The Harlan Coben and Netflix formula is a well-tuned one now, with fans regularly beckoning in the start of a year with a brand new series landing on the streamer just in time to nurse those New Year’s Day hangovers.
While this year has already seen the release of Run Away, Coben’s Netflix partnership has notched up another gear as I Will Find You has now graced our screens, coming just six months after the Ruth Jones and James Nesbitt-led eight-parter.
Recent years have seen Missing You, Fool Me Once, Stay Close, Safe and The Stranger jump to the number one spot on Netflix, quickly being binged by millions worldwide but all following a trusty set of rules. Coben teams up with the same stellar team of British writers and producers – Nicola Shindler, Danny Brocklehurst and Richard Fee – to bring his US-based novels to life, switching up his original tales, which are based in his native America, so they unfold against the backdrop of North West England (primarily Manchester and its surrounding areas).
But now, things are taking quite the turn away from Coben’s tried-and-tested path of Netflix successes, as I Will Find You marks the author’s first US-based TV show for the streamer.
To put it candidly, Coben’s shows aren’t necessarily known for their riveting, scene-stealing performances or their high calibre of dramatic prowess. But perhaps this shake-up is just what’s needed as, rather surprisingly, I Will Find You isn’t an entirely abysmal watch – and that’s down to a couple of different reasons.
Despite working with UK talent on crafting the majority of his English-language Netflix shows, there’s a distinct clunkiness to a lot of them. The dialogue and its resulting delivery feel exaggerated, the plots get ever more convoluted. Watching them as a telly-loving Brit just feels largely unrealistic and hammy. But they nevertheless remain a surefire winner when it comes to comfort watching, despite being jarring for many.
It’s also the fact that Coben’s shows love utilising the enclosed setting of a gated community or a luxury mansion. 2018’s Safe unfolded in one of these exclusive communities whilst 2024’s Fool Me Once saw Arley Hall and Gardens being used as Joanna Lumley‘s lavish home, Farmwood.
The aspirational element to these shows is obviously part of the fluff of them, part of the escapism of sitting down to watch, but also just feeds into their over-arching theatricality. In I Will Find You, there’s still the mega wealthy Payne family and a focus on rich people’s problems, but Milo Ventimiglia and Madeleine Stowe make it naturally believable and less like a pantomime.
When the more recent US drama slate includes the likes of We Were Liars, The Perfect Couple and All Her Fault amid newer procedurals like 911, FBI or the One Chicago universe, then I Will Find You seems a lot more at home based stateside. Its American grounding not only makes it naturally more glossy and seemingly big budget, but allows the show to reach those melodramatic heights without being witheringly cringe.
Coben’s casts are always heavy on well-known names, and this new series is no different, with Avatar’s Sam Worthington and Severance‘s Britt Lower taking on the lead roles of this eight-parter. They’re joined by This Is Us alum Ventimiglia and Dear White People’s Logan Browning, who are all at home in this knotty thriller.
Once again, we’re catapulted straight into the middle of an unfolding crisis where nobody can be trusted, and things often lean on the melodrama. David Burroughs (Worthington) is serving a life sentence for the murder of his young son Matthew.
David pleads his innocence, so when his ex-sister-in-law Rachel (Lower) comes to visit him in prison one day, clasping a photograph that has a child in the background that looks a lot like Matthew, it begs the question: has he actually been alive all this time? Having been fired from her previous reporter posting, Rachel not only sees this as the opportunity to get closure and answers for her family, but also to venture back into the world of journalism.
The leading dynamic is certainly an unlikely one, with each having their own motivations for wanting to find out the truth. But ultimately, it’s that uneven power dynamic and the fact that David is literally a fugitive on the run that makes for viewing that’s a refreshingly different spin on Coben’s Netflix contributions.
Now, I Will Find You won’t exactly linger with you long after watching, stir anything within you or really have you rooting for anyone. But even amid the breathy dialogue, prison breaks and unsurprisingly soapy plot twists, you can’t help but want to know just what’s waiting at the end of the final episode. By now, fans of the Coben shows will know that the finales usually bring about a double twist, with I Will Find You bringing just that.
Despite their global success, this sub-genre of thriller is never critically acclaimed for a variety of reasons. But I Will Find You tries to inch closer to being a more prestige chapter of television in Coben’s streaming repertoire. It’s a marked turn away from his UK-based offerings but it’s an attempt that yields surprising results – and it may actually leave you enjoying the viewing experience and not just enduring it as a “guilty pleasure”.
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I Will Find You is now streaming on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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