Someone who has never experienced living without government papers can never entirely understand the challenges that come with it.
Everything people take for granted, like access to financial, medical, and education services, even at the most basic level, becomes impossible.
And when an undocumented person goes missing, where does a government that doesn’t acknowledge that person exists begin?
Gabi and her team picked such a case on Found Season 1 Episode 5 as they investigated the disappearance of Satcha, a young Colombian dreamer who had fallen in with the wrong crowd.
But before that, we should do due diligence and address that surprising cold open.
Found has fallen into a fun rhythm of revealing stuff about Sir slowly, and what they revealed had my mind working overtime to try and figure out what exactly happened to Sir.
Even a monster has its monstrous history, and it seemed like Sir was trying to recreate a parental relationship with Gabi.
It is unknown why Sir kidnapped Gabi and Bella, but from how he behaved, he seemed to long that connection a parent has with their child.
There can be a million and one reasons why he behaves how he does, but I think he sustained severe trauma that somehow broke him.
Kidnapping Gabi and Bella was a manifestation of that trauma, but I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of what he was capable of.
He planned on brainwashing Gabi into thinking they’re family, controlling what she learned so that he’d be able to control her mind, and finally go to Paris.
It was as ridiculous as it sounds, and seeing him giddy like a schoolchild after admitting his plan was the most hilarious thing ever.
Sir: Gabrielle, think! I wouldn’t have left a book out unless…
Gabi: …you wanted me to see it.
Sir: There’s a whole world out there. So much to see and experience. I want us to see the world together, Gabrielle. Paris can be our first stop.
Gabi: I don’t understand
Sir: Well, the plan was never to stay here and hide in this place forever. I was waiting for you to adapt, to accept our new family. Once you do, we’ll turn the page to get a new chapter anywhere in the world. We’ll change our names. I’ve already come up with mine: Eric Blair.
Gabi: Eric Blair was George Orwell’s real name.
Sir: Well done! Now, you need to come up with your new name. One that embodies who you wanna be in our new life together. I can’t wait!
The day got off to a rough start for Gabi as a friend of her father’s visited her to inquire what she planned on doing with his ashes.
It reminded her of things she wanted to forget, and the emotions she experienced from that conversation threw her off her game.
That conversation between her and Ryan was the kind of conversation I call unnatural.
You blamed yourself for being taken, and your father he blamed himself for not being able to find you. But the truth is the devil that robbed you and your father of that year is the only one to blame.
Ryan
A conversation sounds unnatural when the writers want to get important information about a character or storyline out, and every word another character utters sounds like an information dump.
I’m unsure if there was anything new that Ryan told her that she didn’t know, and it was done for the sake of the audience.
Gabi Mosley and her father’s relationship was worth exploring for many episodes, if not a season.
Getting the work call was a welcome distraction for Gabi, and she dove into the case thoroughly.
I began this review by highlighting how important being documented was. Even if I have never experienced being undocumented, I’ve come close when I lost an only government document, and it was not fun.
Things you’d never thought about before suddenly become the biggest problems in your life. I respect anyone who survives in a foreign country without papers because it’s difficult.
Satcha’s case was typical of what Team M&A deals with. There were twists as the team tried to get to Satcha before she was killed, and that involved putting themselves in multiple dangerous situations.
Human traffickers are the worst of the worst, and they have no limits.
Manny was the prime example. He was ready to commit murder and could lie just as easily.
If Margaret had not been preoccupied with her missing son’s case, she would have noticed how fake the emotions in his voice were and how he bore no resemblance to Satcha.
If Professor Alec Mercer had been present, he would have noticed how irrational his actions were, from his first instincts when he attacked Dhan to his justification for being in Satcha’s room.
There was an air of hope as Margaret thought that after all these years, someone had found her son.
The episode did a great job of building it in the audience, as the news of the tab was kept in a small circle, and finally, everyone was let in.
Their happiness exuded from the screen, and it was infectious. It was easy to get lured into it, and lured I was.
That was why it was devastating to learn what happened to the tab.
Lacey: We located the person who pulled the tab from Jamie’s flyer.
Gabi: He didn’t pull it because he knew anything about Jamie; he used it to wrap his gum.
Margaret: OK, thank you. Thank you for your help.
Lacey: I really wish the outcome were different.
Margaret: I mean, we’ve been here before, right? It’s OK, I’m fine, it’s fine, I’ll just get some… I’ll get some new flyers printed. I wish I could move on. I wish I could. But I can’t… I just… I can’t move on.
Borrowing Gabi’s words, the guy who used the tab to wrap gum was a little bitch ass, and never have I ever felt violent like that. If I would bitch slap him if I caught him, because who does that?
Boyfriend didn’t do it. He’s a little bitch ass, but he didn’t do it.
Gabi
Sometimes, we do some of the most minor things with tremendous consequences and don’t even think about it.
What he did was like ripping the missing poster and using it to wipe his butt.
Gabi has her kidnapper in her basement and uses him to solve cases, Lacey has a thousand and one locks on her door, Zeke never leaves the house, Margaret sleeps at a bus stop, and Dhan can’t handle being alone.
It was hard to watch him struggle with having his husband out of the house for a week, just like it was hard watching Zeke try to retrieve an important package.
I know I don’t talk about it, but for three long years, I was held captive, and because of that, I know how hard it is to be alone. It’s not something I wish on anyone, especially not a friend.
Dhan
Even if there are reservations about the nature of Dhan and his husband’s relationship, seeing how Dhan struggles with being alone made me understand why he gravitated towards someone who understood him fully.
Intrusive Thoughts
- I know Dhan was supposed to look unkempt and unhygienic, but why did it not work? Karan Oberoi can wear sackcloth and ash and look good while doing it.
- Zeke and Dhan have become bros now. Do with that what you will.
- I’m sorry, but Zeke and Lacey being romantically involved would be lazy writing.
- Trent saved Dhan who was appreciative. I hope this is the last we see of Dhan’s attitude toward Mark because it’s unjustified.
- Sir thinks he is not a monster? Sir, have you seen what you did to children? Monster is a nice word!
Over to you, Found Fanatics. What did you think?
Should the government keep track of undocumented people if only for their safety?
Chime in in the comments section.
Denis Kimathi is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on X.