Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You Recap Episode 1: David Burroughs Had A Visitor

Summer TV has now officially started with I Will Find You, the latest Netflix adaptation of a Harlan Coben novel starring Sam Worthington. A lawyer in jail for killing his own son, David Burroughs has refused any visitors for the past five years, until he was all but forced to see his former sister in law, an ex reporter named Rachel Mills. Rachel brought with her a photograph, taken by a friend at Six Flags in Springfield, that accidentally captured a boy who strongly resembled what David’s son, Matthew, would have looked like had he survived, down to the birthmark on his right cheek. 

That’s the hook, and though this is the second Harlan Coben adaptation this year (Run Way was released on New Year’s Day), I am still in. Based on the first episode alone (I have not seen the rest of the series), this looks like a well-made mystery/ thriller, with a bona fide movie star commanding the screen.

Harlan Coben mysteries tend to be twisty tales, so let’s lay down the facts as we know them first. Five years ago, David woke up in the middle of a storm and found his son Matthew dead. Or at least, he found a boy whose DNA matched Matthew’s. Given the nature and severity of the attack, a visual ID was not possible. David was known to suffer from night terrors, and since he admitted to being home alone that night, and a neighbour, Hilde Winslow, testified to having seen him bury the murder weapon, a baseball bat, David was given a life sentence.

The warden at Briggs Penitentiary, Philip MacKenzie, was an old friend of David’s father Lenny when they were still police officers, and Philip vowed to look after David. Unknown to him, however, one of his guards, Ted Wesson, was paid off, first to keep an eye on David, and later, following Rachel’s visit, to kill him.

Was David just another lifer looking for the slimmest glimpse of hope that he could get out? Was Rachel just another disgraced journalist looking for a story to revive her career? The threat to David’s life inside the prison was real enough, and when he narrowly escaped Wesson’s murder attempt, Philip decided he could no longer protect him inside. Philip reached out to his cop son Adam, who also happened to be David’s friend, for help.

The plan was for David to don Adam’s cop uniform and walk out with Philip. Should Adam be discovered in Philip’s office, he was to pretend that David knocked him out and took his uniform. Wesson, however, grew suspicious, and before Philip and David could get out, David was forced to pretend to have taken Philip hostage. They escaped in Philip’s truck, with Philip driving, but a roadblock now stood between David and his quest for answers. 

The thing about Harlan Coben adaptations is that you pretty much know what you’re getting each time another one drops. Some, though, are more interesting than others; this to me feels like one of the more interesting ones. So far, it is well paced, with the beginnings of the mystery sprinkled just enough to capture interest but not overwhelm. I look forward to parsing the clues of each episode with you all.

Rating: B+

Strays

🕵️At David’s request, Philip pulled strings and got him a copy of Matthew's murder book. It was there that he got the idea of asking Rachel to look into why the witness, Hilde Winslow, lied about seeing him bury the murder weapon. Rachel reached out to her former editor, who found out that Hilde changed her name to Harriet Winchester soon after the trial, and that her only address now was a PO Box in New York. 

🕵️Lenny was dying of cancer, and it looked like his sister Sophie was looking after him. When Philip stopped by for a visit and a chat about David, there was a black car parked across the street and a man in a suit watching. 

🕵️A wealthy serial killer named Ross Sumner was curiously assigned to work detail, and attacked David.

🕵️Rachel’s sister and David’s ex-wife Cheryl was pregnant. Rachel could not quite bring herself to tell her about finding a boy who looked like Matthew and could be Matthew, but she later had to confess that she went to see David. 

Episode Writer: Robert Hull

Episode Director: To Be Announced

Original Release Date: June 18, 2026

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