It was not a great way to end a show, but the producers of "Missing" didn't know it would be the end.

The news broke on May 11 that ABC would not renew the mid-season series, a week before its season finale aired -- that meant, of course, that the finale had been filmed and finished long before.

Cliffhanger season finales are pretty well a must for serial-type dramas these days, and they're a great way to make sure people come back for the next season after a months-long break. However, they're not so great for fans if the show doesn't get a next season.

And that's very often the case: ABC announced the show's cancelation at the same time as two other rookie serial dramas, "The River" and "Pan Am."

"Missing's" cliffhanger end was particularly intriguing -- the entire first season is devoted to former CIA agent Becca Winstone (Ashley Judd) on the trail of her missing son and (as we learn later -- spoiler alert) missing husband. At the end of the series (bigger spoiler alert, though we're safe given your question), it is Becca who goes missing.

Fans were left wondering if the tables would be turned: Will the next season see her son and husband carry out a similar action- and intrigue-filled hunt, becoming the stars of the show in the process, and putting Judd in a supporting-actress role? It could have been an interesting way to keep the show fresh.

Instead, Judd's character will remain missing forever. Judd, however, certainly has not.

Less than a year after her series ended, Judd appeared on the big screen this past weekend in the secret-service action film "Olympus Has Fallen."

An intrigue-filled spy show, followed by a presidential-kidnapping film, may in fact be a strange sort of resume-building activity on her part for a big career change -- to U.S. senator.

She is reportedly considering a run at the seat in her native Kentucky currently filled by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Her publicist sent a statement to the "Washington Post" saying that "a decision has not been made yet" about running in the 2014 election.

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