Alert: Missing Persons Unit Spoilers: Are Jason & Mike the Best New Buddy Cop Duo?
Jasmine Blu
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Can you hear that?
That beeping noise is the sound of Alert: MPU (because sometimes abbreviations are a godsend) coming back from nearly a year-long hiatus.
FOX's surprise hit is back with its sophomore season, and they're kicking things off with new faces, some changes, and the same action-packed elements we adore.
Kicking things off with a bang, Alert: MPU Season 2 Episode 1 will have the MPU racing to track down a bus filled with missing children and save them from danger.
Much of Alert: Missing Persons Unit Season 1 divided its time between case-of-the-week drama and action and a family mystery that impacted Nikki and Jason.
The Keith Mystery was gripping as we spent the entire first season trying to determine if the teen boy who infiltrated Nikki and Jason's lives was the long-lost-son they thought he was.
The nature of that mystery took us on a ride as we wavered back and forth about whether or not Keith's identity was real.
Both Nikki and Jason spent time waffling on it as well, and their daughter, Sidney, was the one who was adamant about the young man in their home not being the brother she lost many years before.
By Alert: Missing Persons Unit Season 1 Episode 10, we learned the truth about his identity: "Keith" was a teen named Lucas from a troubled background who was put up to this deceptive act by his mother.
Lucas met a tragic end, and Nikki and Jason made peace with the loss of this teen as well as the truth about their son drowning the night he disappeared.
The end of the first season also saw Jason taking a step back from Nikki, giving her and Mike space instead of infringing on their relationship.
Jason's maneuver of letting Mike "be the man of the house" was a huge step, especially as he and Nikki had such codependency with each other regardless of their significant others.
But now, as we head into a new season, one has to wonder if there will be another big, overarching mystery or if the series will prioritize the "cases of the week" over everything else.
If the latter is the case, we get a feel from it in "Bus 447."
For starters, it's evident that the unit is doing well, as the season premiere will have the unit move to a brand-new building.
But with a new building comes a new boss, Inspector Hollis Braun.
We can already surmise that Hollis and Jason, who notoriously has issues with authority, are bound to butt heads frequently.
Jason doesn't like to play by the rules, and he's willing to test the limits of this new arrangement in the name of doing whatever he needs to make their case.
But interestingly, he'll at least have some balance when he's partnered up with Mike.
It took a while for the two men to get on the same page, and it's not to say that they won't bicker and banter with each other along the way, but they're the oddball dynamic duo of the series.
The series' comedy will rest heavily on these two guys, who can often seem like total opposites, being pushed to work with each other more and more with limited supervision.
We can probably imagine just how much Jason will push boundaries on this case as it involves rescuing 28 people, mostly children, who are essentially taken hostage while on a field trip.
He'll also reach out to some of his connections for some assistance on the case, which may lead us to some of the newer additions to the team.
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The team will expand, and one of those members will be Jason's hacker friend, Wayne Pascal.
Her identity was a bit of a mystery, and Nikki never knew much about her or the fact that she was a woman, which adds a delicious level to Nikki and Jason's past.
The unit will also use help from the father of one of the children on the bus who attempted to stop the kidnapping when it was happening.
They hope to figure out their action plan and other crucial tidbits with his assistance.
A lot of the first episode will focus on this case and how action-packed it is.
We catch glimpses of how the case may escalate when the kids are not amused by the man holding them hostage and start to push back and test his patience.
We also see how Wayne will provide assistance and how Mike and Jason will work with each other even though they spend most of the time bickering.
However, the premiere will also have to touch on the personal elements of their lives.
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We'll better understand what Nikki and Mike look like as a couple, especially one who doesn't have Jason as some third wheel, causing tension between them.
While there's no doubt that Jason will always have some presence in their relationship, it's promising that the series will build upon Nikki and Mike on their own.
We'll need this if they want to guarantee that viewers buy into Nikki and Mike half as much as they Nikki and Jason.
But then, we'll get more of Mike all around, which is exciting.
It'll be nice to check in and see how the characters are doing after the events of Keith.
Have they happily moved on, or is there something still lingering there?
Nikki at least looks like she's in a much happier and healthier place, most likely because it appears that she finally has some closure.
And Jason is destined to find more of a life for himself outside of his ex-wife, even if they're working together every day.
We also have a cliffhanger involving Kemi, her abductor and abuser, and her father.
It's due to be addressed as well.
The season premiere teases a series that is bigger and better, more action-packed, and with some tweaks to improve upon the first season.
And we'll be here with a full review, too!
Over to you, Alert: MPU Fanatics. What are you most excited about when the series returns? What are your thoughts and theories on what to expect from the opener?
Sound off below.
Alert: MPU returns Tuesday, March 5 at 9/8c on FOX. You can stream the following day on Hulu.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
