What To Know
- Absentia follows Emily Byrne, who was kidnapped and missing for six years with no memory of what happened to her.
- The series finale saw Emily helping her family fake their deaths for safety and ultimately starting a new life in Europe as a spy.
- Stana Katic confirmed that Absentia will not return for a fourth season.
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Absentia Seasons 1 – 3.]
Thanks to its recent move to Netflix, a whole new audience has discovered Prime Video’s Absentia, and they can’t get enough. Created by Gaia Violo and Matthew Cirulnick, the first season originally aired in 2017, with the second in 2019, and the third season concluded the saga in 2020. So now, years later, fans want to know: Will there be more?
Absentia followed FBI special agent Emily Byrne (Stana Katic) for three seasons as she struggled to reclaim her life after she vanished while tracking a serial killer. Discovered six years later with no memory of her captivity or how she got there, Emily is forced to rebuild the remnants of her world while untangling the mystery of her own disappearance.
For years, Emily was assumed dead, leaving her husband, Special Agent Nick Durand (Patrick Heusinger), to eventually give up his search and remarry Alice (Cara Theobold). To make matters worse, she has no relationship with her son Flynn (Patrick McAuley).
Conrad Harlow (Richard Brake ), the main suspect in the serial killer case, was killed, causing suspicion to circle Emily. As the series progressed, Emily was accused of committing a series of crimes that resembled the M.O. of the killer she was hunting when she disappeared. As the FBI and the media turn against her, Emily must both clear her name and solve the mystery of her abduction.
Amazon Prime Video
Seemingly, her only ally was Special Agent Cal Isaac (Matthew Le Nevez), who proved to be a sympathetic confidant who understood her trauma from his own dark past.
Emily spent three seasons clearing her name and attempting to mend her family, as she was increasingly accused of something far worse, making it more difficult to prove her innocence. She also suffered from bouts of extreme violence, which didn’t help her case.
What happened to Emily?
As the story unfolded throughout its first three seasons, many revelations about Emily, her past, and her associates came into the light. The audience learned that she was held captive as a child in an orphanage that was under the watch of Dr. Shen (Kok-Hwa Lie), who conducted gruesome experiments on most of the children in his care.
Emily’s kidnapper was revealed to be journalist Laurie Colson (Lydia Leonard), whose real name was Logan Brandt. They were both at the same orphanage where they grew up, but Emily swapped files with Logan, thus allowing Logan to suffer for six years of experimentation. Everything that happened to Emily was part of Logan’s revenge plan. The entire ordeal was a sadistic scheme to make Emily a prime suspect in the new crop of murders and destroy her life.
Logan worked with Conrad to kidnap Emily, copying Dr. Shen’s methods with their own special twists.
In Season 3, Emily realized she was more of a “lone wolf,” and as she faced an international conspiracy, she embraced how her trauma had created a set of unique skills.
How does Absentia end?
Emily helps Nick and Flynn fake their deaths to protect themselves and give them a fresh start. Emily moved to Europe to become a spy, where she began anew, but reconnected with Cal, paving the way for a possible reunion and opening the door to a possible Season 4.
Will there be an Absentia Season 4?
Stana Katic announced on Instagram that Absentia would not be returning for Season 4. In the post, Katic stated: “And although we’ve danced with the idea of continuing the tale, ‘ABSENTIA’ was always meant to be only 3 seasons, & I couldn’t think of a better note to end on… for any person on this planet, but especially Emily and her loved ones.”
“To our audience, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining us on this special journey. It is because of YOU that our show was a great success for its broadcasters. It’s because of YOU that we get to entertain you and be storytellers. And whatever projects this tribe of rebel storytellers goes to next, I hope you’ll follow them all.”
Absentia, Netflix
