2/03/05

Without a Trace, CBS

Without a drama is more like it. This is the FBI here, the feds, the g-men, and if they’re getting involved, it’s a big deal, it’s serious, the people are desperate because somebody’s mother, father, sister, brother, spouse, is missing without a trace, Without A Trace, and every second count--oops, a bit of 24 here--if our heroes are going to find them. And they have 52 minutes spread over a day, to make their magic move mountains and save the girl, the boy, the puppy.

You hooked yet? Our team is lead by a rock-solid stand-up guy. He never loses his cool, rarely takes off his trench coat, but he’s not too cool, no David Caruso. His team includes the hot blonde, two fast-talking, slightly neurotic young guys who almost dress as well as the chick, and the tough behind-the-scenes black woman, who is stylish, but not over the top. You’d probably want them around if you go missing, too.

Seems like a good cast, decent writing, plausible plot, not necessarily the stereotypical solution. We don’t have to love the regular cast because their personalities aren’t so strong that they overpower the single-episode characters.

A hallmark of “gritty” police dramas is that they get the Noo Yawk street accent right. Anthonly LaPaglia, an Aussie has a basic grasp, which still has a bit of his homeland in it. Marianne Jean-Baptiste goes over the top to be a no-nonsense cop type that she pours it on too thick at times while not enough on others.

Yet the show is boring. Painfully so. There’s little tension because the regular characters have little at stake and the guest characters have so much at stake.

And once again we have a show set in New York City but shot in LA. Great looking exteriors, but just like NYPD Blue, they clearly go inside and onto a studio set to take care of the essential action.