Abhiroop Das
Co-created by Matthew Cirulnick and Gaia Violo, ‘Absentia‘ follows FBI special agent Emily Byrne, who vanishes without a trace while tracking down one of Boston’s most notorious serial killers. A full six years after this incident, she is miraculously discovered, barely alive, with no recollection of what happened to and around her. Thus begins a saga that spans several countries and years, where seemingly everyone she knows and trusts is part of a much larger conspiracy. As Emily finds herself consistently under suspicion for a string of crimes, her sense of self begins to crack wide open, revealing a psyche that has been pushed well past its limits. Season 3 of this crime thriller series brings Emily and her team face-to-face with a criminal syndicate that targets homeless people in a case that nearly jeopardizes their personal lives. Despite the season’s success, the show was canceled by Prime Video and will not be returning for a fourth season.
Absentia Was Always Meant to be a Three-Season Narrative
On May 7, 2021, nearly a year after the conclusion of ‘Absentia’ season three, Stana Katic, who essays the role of Emily, revealed that the show has reached its end and will not be continuing for a fourth season. She explained that, although the creative team of the show considered continuing the story, the Prime Video series was always intended to have a three-season run. The actor, who is also an executive producer for the show, further stated that the season finale serves as the perfect ending note for Emily and her family. As an original story created by Matthew Cirulnick and Gaia Violo, the show presents enough elements in the final episodes of season three to justify the creation of a sequel. However, as the core arc of Emily and her loved ones is essentially wrapped up, the decision to wrap up the narrative can be justified without any external factors being involved in the equation.
Reflecting on her journey with ‘Absentia,’ Stana Katic continued, “When they asked me in January 2017 if I was ready to spend three years in Bulgaria shooting a cable TV series, I had no idea what I was in for. I could never have imagined the creative partnerships and the friendships that would form and enrich my life. Three seasons were the perfect amount of space for a beautiful, complicated, and wonderfully fulfilling journey.” From there, Katic spoke about her character’s compelling and transformative journey, charting the growth in confidence and agency she displays throughout the story. While there is a slim possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the show being concluded with season three, the creators have not indicated any such reasons as of writing. Notably, Katic mentioned that the showrunner of ‘Absentia’ was interested in adapting the show in a graphic novel format, which might be one of the many ways the story can potentially continue forward.
Season Four of Absentia Could Have Continued Emily’s FBI Adventures
Although the third season wraps up most of the core mysteries by its final stretch, the ending itself opens the doors to a new plotline. Following a timeskip, we see Cal entering a bar where Emily is working. As the pair flirts, Cal gets an inkling that she is working on a covert mission. Soon enough, Emily confirms the same, revealing that she is tracking a black market arms dealer, and this cover job is crucial to that mission. With the confirmation of the show’s conclusion, this plotline is reframed as a sign of Emily being back in the game and looking ahead. However, at the same time, it creates just enough intrigue to serve as the base for a full-blown season four, complete with a new antagonist and far-reaching conspiracies. As such, a potential sequel could have followed Emily returning to form as one of the FBI’s most competent agents, this time taking on an arms-dealing syndicate all by herself.
A central plot thread that never gets fully resolved is the inexplicable murder of Conrad Harlow. The alleged serial killer is initially blamed for Emily’s death, but her surprise reappearance only pulls him deeper into the mystery. In season one, Harlow is found dead, stabbed in the back by a person who is never reasonably identified. However, the final moments of the season reveal, through one of Emily’s flashbacks, that she is the one who killed him. However, from there on, the show does not answer the exact chain of events that led her to commit murder, and then forget about it. This is among the many potential side effects of the bioengineering experiments performed on her, and a sequel had the potential to tap deeper into her psychological trauma and its consequences. Additionally, season four could also explore her budding relationship with Cal, which would demonstrate that she still has many fresh experiences awaiting her in the future.
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