The opening episode of Found begins in 2003. A young girl enters a house in the woods and is crying. The girl screams that she wants her mommy before revealing her name is Bella (Jasmine Washington). Gabi Mosely (Shanola Hampton) admits the house isn’t hers and says she has been there for too long. In the present, Gabi walks down a dark street and bangs on a man’s door to ask if she can use the phone. She goes inside and hits the man with brass knuckles. Gabi wants to know where Marqui Evans is. The man threatens to kill her. Gabi was hoping he’d say that. She calls in Dhan Rana (Karan Oberoi) to come in and beat the man up.
She is told Trent is going to be mad. Gabi says he is just going to be mad then. She contacts Zeke Wallace (Arlen Escarpeta) to ask for directions. While she follows his instructions, Zeke tells her about his online date with Shelly. He urges Gabi to hurry. Gabi finds Marqui and explains that his parents sent her to find him. The boy is taken to safety. Detective Mark Trent (Brett Dalton) approaches Gabi to question how many laws she just broke. He also wants to know how they figured out the location before the police did. Lacey Quinn (Gabrielle Walsh) comes over. Gabi says she’d trust Lacey with her life.
Trent agrees to let them go with the boy to the hospital. Gabi tells Trent that Dhan has the kidnapped pinned up inside. At the hospital, Marqui’s parents thank Gabi. As Gabi and Lacey leave, they see that Tony Mallory (Bill Kelly) is speaking to the media and taking credit for their work. Tony doesn’t like it when the media tries to question Gabi. After Tony says they’re not cops, Gabi tells the media they’re doing the jobs the cops seem busy to do. She mentions that she had to rescue herself from her kidnapper. Then, Gabi turns their attention to Sarah Holden who is Senator Holden’s daughter. She went missing 29 hours ago while playing in the park with her brother. Then, Gabi shows them a picture of Dasheka who hasn’t received the same media attention as Sarah.
Gabi says that is why there will always be a need for what she does. Later, a little boy approaches Gabi to tell her about his foster sister Camilla who has been gone for over a day. The team begins researching Camilla. She is described as a wild child since she has been in six foster homes in as many years. At some point, she ran away from each. Gabi argues that Camilla is at least worth a preliminary inquiry. They speak to the people running the foster home. Margaret looks around for signs that there could’ve been problems there. Once they leave, Margaret (Kelli Williams) tells them what she saw in the house.
Gabi says Deron just became their time so it is time to trigger an AMBER alert. Back at the office, Gabi begins arranging a press conference to bring attention to Camilla’s case. The media will think the press conference is about Sarah Holden. Zeke and Dhan get in touch to say Camilla was last seen by the Chapmans 48 hours ago. Her last post reads, “The days of taking advantage of me are done. No cap.” They also have a picture of the new boyfriend although his face is hidden. They quickly realize he isn’t a teenager. Dhan mentions Rosario Mendez who was found lurking in Camilla’s DMs too. She is Camilla’s birth mother and was recently paroled.
Rosario (Patrice Fisher) has been trying to get in touch with Camilla since she got out. Gabi does the press conference and tells the media about Camilla. Deron is given a chance to speak as well. The police watch the press conference and talk about it. Trent is told to get up to speed fast. He is ordered to keep Gabi in check. Zeke asks Dhan if it bothers him that Gabi brought him into the family. Dhan says using his family’s money to bankroll the firm doesn’t make him family. Lacey says Camilla asked to meet her DCFS social worker on the morning she went missing but never showed. Camilla’s mother was at DCFS all week making threats. Trent arrives when they’re asking Deron whether the Chapmans tried to lock Camilla in.
Deron says they sometimes locked her in her room to prevent her from running away. Trent isn’t happy to learn that Gabi put a hidden camera in the Chapman home. Rosario is found threatening to jump off a building. Dhan goes up on the ledge and tells her he is someone who has been where she is. Rosario admits she hurt her daughter because she wasn’t a good mother. Dhan was abandoned and betrayed by people who were supposed to look out for him. Despite those odds, he managed to make it back home. Dhan tells her that they’re searching for Camilla who will need her mother. Rosario agrees to step away from the ledge. Trent asks Dhan what he said to get her down. Dhan admits he told her the truth.
Gabi remembers telling Bella to think of dinner like playing pretend because Sir likes to play pretend. Sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) comes back and asks them who is ready to eat. Trent visits Gabi at home to make sure she is okay. The following day, Gabi catches up with everyone at the office. She learns that they used facial recognition software to identify the older boyfriend as Eric Desmond. The 22-year-old is on the sex offender registry but remains Mia. Gabi wants everything they can find on Eric. Lacey asks Margaret if she developed her skill while looking for her son. Margaret says she has been looking for Jamie’s face in the crowd for 13 years and she’ll find it one day.
