‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit’ Premiere, Release Schedule, Cast, and More
The new Fox drama Alert: Missing Persons Unit picks up where Without a Trace left off. The show follows the Philadelphia PD’s Missing Persons Unit as they follow amber alerts to try to locate missing people.
The cast and creators of Alert: Missing Persons Unit spoke on a virtual panel on Dec. 14 to preview the show. Here’s everything we learned about the new series ahead of its premiere on Fox.
‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit’ premiere date and release schedule
Alert: Missing Persons Unit was originally just called Alert. They’ve added the subtitle ahead of its premiere. The show launches Sunday, Jan. 8 after NFL on Fox. After that, new episodes air every Monday at 8 p.m. beginning Jan. 9.
‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit’ cast
Alert: Missing Persons Unit stars Dania Ramirez and Scott Caan as Nikki Batista and Jason Grant respectively. Batista and Grant were married but divorced after their son went missing six years before. Still, Batista recruits Grant to work in the MPU. They solve new cases every week while still searching for their son.
“The dynamic absolutely changes and I think it evolves through the season,” Ramirez said. “When you first meet us, having our son be missing for that long has connected us in ways that you can’t connect with anyone else. And I think we have a very authentic way of wanting to deal with the cases because of it. We have a very authentic way of how we relate to each other because of it. We also have a daughter that we co-parent, and I think we found a very comfortable place in which we relate to one another throughout the entire season, and we grow and evolve our relationship because we also become partners.”
Their team also includes Batista’s current fiance Mike (Ryan Broussard), language expert Kemi (Adeola Role) and forensic anthropologist C (Petey Gibson).
Episode titles and continuing stories
Episodes are named after the missing people. The premiere episode is “Chloe” and the second is “Hugo.” Episode 3 is “Zoey.” Executive Producer John Eisendrath said Alert: Missing Persons Unit provides hope and optimism.
A lot of TV is wish fulfillment. You’re watching the characters, and you want to sort of imagine that you could live that type of life. And I had hoped that we could portray in Dania and Scott’s characters a couple who’d gone through the most agonizing thing that you could go through, losing your child. And while it cost them dearly and they weren’t able to sustain their marriage, they did still have love for each other. And then when we meet them, Scott’s character is with one woman, and Dania’s character is getting engaged to another person, so it’s the most complicated possible situation. But for them, I was hoping that they would be able to navigate that incredibly tumultuous space with love and friendship and humor, and they do an amazing job of making that feel real.
John Eisendrath, Alert: Missing Persons Unit Zoom panel, 12/14/22
Batista and Grant’s history gives the show more colors than just the case of the week.
“There’s also a lot of room for wit and humor when you really know someone for that long,” Ramirez said. “Co-parenting together, and then having to deal with the loss of their child, I think opens up a lot of connection, moments for connection between both of us but also allows us to really feel like we’re there for one another. We meet each other with love and understanding and that’s something that I don’t think I’ve ever seen portrayed in television as beautifully as we do on this show. You have two people who have to deal with having to move forward and go through a divorce but still feel that there’s a lot of love there at home and at work.”
