Why waste 6 episodes of a perfectly good Canadian “event” series?

That’s what the folks at WGN America must have been thinking when they began promoting their “new” summer event series, The Disappearance.

But alas, it’s not really new (that’s right; I have the Internet, WGN, and I’m on to you). The Disappearance aired back in October and December of 2017 on the great CTV in Canada. But hey, it’s new to us here in the States, right?

So what have we? At first glance, I thought it was a Stranger Things knockoff, with the opening images depicting 10-year-old Anthony (Michael Riendeau) snapping photos with his vintage Polaroid camera and his school chums dressed in formal unis. Is it the ’80s? The ’70s?

Instead of paying attention to the narrative, I’m instead drawn to the automobiles in the background, trying to figure out just which decade this is set in. Turns out, it’s modern day (or 2017, since that’s when it aired in Canada). Those modern Dodge Charger police cruisers are a dead giveaway.

And damn, what kind of stranger thing is little 10-year-old Anthony? In the trailer, we learn that he sneaks around, Polaroid camera in hand, snapping photos of innocent souls caught unawares, even sneaking onto the private property to get those money shots. Is it weird? Creepy? His classmates seem to think so, and his cute teacher isn’t thrilled with it either (she asks for all the photos to be turned in to her).

But when little Anthony gets a little too curious during a class project treasure hunt, BOOM! He’s kidnapped! Or is he? He disappears, vanishes, gone without a trace. A family’s worst nightmare.

And it turns out, this family is like all families; they have secrets–deep, dark, long buried secrets–and it all comes puking out whilst the fam tries to solve the case of…The Disappearance. Can this family (which includes Peter Coyote, Camille Sullivan, Aden Young, and Joanne Kelly) survive their past sins and solve the mystery of young Anthony’s disappearance?

Those who care enough to watch will find out.

Is this something you’ve seen? Did you catch it in Canada already? Should we watch this?? Let us know in the comments. If not, I’ll restrict my WGN viewing exclusively to Chicago Cubs games.

The Disappearance, produced and distributed by NBC Universal, among others, premieres (here in the US, that is) on Tuesday, July 9, 2019.