Tonight on ABC (8/7c before an all new GREY’S ANATOMY), Ashley Judd returns to TV (almost 2 decades after SISTERS) as a “mother, looking for her son” in the all new spy-action drama MISSING.  Judd plays Becca Winstone, a former CIA operative who left the spy world when her husband, fellow spy Paul (nice surprise to see Sean Bean), was killed in an explosion, in front of their then-8-year-old son Michael.

Cut to 10 years later, and Becca is struggling with letting Michael go off on an adventure aboad.  When she finally relents, she immediately faces her worst nightmare, as all signs point to Michael’s disappearance at the hand of some spy-enemy (shouldn’t be a spoiler, based on the previews, but spoiler alert: he’s the MISSING of the MISSING title).  What follows is Becca’s attempts to get Michael back, in one piece, by whatever means necessary. As she makes her way through Europe, Becca teams up with an old mentor (and maybe more) in Adriano Giannini’s Giancarlo, makes an frien-emy in Cliff Curtis’ CIA operative Dax Miller, and finds help along the way from former friends, enemies, targets, and spies.

Judd is silent and strong in this role – she kicks ass and takes names as Sydney-Bristow-in-her-40s (ALIAS reference) – and she’s very convincing as a CIA op turned mother turned spy hellbent on revenge.  She’s playing the role with reckless abandon, convincing the audience to come along on for the ride, and I, for one, am looking forward to more!

Give the show a chance, and let us know what you think of MISSING, airing on ABC Thursdays this spring.