'Absentia' Season 3: Stana Katic is back as Emily Byrne in a fast-paced rescue mission, a victim no more
'Absentia' Season 3 takes Emily Byrne (Stana Katic) on a new journey -- one that sees her go against the FBI and a corrupt organization called Meridian that has its tentacles spread across the world. Meridian is so powerful that it also has sources deep within the FBI who is feeding Meridian's men with information. Can Emily succeed in rescuing Nick Durand (Patrick Heusinger), her ex-husband, who was kidnapped while investigating Meridian's illegal organ trafficking ring? This season centers on Emily finding her feet away from the FBI and the closer she gets to Meridian, Emily finds secrets that are best left buried.
She opens a Pandora's box when she agrees to keep Nick's source, a young hacker named Kai (Kaja Chan) safe. The hacker used to work for Meridian but she accessed files to ensure a safe way out of the organization and this puts her in harm's way because Meridian cannot have the files left out in the open. These are files that allow Meridian to stay on top while keeping powerful people and organizations in check. Kai got in touch with Nick in hopes of getting protection from the FBI in exchange for the files, but the mole within the organization leaks information about Nick, Emily, and their family to Meridian which leads to Nick's kidnapping.
When her plan fails, Kai is left with no option but to seek Emily's help. Very early on into her association with Nick, Kai learns that FBI has holes that cannot be plugged and she is spooked during one of her meetings. She bolts and finds a safe haven with one of the safe houses funded by a church which is where Emily finds her. From here, everything about her investigation escalates quickly and she soon realizes that Nick is not in the US at all and he was shipped from Boston to some remote location in Europe. Emily follows the trail of Meridian that leads her to Bulgaria and the only help she can get is from a former agent who has now gone private -- Rowena (Josette Simon).
It is with her help that she accesses an invite to an event funded by Meridian and she finds more clues about Jericho -- the location where she believes Nick is being held. Throughout all of this, we find Emily's character has gone through a metamorphosis of sorts as she steps away from being a victim and takes control of her life. She doesn't leave Nick's case in the hands of the FBI and prefers to go at it alone because there is no one in the FBI that she can trust except Cal Isaac (Matthew Le Nevez), who was her former partner.
However, Cal is playing his own game. He is trying to keep Emily safe while he works for the FBI in rescuing Nick and through it all, it is clear that Nick has a connection to Meridian from the past that no one in the FBI or Emily is aware of. His past has not been delved deep into until season 2 and in season 3, it isn't until the very end that we learn more. Until then, each passing moment with Cal feels suspicious. Is he really on Emily's side? Strangely, these are doubts that viewers are led to feel, but Emily herself seems oblivious to Cal's two-faced attempt at investigating Nick's kidnapping.
Despite all the scheming that is taking place around her, Emily's single-minded focus on rescuing Nick sets the pace of the show. It is fast, sharp and so tightly wrapped that the unraveling that takes place at the latter part of the show works brilliantly to set off the former.
All the questions that arise at the beginning of the show are explored through Emily and as we find answers, they give rise to more questions and it is this continuity that makes the season binge-worthy. From the moment Nick gets kidnapped, until the end, each episode begs for you to tune into the next as we are driven by one question 'What next?'
One of the brilliant things about 'Absentia' as a show is that there are no unnecessary flourishes for us to wade through. Season 3 continues on the same note as it works its way through the crux of the conflict with Emily working through it bit by bit. The question that drives the viewing experience is if Nick can escape from the clutches of Meridian and if Emily did the right thing by trusting Cal in assisting her in her mission to rescue Nick.
'Absentia' premieres on July 17 and all episodes can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.