Alert Missing Persons Unit Season 3 Episode 6 Recap: Lillian

In its sixth episode, Fox’s ‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit’ Season 3, the MPU looks into a high-profile disappearance which also connects to a case from several years ago that ended tragically. Once again, the team finds themselves running against the clock as the stakes of the case keep getting higher. At the same time, there are some personal issues that need to be addressed and resolved before it is too late. By the end of this episode, the team, especially Jason and Mike, learn some valuable lessons about grieving, healing, and moving on. SPOILERS AHEAD.

The MPU Looks Into the Disappearance of a Playwright

The episode begins with a play being rehearsed in the Bainbridge Street Theatre, which is poised for reopening with the said play. It is helmed by acclaimed playwright Lillian Waverley, who is nervous about its success because it marks the theatre’s reopening and her return to the stage after a very long time. During a dinner break, Lillian goes missing, and soon, a video surfaces, where the kidnapper threatens to kill her if the play is not shut down and the theatre is not closed. The threat seems to be directed at Celia Fisher, whose husband bought the theatre, and she took it as a personal project. To understand the current case, the MPU looks into the place’s history and discovers that it suffered a terrible fire where more than 80 people were killed.

Evidence suggests that the kidnapper is someone directly affected by the fire. What gives them away is the fact that their hands were burned in the fire, which has given their fingerprints a unique marker. This fact leads the team to investigate everyone around the fire back then, but the culprit is nowhere to be seen. Furthermore, the kidnapper gets more and more aggressive as, in the following video, Lillian is doused with gasoline. She is threatened to be put to the fire if the theatre is not closed. While Celia is ready to meet these demands, her husband refuses to bow to the kidnapper.

Part of Mr. Fisher’s refusal stems from the fact that he believes that his wife is having an affair. To prove his theory, he gave her a necklace that has a tracker. He discovered she had been having covert meetings with someone in a hotel through it. He is angry with her about it, which causes him to give her grief over the theatre. At first, his obstinacy is not minded, but when it seems Lillian might be killed because of it, Celia pleads with him to change his mind. Meanwhile, Jason and Mike also discover that someone had rigged the electric system of the place, due to which one of the crew members is injured, though not fatally. This convinces them that the kidnapper is someone working on the play, behind the scenes.

The Kidnapper Takes a Drastic Step

During her visit to the theatre, Celia comes across a crew member whose hands are completely burned. She realises this man, named Robert Krasnow, is the kidnapper, but before she can call the cops, he hits her and takes her to the same place where he has been keeping Lillian. This is where he reveals that his wife and daughter died in the fire, which is why he doesn’t want the theatre to open again. He calls out Celia and her husband for not caring about the victims, and this act is his revenge for the death of his family. Around the same time, the MPU also figures out Robert’s identity and his backstory, confirming the existence of a strong motive. The question now is how to find him.

The fact that Celia has been kidnapped leads the MPU to ask her husband to use the tracker he had put in the necklace she is still wearing. Using it, Jason and Mike find a storage unit, and they locate Robert’s when they find gasoline pouring out of it. They try to convince Robert to give up his plans. They speak of their loss and grief to empathize with him, and somewhere, a chord strikes with Robert. He agrees to let Celia and Lillian go. However, he is too broken to go on without his family, so he burns himself alive.

While Lillian is brought home safe, the tragedy leaves a mark on Celia, who decides to leave her husband and confirms the fact that she was having an affair, and her lover is Lillian. A while later, the theatre opens on the day it was initially decided. The whole thing goes without a hitch, and the play receives an overwhelming response. At the end of the play, Celia and Lillian confirm their relationship publicly. Celia also reveals that she has decided to donate a portion of the proceeds from the theatre to help the families of the victims who died or whose lives were impacted by the fire. This way, she can carry the theatre’s legacy forward, while also respecting the memory of the people who lost their lives or loved ones at the place.

Jason Discovers an Important Detail About Sidney’s Decision

While the MPU is busy finding and saving Lillian Waverley, Jason decides to focus on another important thing. Since Sidney’s bombshell revelation about her pregnancy, he has been wondering about the identity of the child’s father. Because Sidney has refused to tell him and Mike, he thinks that it would be best for him to look for the guy himself. He tells Wayne to dig into it, and sure enough, she comes up with a name. Jason doesn’t waste any time before meeting with the guy, especially after he discovers that he is moving to Oxford to pursue a great opportunity. While Jason is happy to see that the boy is academically gifted, he doesn’t like the fact that he is running away from America after making his daughter pregnant.

When he confronts the boy about it, he reveals that he had asked Sidney to move to Oxford with her, but she refused to do it because he is worried about her father. She believes that neither Jason nor Mike can function without her, and for them, she is ready to put her future on hold. This revelation breaks Jason’s heart, and when he discusses the situation with Mike, both agree that Sidney should choose what is best for her rather than holding herself back on their account. Eventually, they bring this discussion to Sidney, and she confesses that she is still worried about them. However, their words of affirmation encourage her to approach her decision from a different perspective. At the same time, they assure her that despite her concerns, they are doing better and will be so even when she leaves.