Looking for a new true-crime show to binge-watch this week? Netflix’s second instalment of Missing: Dead or Alive is the perfect four-parter to get through in a single evening – and fans are already watching the entire season in one go.

Told over four episodes, the series follows officers from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department Missing Persons Unit in Columbia, South Carolina, as they investigate a range of disappearances.

The new season, which was released on Monday, looks into cases including a three-year-old boy, a vulnerable university student and a woman who vanishes without warning in the middle of the night.

Netflix has no shortage of true crime titles – from The Perfect Neighbor to Unknown Number: The High School Catfish and The Truth About Jussie Smollett? If you’ve already made your way through those and are hunting for your next obsession, Missing: Dead or Alive is an easy watch that many viewers are racing through in just one or two sittings. The documentary series landed in the streamer’s top ten in almost 20 countries when the first season aired in 2023, and spent two weeks there in both the UK and US, so it won’t be surprising if this season enjoys similar success.

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The show follows a team who investigates missing people

What have viewers said about Missing: Dead or Alive?

While it’s still early for critics’ reviews, fans have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the new season.

Posting on IMDb, one viewer wrote: “I binged-watched this. I found it heartfelt, gripping and really interesting. Hats off to those that work in the missing persons department,” while another penned: “LOVE this show, so glad it’s got a new season. Season one was SO good, please can we have more than four episodes.”

Meanwhile, a third viewer added: “If you want to see how crime actually works, watch this.”

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What is Missing: Dead or Alive season 2 about?

Despite its dramatic filming style, the series is a factual documentary told in real time.

The synopsis reads: “Investigations unfold through the eyes of the police working on each case – like going over the circumstances of someone’s disappearance, interviewing witnesses, initiating search-and-rescue operations, tracking down suspects, comforting family members, and more.

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One of the cases follows a missing boy on the edge of a woodland

“The series features the officers as they work the ins and outs of each time-sensitive investigation and discuss how working on missing and kidnapping cases has impacted their lives.”

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Vicki Rains works in the unit

Who appears in Missing: Dead or Alive season 2?

The show is led by Sergeant Vicki Rains, an officer of more than 20 years who transferred to the Missing Persons Unit after working in Major Crimes.

Speaking about her work, Vicki told Netflix’s Tudum: “That’s what keeps me up at night – the need to find the person. When I think things look bad, we just need to keep an open mind. We should always keep hope.”

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She’s joined by investigator JP Smith, captain Heidi Jackson, victim’s advocate deputy Brittany Yarnal, investigator Kerwin Ruiz, K9 specialist Michel Galliot, investigator John Anderson and lieutenant Brad Maxwell.