The team finds out that the boyfriend didn’t do it. He revealed that Camilla went to DCFS to petition for emancipation and she also wanted custody of Deron. Zeke says he pulled the data on disappearances of young girls in the DC area over the last couple of months. A news report confirms that Sarah Holden has been found. Gabi notices that Sarah is wearing the same hoodie Camilla had. The girls must’ve crossed at some point. Zeke points out a park where Sarah was snatched from. One of the tips they received placed Camilla on the green line that morning. The DCFS office is nearby as well. Gabi is convinced these girls were taken together. Trent tries to get Tony to give him a few minutes with the Senator’s daughter.
Tony refuses and says his hands are tied. Mark Trent believes he is more worried about his political aspirations. Gabi tells Tony that it is on him if they don’t find Camilla alive. She’ll make sure the media never forget it and that won’t work out well for him when he lobbies for Chief of Police. Gabi says it is a promise and not a threat. Trent and Gabi argue about it outside. In the past, Sir talks to Gabi and Bella about climate change and nuclear energy. Gabi reads from a script to appease him. She questions why he decided to take Bella when she is just a baby. Sir tells her not to challenge him like that ever again. Bella begins screaming because she hurt her arm. Gabi attacks Sir from behind and tells Bella to run. She grabs his keys and prepares to run too.
In the present, Lacey tries to cheer up Gabi who feels she let Camilla down. Lacey explains she is there because she wanted to learn at the feet of the master. She argues that Gabi has saved lost ones as well as the people in this office. Lacey went to law school so she could keep Gabi out of prison. Trent sends them a location. They go to the hospital to speak to Sarah, but Senator Holden doesn’t want to let them see her. Gabi tells him about Margaret and how her son was kidnapped from a bus station. She hopes the Senator can turn his trauma into something positive too. Sarah says Camilla is her new friend. When the bad man took her, Camilla came running and tried to fight him.
Camilla made a lot of noise at the house. The bad man got mad and grabbed her. That’s when Camilla yelled for Sarah to run. Sarah remembers that the man had spider webs and scary things on his neck. Gabi has photos she was going to use to encourage the Senator. One of them shows the bad man with Sarah’s brother. David (Carson Blyskal) admits to owing Aaron a lot of money. When he couldn’t pay him back, Aaron took Sarah to motivate him. Gabi calls Trent to tell him about Aaron Nelson. Moments later, Aaron is arrested and his property is searched. Zeke doesn’t pick up a heat signature so Camilla could be in a bunker.
They look around and find Camilla in an underground bunker of sorts. At the hospital, it is confirmed that Deron and Camilla have a new home until Rosario gets help. Deron is thrilled to see Camilla. In the past, Gabi and Bella are promised that they’ll find Sir. Gabi doesn’t think they can promise that. If he was gone from the house by the time they got there, the man who took them is still out there. In the present, Gabi and the others celebrate. Dhan tells Gabi that he and Zeke aren’t the same. Gabi says they’re not because someone reached out a hand to him. Lacey returns home to her dog. She makes sure the several locks on her door are secure.
Zeke’s mother gets in touch with him to make sure everything is okay. He says he is coming but it is hard. Margaret goes to the bus stop to look for her son. Gabi takes food into her basement. Sir asks if he was right and whether Camilla was still on the property. Gabi tells him they’re not partners. There is a new case featuring a trans woman who was taken in broad daylight outside of Crystal City Shops 11 hours ago. Sir comes out with a chain around his leg and begins looking at the files.
Found Review
The opening episode of Found was a mixed bag with some high points and certain low points. Shanola Hampton stars as Gabi Mosely who was kidnapped by a man called Sir and held until she escaped along with a young girl. Now, Gabi is trying to help find missing kids with help from others who’ve been traumatized by similar experiences. In some ways, Found tries to play both sides.
It attempts to be serious and touch on important topics while also being corny and over-the-top. Unfortunately, the latter elements tend to stand out a lot more than the others. The primary problem is the silliness of the story when it could be powerful and emotionally deep. While there were unbelievable things throughout the episode, it really took a turn for the worse when it was released that Sir was locked up in Gabi’s house.
Most of the performances are good with a few exceptions. Much like other network shows, Found will be a good time killer that won’t leave a lasting impact on viewers. The script isn’t balanced or strong enough for there to be any lingering feelings unless it is an eye roll. This episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Found are available on Reel Mockery here.
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