Kaley Cuoco stars as Alice Monroe in the new MGM+ thriller Vanished, a tourist’s romantic trip that quickly spirals into a life-threatening mystery. When her boyfriend, Tom, disappears from a train in France, Alice uncovers a web of secrets involving a mysterious tattoo, a secret boat, and a potentially deadly charity organization. The first two episodes, “Rosefinch” and “Limerence,” lay a complex trail of clues, suspicions, and immediate danger.
Vanished Episode 1 Recap: “Rosefinch” – The Boyfriend Who Disappeared
The series opens not at the beginning, but near the end of Alice’s ordeal. We see her in a Marseille hotel room, frantically washing blood from her hands before escaping through a window as a man posing as a delivery driver tries to break in. The story then jumps back one week to show how she got there.
Alice, an archaeologist, arrives in France to meet her boyfriend of four years, Tom, played by Sam Claflin. Their relationship exists mainly in brief, passionate meetings around the world. Alice is hopeful for a more settled future, having just accepted a teaching job at Princeton. Tom seems hesitant but agrees to move with her.
Several odd details stand out to Alice. Tom has a new tattoo of a rosefinch, which he says reminds him of her. She sees a mysterious name, “Aurelie,” written in his notebook and, upon searching, finds it belongs to a high-end jewelry shop. She assumes he is planning to propose. The next day, they board a train to Arles. Tom receives a phone call and steps away as the train stops. Alice falls asleep and wakes to find he is gone.
Her search is met with indifference. The train conductor is unhelpful. At the police station, Inspector Drax dismisses her concerns, suggesting Tom simply got cold feet about moving to America. A brief, silent call from Tom’s phone, filled only with the sound of rushing water and a car door, is her only clue.
Determined, Alice retraces the train’s route. She finds an empty packet of Tom’s chewing gum and skid marks near a bridge where she hears similar rushing water. She discovers a grisly animal carcass hanging in a shed, but even this does not convince Inspector Drax.
Back at her hotel, Alice investigates Tom’s belongings. The phone number he claimed was for his “uncle Brian” connects directly to the office of SOS Global, the NGO where Tom works. Flipping through his camera, she finds a photo of Tom with a female co-worker who has the exact same rosefinch tattoo on her arm. The episode ends with Alice realizing she may not have known her boyfriend at all.
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Vanished Episode 2 Recap: “Limerence” – Affairs, Murder, and Human Trafficking
Episode 2 deepens the mystery, offering possible explanations that only lead to more questions. Alice visits the Marseille office of SOS Global and meets its charming director, Alex Durand. Alex offers a sympathetic theory: Tom was deeply traumatized nine months ago in Jordan after a young refugee boy he had sworn to protect, Malik, and his family were found dead in a mass grave. Alex suggests Tom may have vanished due to this unresolved grief.
Alex Durand tells Alice: “He asked Malik to go back to school, and he promised that he would ensure that his family was taken care of. Suddenly, bandits raided the camp… Tom became hysterical and searched for them everywhere, only to find their dead bodies.”
Simultaneously, Alice asks the journalist Helene to look into the name “Aurelie.” Helene quickly discovers it is not a jewelry shop, but a private yacht. They find the boat, and inside Alice sees signs of a romantic rendezvous and smells Tom’s scent on the clothes. Heartbroken, she believes she has her answer: Tom was having an affair and abandoned her.
Alex encourages this theory, advising Alice to leave Marseille and go to Arles to wait for Tom. As she is about to board the train, however, she remembers the unhelpful conductor from the day Tom vanished. She finds his address and goes to his apartment, only to discover he has been murdered, his throat slit. She is seen fleeing the scene by the man’s wife, making her the prime suspect.
Terrified, Alice calls Alex for help. Soon after, the assassin from the premiere’s opening scene arrives at her hotel. She narrowly escapes with her life when Helene runs the attacker down with her car. Helene reveals a shocking truth: she is an investigative journalist who was laid off while pursuing a story. She now believes she knows why Tom really vanished.
Helene reveals to Alice: “I had been investigating Tom and SOS Global for a long time, and I’d come to the conclusion that Tom was the leader of one of the biggest human trafficking organizations in the Middle East.”
Helene suspects Tom saw her on the train and fled to avoid exposure. She also deduces that only Alex or Inspector Drax knew Alice’s hotel location, meaning one of them sent the killer. The episode ends with Alice’s face on the news, officially wanted for the conductor’s murder. With no one else to trust, she has no choice but to go with Helene and dig deeper into the dangerous truth.
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