| Worth seeing: | as a typically twisty and turny Harlen Coben story that feels every bit as unconvincing as its predecessors, but somehow less objectionable |
| Featuring: | Britt Lower, Logan Browning, Milo Ventimiglia, Sam Worthington, Aaron Ashmore, Ashton Cressman, Chi McBride, Darrin Baker, Erin Richards, Greg Bryk, Hugh Thompson, Jefferson Brown, Jonathan Tucker, Kate Vernon, Madeleine Stowe, Nicola Correia-Damude, Peter Outerbridge, Vas Saranga |
| Key crew: | Adam Davidson, Brad Anderson, Maggie Kiley, Maja Vrvilo, Robert Hull, Bryan Wynbrandt, Harlan Coben, Heather Mitchell, Steven Lilien |
| Channel: | Netflix |
| Length: | 40 minutes |
| Episodes: | 8 |
| Broadcast date: | 18th June 2026 |
| Country: | US |
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
David Burroughs (Sam Worthington) is 5 years into a life sentence for murdering his 3 year old son Matthew – only he says he didn’t do it, just like most prisoners.
In all this time, he hasn’t accepted any visitors – so he’s surprised when his sister-in-law Rachel (Britt Lower) turns up – and even more surprised when she shows him a photo that appears to prove Matthew is still alive.
All he has to do now is escape from jail, find his son and prove his innocence, while evading the FBI, Boston police and the people who set him up – and would rather he was dead than exposes the truth.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
In the world of Harlan Coben – whose twisty novels are turned into Netflix with increasing regularity – you know there’s no point trying to work out what’s going on in the first few episodes, as any apparent clues are certain to be red herrings and villains and heroes largely appear to be interchangeable.
Unfortunately for David, his wife has put the loss of their son behind her; she’s long since married her boss and they’re expecting a baby. And somehow, whoever is behind this dastardly mess appears to know that David is onto them, as he starts coming under attack in prison as soon as he sees the photo.
As luck would have it though, the prison warden is a family friend, and luckily, as a journalist, Rachel apparently has access to information regular people don’t, to help them on their way. And her millionaire ex-boyfriend (Milo Ventimiglia) also has the capacity to help out, with lawyers, cars and accommodation.
Then there’s the usual array of scowling, peculiar-looking authority figures and ghosts from the past who might – or might not – be hiding something.
The plot even becomes unexpectedly thought-provoking when the FBI find themselves conflicted – even if David is telling the truth, he’s still an escaped convict. What comes first – natural justice or legal justice? But it also never seems to cross anyone’s mind – including Coben’s – that even if the child whose murder sparked this family tragedy was not Matthew Burroughs, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t David who bludgeoned him to death.
At every turn, the narrative is nonsense, and there’s almost not a single plot point that stands up to any scrutiny, but they manage to squeeze an effective cliff-hanger into the end of each episode and somehow, Coben’s preposterous twists and turns seem to work better in American accents – even if Sam Worthington’s American accent itself isn’t that convincing.
Perhaps the expectations are lower or their just not taking themselves too seriously, but poppycock as it is, it’s far more compelling and watchable poppycock than some of its UK-set predecessors.