The moment Kelly Price walked into the Boston PD on Absentia Season 1 Episode 2, something seemed off.

She came off as someone far too confident, and too cold, to be a random witness who just happened to have spied Emily Byrne arguing with Robert Semarov two weeks ago.

Her demeanor was the biggest clue that her story wasn’t real.

But Detective Gibbs and members of the FBI were ready to suspect that Emily had been behind her own abduction, and Semarov’s murder.

At first I wondered if it was because it was easier to blame Emily than to accept that they gave up on finding her too soon. That they had let one of their own down so spectacularly.

Adam and Detective Gibbs came down pretty hard on Emily when they questioned her. Maybe they thought she’d break if they rattled her enough, but this woman has been through hell and back. If she hasn’t broken yet, she’s not about to now.

One of my favorite things about Stana Katic’s portrayal of Emily Byrne is that she never sacrifices Emily’s strength, even when she’s showing her pain and vulnerability.

It was mentioned that Conrad Harlow was the heir to a banking fortune, which means he’d have plenty of money to plan Emily’s abduction, keep her for years, and pay off people to help him do it.

He also seems to have... or should I say had, a love of water.

The answers are in your head, Emily, if you could only remember.

Conrad Harlow

• Permalink: The answers are in your head, Emily, if you could only remember.

That Absentia quote makes it sound as though Conrad was definitely involved in Emily’s abduction.

I love that they aren’t sweeping Emily’s PTSD under the rug. The woman was traumatized for six years, the effects of which aren’t going to go away overnight, if they ever completely go away at all.

There was a couple of very small bright spots for Emily. First of which was Flynn.

Yes, the kid spent most of their visit with his nose in his tablet, but that just makes him a normal kid. I also think it was his way of subconsciously giving himself a buffer while dealing with a virtual stranger who also happens to be his mother.

But at least he softened a bit. He spoke to Emily and shared some of himself while she shared some memories of him.

They were small steps, but steps forward just the same.

And Emily now has a clue as to how much Alice doesn’t trust her.

I don’t blame Alice for being protective of Flynn, or even territorial, but there’s something about her the rubs me the wrong way. I get the feeling she’d really prefer to forget that Flynn had a mother before she came along.

Nick: I just need to see this case through. Once it's over, things can get back to normal.
Alice: Don't lie to me. There is no more normal.

• Permalink: Don't lie to me. There is no more normal.

Alice is correct in that things will never be what they had before, but that doesn’t mean their family has to get torn apart either. Flynn can love both her and Emily if everyone involved can be adult enough to let him.

As for the future of her marriage to Nick, that’s anyone’s guess.

Doctor: How are things going with Nick?
Emily: There's nothing with Nick. He chose her.
Doctor: He never chose, Emily. You were dead.
Emily: Yeah, well, he could choose now.

• Permalink: Yeah, well, he could choose now.

And that’s the rub, Nick only chose Alice after he believed Emily was dead.

Is his marriage to Alice even legal now that Emily is still alive? At some point, will Nick eventually have to choose whether or not to divorce Emily and stay with Alice?

Alice appears to be the character that’s going to make me scream at my screen. (Sometimes I think every good show should have such a character.)

What the heck was Alice thinking when she opened that door and stepped outside!

There’s a serial killer on the loose, so when she suspects someone is lurking around outside she takes the dog by the collar and wanders off to check it out herself.

How stupid was that?!? What was she going to do if she found someone?

If that didn’t show enough incredibly poor judgment, she also left the back door wide open so that someone could have easily slipped inside while Flynn slept on the sofa.

After she finally wandered back in, I kept yelling at my screen for her to close the damn blinds so that anyone out there couldn’t watch her every move, and then call the police and ask them to drive by and check things out.

But that didn’t happen, and even Nick dismissed her concerns when he got home, which I found a little odd.

When Detective Gibbs arrested Emily for breaking into Conrad’s, I thought perhaps he already knew that Kelly Price was a red herring, but that wasn’t the case.

Maybe it was just that Gibbs could see himself wanting to confront Conrad if he were in Emily’s place.

Detective Gibbs: I think you might challenge me for the title.
Emily: Of?
Detective Gibbs: The most stubborn cop in Boston. Personally, I prefer relentless or best.
Emily: But what kind of cop are you? The kind who closes cases or one who actually solves them?

• Permalink: But what kind of cop are you? The kind who closes cases or one who actually solves them?

I keep hoping that Emily finds a partner she can rely on to help her unravel this mystery. I thought that person might be Nick, but perhaps I was wrong.

Perhaps it’s going to be Gibbs.

Either way, I just really want to know that Emily has someone on her side…well, other than her father who made it clear he’d kill Conrad if that became necessary.

And perhaps he did. We know somebody did because the man is dead in his own pool. There’s something apropos about that.

Robert Semarov is dead. Conrad Harlow is dead. Mystery witness Kelly Price / Regina Talbot has gone missing, and this mystery continues to become more and more intriguing.

Are you as hooked as I am by Absentia?

Check back for my review of Absentia Season 1 Episode 3 here at TV Fanatic to follow the story, and watch Absentia online here at TV Fanatic!

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.