‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit’ Cancellation: Viewers Still Have So Many Questions

Now that Fox has axed Alert: Missing Persons Unit after three seasons — ending the procedural on a cliffhanger, no less — the storyline decisions on the show have viewers especially perplexed.

For starters, why kill off Nikki (Dania Ramirez) at the start of Season 3? “Yeah, killing off one of the leads in an attempt to reboot your show was never going to work the way they hoped,” Reddit user Mr_Wh0ever wrote in a Reddit thread about the cancellation on Friday, June 6.

“I liked Alert: Missing Persons Unit until they made the stupid decision to kill off the lead and take it in a new direction,” added Altruistic_Scene_335. “I’m not surprised it’s now been canceled.”

For what it’s worth, showrunner Carla Kettner previously told TV Insider that the writers’ “commitment to keeping the show fresh and surprising” was the biggest factor in the decision to kill Nikki.

“We had kind of played out the love triangle dynamic between Nikki, Jason [Scott Caan], and Mike [Ryan Broussard], which was such a great part of Seasons 1 and 2,” Kettner added. “So the question became: What circumstance would most challenge our MPU team? Losing the person they all most depended on — Nikki — was the answer.”

Fox

Returning to the Reddit discussion, user klutzysunshine said they had a feeling Alert was toast when star Scott Caan “booked a movie — his first in years — that starts filming soon.” (The Hollywood Reporter announced last month that Caan would star in the forthcoming sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.)

“Going to miss the show, but it wasn’t the same after Nikki was killed off,” klutzysunshine added.

Other users questioned Alert’s treatment of its supporting characters. “It was a mess, but there were some episodes that were pretty solid,” trashbbyb wrote on another Reddit thread. “Did not care about Wayne… like at all. Thought the whole relationship was weird and gross. I did like Kemi’s [Adeola Role] arc, but there were just too many random plot points that never connected or got fleshed out.”

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'Alert: Missing Persons Unit' Ends Season 3 on Major Cliffhanger

Reddit user AdlersTheory26 said they didn’t mind Nikki’s death but had other critiques. “They brought Gabrielle [Megalyn Echikunwoke] way too late, and we didn’t get to see her character arc, although she seemed interesting,” they said. “Also, the storylines were ridiculous. And nothing was happening with the rest of the cast, like Kemi or Helen [Diana Bang]. But, for me, the biggest disappointment is that Nikki died, and both Jason and Mike never got to [grieve]. It’s like they got over it so quickly. It felt rushed.”

Perhaps the strongest rebuke came from ViolentBeetle, who said that they were “shocked” Alert got more than one season. “It’s just so absurdly bad. The first two seasons, anyway,” that Redditor added. “The third season, they polished off most of the weirdness, so it’s just meh. Maybe that’s why they canceled it.”

Alert: Missing Persons Unit, Seasons 1–3, Now Streaming, Hulu

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