TV Tuesday: Ten Days in the Valley

One of the new fall TV shows I was most excited about is Ten Days in the Valley, a "limited series" with 10 episodes on ABC about a young girl who is abducted from her home and her overworked, stressed-out mother. We have watched the first two episodes so far, and it is dark and suspenseful with plenty of twists.

Kyra Sedgewick (known for her starring role on The Closer and many other movie roles) stars as Jane Sadler, a TV producer. At the start of the first episode, we see that she has a difficult relationship with her ex-husband, Pete, played by Kick Gurry, who begs for more time with their daughter. Jane seems to have a very close relationship with her adorable daughter, Lake, played by Abigail Pniowski, and the two of them cuddle together as Lake falls asleep. Jane, though, soon breaks her promise to stay in bed when she gets an urgent call that the next episode of her new cop show needs a complete rewrite by morning. In what looks like a familiar routine for Jane, she gets out of bed and tiptoes out to the shed behind the house that serves as her office. She brings a baby monitor and keeps the back door cracked open.

Things go from bad to worse that night, though, and after an intense night of writing, Jane heads back to the house to find that all of the doors - including the one she left open - are closed and locked. She breaks a window, frantic now, and gets into the house, only to find that Lake is gone without a trace. She immediately suspects that Pete came back during the night to take Lake because she'd said no to his request to keep her for a few more days. The police get involved, with the investigation led by Detective John Bird, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (aka Mr. Echo from Lost, a favorite of ours). At first, the police follow Jane's instincts, but soon other clues emerge that muddy the waters and point to a more complicated case. To make matters worse, it is clear to the police that Jane is lying or withholding information (she's doing both).

Only two episodes have aired so far, but we are loving this show. It's fast-paced suspense with layers of complexity that are just beginning to get peeled away, bit by bit. Sedgewick is her usual amazing self, here playing a woman who was clearly on the edge of falling apart even before her daughter went missing; her performance is intense and compelling. The other actors are excellent as well, including Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Jane's boss, Emily Kinney (we liked her most recently in the short-lived Conviction) as Jane's assistant, and Erika Christensen of Parenthood fame as Jane's sister. It's a taut thriller that keeps you guessing, with surprises in every episode. We can't wait to see more!

Ten Days in the Valley is currently airing on ABC and is available On Demand, on the ABC website, or for $1.99 an episode (or $16.99 for the season) on Amazon. There will be 10 episodes (each represents a different day).