# The Forgotten (2009)

> A small team of dedicated amateurs reconstructs the identities of unidentified murder victims after the police have given up.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/28314

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 17
- Episode runtime: 42 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery
- Created by: Mark Friedman
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Christian Slater, Rochelle Aytes, Bob Stephenson, Heather Stephens, Michelle Borth, Anthony Carrigan, Sergia Louise Anderson, Kimberly Estrada
- TMDB rating: 6.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1420425/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: serious, suspenseful, somber, determined

## Synopsis

The Forgotten (2009-2010) is an American network crime drama created by Mark Friedman for ABC. Christian Slater stars as Alex Donovan, leading a band of dedicated amateur investigators alongside Rochelle Aytes as Grace Russell and Bob Stephenson as Walter Bailey. Their engine is simple and grim: when police have stopped looking, they must first pin down who an unidentified murder victim was, then use that identity to help catch the killer. Each episode works as a self-contained investigation, with the team piecing together fragments of a life that no one has claimed. The single season of seventeen forty-two-minute episodes runs as a case-of-the-week format, with a steady undercurrent of unease about the people society forgets. The tone is serious and procedural, sober about violence and loss, with a mood of quiet determination rather than flash. Set in present-day American cities, it sits in the tradition of network mystery procedurals, and fans of Cold Case, Bones and Dead Set will find a similar appetite for patient detective work. Its premise of giving the deceased back their names gives the crime genre a humane angle that lingers after the credits.

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- [Blindspot (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55728)
- [Coroner (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/72697)
- [Unforgettable (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/36093)
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- [Cold Case (2003)](https://ember.film/tv/2059)
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