The Disappearance Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Sacrifice
Dale McGarrigle
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Desperate people do desperate things.
That was the message on The Disappearance Season 1 Episode 3.
The Disapperance Season 1 Episode 2 concluded with Henry feverishly digging at a spot, under the rare tree, that Anthony had indicated on his room map.
Time for a big reveal, right?
No, more like time for a big red herring, for buried where Anthony had placed a sticky-note drawing of a cat was ... the remains of a cat.
More specifically, the remains of nine cats, all decapitated, many of whom were from the cat-nappings of two years ago that the police were investigating.
So what did this discovery, combined with the mutilated cat found above ground in the park, mean for Anthony's case?
Susan tried, ever so hard, to convince the Sullivans that one had nothing to do with the other.
Related: The Disappearance Season 1 Episode 2 Review: The Tree
That's because she didn't want them contaminating any evidence, something that retired Judge Henry Sullivan really ought to understand.
She also didn't want them interfering with the police investigation.
See how well that worked out, as each of the Sullivans found their own way to cope.
Henry exploded when he found out that Luke and Helen were snooping into his career.
It made sense when Henry explained that those convicts had done their time and moved on, forgetting all about him.
It turned out they were all right, to a degree.
Convinced that Susan and the police weren't going to keep them updated, well, Henry decided to continue his investigation, consequences be damned.
If this episode proved nothing else, it exhibited that Henry wasn't of sound mind.
It may be temporary insanity caused by the grief of Anthony's disappearance. Or it may be something organic that develops in men of Henry's advancing age.
In any event, Henry the grandfather was doing things of which Henry the judge would never have approved.
Henry cajoled the groundskeeper into telling him what the police had asked him, even though he had been told to keep quiet.
The three Sullivans resorted to tailing the police and keeping tabs on the investigation that way. It was neither super effective nor super stealthy.
Then Luke did something stupid, breaking into the police's car and snatching files. Of course, Henry's car was observed fleeing the scene.
So now the Sullivans knew who the prime suspects were and could approach them on the own, without such niceties as badges or warrants.
How could that possibly go wrong?
Helen took an even stupider, more dangerous path of investigation.
Haranguing Luke for not getting a list of suspects from Chilton, she went to visit the ex-con and agreed to exchange sex for information.
Then she let Chilton drive her to a meeting with other ex-cons out in the boonies, with no backup of any sort.
Related: Peter Coyote on The Disappearance, His Complex Character, and His Long Career
What was she thinking? Helen is a brilliant woman, but she was desperate for answers.
At least she had cell service out in the williwags and knew enough to contact Luke to come to rescue her from her atrocious plan.
Fortunately, one of the cons had some standards and told them what he knew, which was little.
He did bring up the name of Jason Dodd, who had raped Maggie.
Which planted the seed in Luke's head: maybe Henry treats him as he does because Luke was the product of rape.
Susan quickly eliminated Dodd as a suspect, since he was dead after being castrated before Anthony's disappearance.
But by hemming and hawing about the date when Dodd raped Maggie, Susan did nothing to allay Luke's fears.
Fortunately, Helen had recovered her brains enough to do the math and prove that Luke couldn't be Dodd's son, but that the son of Maggie and Dodd was out there somewhere.
More on that later.
Unfortunately, Henry lost any caution when Luke ran off to save Helen from herself.
First, he broke into Lackey's apartment after Lackey and his police tail drove away.
He found a secret basement room, but it was just a drug lab, which Henry trashed.
Still, his breaking and entering gave Susan exigent circumstances to enter and investigate the place without a warrant, and the old judge in him remembered that.
That left him with one suspect: Steven Price. Henry confronted Price then whipped him with a newspaper when Price claimed to have nothing to do with Anthony's kidnapping.
Watching Henry in action then was enough to prove that he's not right mentally.
Here's the thing, though. Speaking of not right: Price is Dodd's son with Maggie.
I wouldn't be shocked if he killed his father. And abducted Anthony to gain revenge on Henry.
There's still questions to be answered: Who picked up the homeless Price two years ago?
How can he afford that house on a custodian's salary? Where is Anthony?
Speaking of bad choices, how about Catherine's falling for her dying cancer patient, and worse yet, acting on that fantasy?
I can't blame Fred. Catherine gives him someone for whom to live.
When she heard Fred was missing from the hospital, she dropped her law-breaking relatives and ran off to look for him.
Because Catherine had been attentive to Fred, she knew exactly where to look.
Their time together was useful because we finally got to hear how Catherine felt about her family.
But Fred is terminal, and Catherine already has enough potential heartbreak in her life.
So now there's a suspect, in part due to the police, in part due to the Sullivans.
But there's bound to be more twists and turns over the final three episodes of this compelling miniseries.
To look for other clues, watch The Disappearance online.
Does Price have Anthony?
What's physically wrong with Henry?
How much more trouble can the Sullivans get in with the police?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.
