 3 is likely to be a great showcase for one of Fox’s most underrated hit shows!
Alert: Missing Persons Unit Seasons 1-2 streaming on Hulu and Tubi. Season 3 premieres on Tuesday, March 25 at 9/8c on Fox.