A girl celebrating her 18th birthday manipulates her parents into letting her stay out later than usual, as long as she is back home on the dot, no excuses. Understandably, the parents are quite alarmed when the curfew passes & their daughter is nowhere to be seen. They sense that something has gone terribly wrong, although it takes a while for the police to classify it as a missing person case.
One of the episodes takes place 5 years later, in a police academy classroom, where the cadets study the now famous case. The case perplexes the students because major details contradict each other. The teacher, who was the lead investigator, leaves the cadets hanging until the next class, only reminding his students that appearances deceive.
When lies pile up on deceptions on top of hidden truths, investigators have a near impossible job. This whodunit twists and turns, although it all makes sense at the end (not that I could figure it out to save my life).
My favorite thing about the series is that it had a defined and closed end. Almost every Spanish series leaves a door or two open just in case of renewal, which drives me crazy because Spanish series never have closure and thus their supposed "finale" leaves fans awfully disappointed. No such teases in "Desaparecida." Fans who make it through the first 12 60- to 85-minute episodes enjoy a proper ending.
The cast of the series is outstanding. The characters drove me crazy sometimes with their emotional swings, illogical behavior, and hysteria, until I realized that that's probably how the family members of a missing person probably behave. Spanish whodunits often struggle because it's hard to maintain intrigue & suspense over the course of 13 ~70-minute episodes. But the "Desaparecida" scriptwriters avoid that fate because the plotting is tight and easy to follow.
"Desaparecida" is an enjoyable & satisfying whodunit. It's available on the RTVE website for anyone interested in a solid Spanish mystery.
