A Mysterious Ten Days In The Valley (ABC)

A TV writer’s daughter is abducted – but who is responsible? Jane Sadler is burning the candle at both ends – and sometimes in the middle. When she receives a demand for a middle-of-the-night rewrite of the TV series on which she is head writer, the divorced single mother leaves her young daughter Lakey asleep while she goes into her shed to write. A bottle of wine and a snort of cocaine later, Jane has completed and emailed her script, then passes out. When she awakens, Lakey is gone. While it is clear that Jane is hardly mother-of-the-year material, and is under suspicion by investigating police officer John Bird, it is also clear she did not abduct her own daughter. But who did? Jane’s ex (and Lakey’s father) Pete? Jane’s drug dealer, for reasons of his own? Jane’s nanny/maid? Or someone else entirely? Ten Days In The Valley promises to be a twistily-plotted, conspiracy-minded show with multiple red herrings per episode. It is unlikely children would be interested in the series, which is just as well, given its often (and one suspects, accurate in the world of network TV) profane language, emphasis on drug use and unsympathetic personalities, and occasional flashes of sexual content. Ten Days In The Valley premieres Sunday, October 1 at 10:00 p.m. ET on ABC.