How did the group form?

I haven't seen that many episodes myself, but I have seen the pilot twice, and they don't mention how they came together. The one young guy with the beard who the facial reconstructionist gets involved with them in the pilot becasue he got in trouble and so doing this was his community service.

I don't know if they give more details later on or not. The last ep I watched was the one where Candace quits her job because her boss is being such a pain about her doing her missing persons work at her real job.

Alos it's revealed in the pilot that christian slators character used to be a cop. I don't know yet what happened to make him not be one anymore.

Anyway this is all I know for now.

I wish you hundreds of fat children

You actually are fine watching an episode here and there. They are pretty much stand-alone episodes even though they do a great job with continuing story lines and character development without making it incomprehensible to new or occasional viewers.

The police call the network when there is a cold case they don't have the time or inclination to investigate. The Network helps to identify John & Jane Doe murder victims - they usually find the killer in addition to identifying the victim so their families can be informed.

They don't actually show how everyone got there in one big reveal. They do let you in on some of the impetus a little at a time in each episode. I think they are setting up little hints and are seeing where the characters take them.

Christian Slater lost his daughter, I don't think he knows if she's alive or dead (but definitely missing) but I'm not positive. I may have just missed it when they mentioned her status; as I said it's all revealed bit by bit in short segments in different episodes. I don't think you've missed anything too major.

He is a former cop but he lost it when his daughter went missing. That's why he gets a bit more leeway than a civilian would in some of the legal gray areas that arise when they are investigating.

The artist that does the facial reconstruction sketches was sentenced to Community Service there but seemed to enjoy it pretty quickly and doesn't seem interested in leaving.

There is definitely a big story line with the red head that is featured a bit less than the others. She seems to be pretty well known (in the show) - maybe a major media scandal or something. I think she was once married to someone very prominent. They haven't elaborated much.

The others just seem to be people in jobs that don't really fulfill them and this makes them feel important (phone repairman) or just gives them a feeling of making a difference (the one that worked at the insurance company).