Without a Trace

I find this show engaging enough to watch fairly regularly but have to disagree with all the glowing reviews that have been posted. The plot lines are often simplistic and sensationalist and the long music-driven "emotional" scenes are pandering and boring. The characters are one dimensional and any "development" seems forced. I feel like Lenny on Law & Order is my good buddy even though that show hardly has any character development, whereas the WAT characters seem more like bullet points--"the wise, good hearted leader with family problems", "the tough blonde going through an emotional crisis", etc. The show is okay but it's really a slick presentation of something that could use a few more IQ points.

I am sorry that "Without A Trace" went off the air after five years, though I agree with other reviewers that it had probably exhausted its possibilities. The show had many things going for it: a first-rate cast, a set of often surprising plot twists, and an ability to look at some of the darkest parts of New York city life. Anthony LaPaglia, as the head of the FBI missing- persons unit, gave a set of performances that were truly gripping: his character was always tough, devoted, and often very reserved, but there was always an enormous amount of passion locked within him which would come out at the most desperate moments. The rest of the cast were uniformly good, and I agree with many other observers that Marianne Jean-Baptiste was a superb actress and a perfect colleague for LaPaglia's plain-spoken FBI man.

It is true, though, that as the years went by, the script writers appear to have run out of ideas about missing/abducted/brutalized persons and turned more and more to examining the personal lives of the FBI agents. We had love affairs between LaPaglia and Montgomery, Close and Montgomery, and Murciano and Sanchez, not to mention the collapse of LaPaglia's character's marriage, and the show did become more and more of a soap opera. It was probably at that point that the show started to lose the interest of its viewers.

But the single most important relationship in the show -- not a romantic relationship so much as a deeply personal relationship between two characters who really respected each other, even when they fought with each other -- was the relationship between LaPaglia's character and Jean-Baptiste's character. They were the stars of the show, and the way they agreed but often disagreed about their jobs and their lives made the show the wonderful, poignant success that it was for so many years.

A little while ago,I'd written a user comment that was faintly praising and perhaps a little more than cruel in dismissing this show as a sort of pedestrian,superficial attempt at sincere drama that is acted well-enough and scripted competently enough to be interesting. After watching more episodes(mostly in re-runs) and getting roundly unsupported by those who bothered an opinion of my review,I decided to do a rewrite.

While I still stick by my assertion that this show isn't quite as innovative or searing as it aspires to be,it's still quite compelling a drama. While the acting varies,from superb and sublime(mostly Anthony LaPaglia as the chief,but Marianne Jean-BAptiste and Poppy Montgomery are good as fellow agents),to completely flat(mostly Roslyn Sanchez,who IS easy on the eyes but not much more),the stories DO draw the viewer in,and the earnest and deliberate means of spelling out the Bureau's investigating a missing case. Good storytelling that is not (ordinarily) as graphic or de-humanizing as a CSI episode,that still handles the subject manner soberly(if sometimes short-sighted),this show may not be my favorite on the telly,but I will watch it if it's on more often than not. That,to me,seems like a more accurate assessment.

WAT is the show I look forward to watching most every week (comes in a close 2nd after The Closer). I don't know why so many people think the show has gone downhill. It still holds my interest for that hour. My only criticism (and it's not about Rosalyn Sanchez) is that they have one of the most talented actresses alive today, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and they hardly use her! She deserves much more character development and depth to her role. It's the same story with S. Epatha Merkerson on Law & Order. Another underused great talent. However, perhaps after being recognized for Lackawanna Blues, NBC will wake up. Let's see more Marianne in the future. At least let her express an emotion every now and then. Even Tony LaPaglia is allowed to do that.

First 2 seasons were fantastic and like most of the shows it started going a bit downhill on S3 but to make it worse they had to add an actress who can't act even a little. Any scene she is part if can be guaranteed to be bad. The original team was much much better on their own.