Warning: spoilers ahead for the fourth episode of Found, called "Missing While A Pawn."
NBC's Found continues building on the twisted backstory between Sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and Gabi Mosely (Shanola Hampton) in the 2023 TV schedule, and the actors definitely delivered in "Missing While A Pawn." The latest episode added some new layers to their relationship, with a reveal about Sir that could help explain Gabi's decision to take him captive rather than turn him in. Gabi also dropped some comments that suggest that if she has a long-term plan for Sir, it could be one from which there's no coming back.
The case of the week involved a 13-year-old boy going missing from a church, with Gabi recruiting Sir to help figure out why young Matthew seemingly went with the bad guys of his own free will. His insight helped her team find the teen before he could be trafficked, although another teen was shot and left comatose in the process. All in all, it wasn't Gabi's best day, made all the worse by what she was flashing back to throughout "Missing While A Pawn." And that brings us to Mark-Paul Gosselaar's character.
Sir Took Another Girl
The flashbacks continued to show Sir as a man who wasn't physically harming Gabi, but would deprive her of food for something as minor as her not reading the Shakespearean play he assigned her. When she finally did pick up his copy of Julius Caesar, she found a note in it that read:
Day 261. My name is Annie and I am going to live. If you're reading this and Sir got you too, don't give up.
I don't want to say that I called it last week that Gabi wasn't Sir's first kidnapping victim, but... I totally called it after a big hint in a small moment. After he caught Gabi frantically searching for more notes from Annie in the newest episode, he didn't bother denying that he'd taken somebody else captive before her. When she asked what happened to Annie, Sir all but snarled and said:
The same thing that will happen to you should you continue with this rebellion. I will have to begin again with someone new, and just like Annie, you will never be found.
Given that Gabi is still looking for answers about Annie in the present, it's safe to say that Sir's prediction that his previous kidnapped victim would never be found is accurate so far. His phrasing definitely sounds like he killed Annie, but I don't think fans should take that as the truth until a body is found or Gabi uncovers more details.
Gabi Doesn't Expect Sir To Be Found
For her part, Gabi was having an extremely tough trip down memory lane, triggered by the "Annie, are you okay?" lyric from Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" during karaoke night with the team. She was also on edge when Lacey brought up Sir, who – as far as she knows, anyway – has never been found. The details of how Gabi actually caught their former captor and locked him in her basement aren't clear just yet, but she said this when Lacey asked her friend if she thought he'd ever be found:
Do I think he'll ever be found? Truthfully, no. I don't think he'll ever be found.
Unbeknownst to Gabi, her answer was phrased in a way that clued Lacey in that she was lying. While she was obviously hiding the truth about Sir, I don't think she was lying about thinking he'll never be found, which... is pretty dark. Whether it means that Gabi is planning on keeping him alive in her basement forever, she is planning on killing him someday, or she doesn't really have a long-term plan at all, Shanola Hampton's performance suggested that her character meant what she said about Sir.
Personally, I'm very curious about why Gabi seemingly never told anybody about Annie. Surely if she'd reported Sir's first victim to the authorities, Lacey would know about it, right? Or did she somehow manage to report Annie's disappearance and also protect Lacey from it? Does she think she'll only get answers if she keeps Sir in her own custody and searches for Annie herself?
We'll have to wait and see if we get answers on that front, but "Missing While A Pawn" struck me as Shanola Hampton's best performance yet as leading lady of Found. Gabi's frustration was building just beneath the surface throughout the episode, until she was pushed too far and started screaming, crying, and smashing dishes to let her feelings out. Then, she calmed down and started reviewing Annie's case again, because she couldn't give up.
Hampton crushed it from start to finish, and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't rewind that scene with Gabi's breakdown on the first floor of her home while Sir shouted for her from the basement. I've been impressed by Mark-Paul Gosselaar all season, but Hampton was the standout of Episode 4 for me. Keep tuning in to NBC on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET for new episodes of Found, or stream them next day with a Peacock Premium subscription.
