Product Description

WITHOUT A TRACE is a fast-paced procedural drama about the Missing Persons Squad of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The sole responsibility of the special task force is to find missing persons by applying advanced psychological profiling techniques. The team reconstructs a "Day of Disappearance" timeline that details every minute of the 24 hours prior to the disappearance, following one simple rule: learn who the victim is in order to learn where the victim is.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3733 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2007-03-13
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 1040 minutes

Amazon.com
"You can't save everyone, Jack," a child molester taunts FBI Agent Jack Malone before hurling himself out a window. But the tireless efforts of Malone (Anthony LaPaglia in his Golden Globe-winning role) and the members of the elite Missing Persons Squad to do just that are what make Without a Trace so compelling. Each episode is a race against time to find a person who has mysteriously vanished (their slow fade from the screen has lost none of its unsettling power). In some of this sophomore season's most gripping cases, people and events are not what they seem. In "Confidence," the task force discovers that a missing wealthy socialite has a seriously shady past and keeps "bad company." The past haunts the present in "Risen," in which Vivian (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) gets a new lead on a four-year-old case (Kirstie Alley is excellent as the missing girl's distraught mother), and in "Copycat," a sociopath with a grudge against Jack (see "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" from the first season) is involved in a disappearance with disturbing similarities to a 12-year-old case.

The procedural aspect of Without a Trace is fascinating as Jack and company employ advanced profiling techniques in their investigations. Over the course of the season, episodes also deftly flesh out the characters. Samantha (Poppy Montgomery) struggles with the psychological repercussions of being shot in the season 1 cliffhanger. Taylor (Enrique Murciano) is revealed to have a brother who is in jail. Samantha, who had an affair with Jack, is drawn to Martin (Eric Close). Jack learns that his father (Martin Landau in an Emmy Award-winning performance) has Alzheimer's. He also weighs a move to Chicago to save his rocky marriage. Fulfilling the promise of the auspicious first season, Without a Trace has established itself as among the best-written and -acted (not for nothing did the series earn a Best Casting for TV award from the Casting Society of America) hours on television. And without commercials to break the tension, it's an even more intense experience on DVD. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

I was starting to wonder ...
... if we would ever get another Without a Trace season in region 1. And this season contains some fascinating cases: a bus of kids abudcted, a satire-laden fake kidnapping, a murderous twin (but who knows which one?), and many more. We're also treated to some great character moments. Martin loses control and ends up shooting a suspect; Vivian makes an irreversible choice to lie to protect both their careers, and both have to deal with the consequences in later episodes. Samantha is forced into counseling after being shot in the Season One finale; she says she's fine, but we know she isn't. Danny has to choose whether to testify on his brother's behalf, or abandon him the way he once abandoned Danny. An Alzheimer's diagnosis forces Jack to re-evaluate the strained relationship with his father (wonderfully played by Martin Landau), and a certain case causes him to relive his painful adolescence with an emotionally unstable mother.

Overall, this season continues the watchability and excellent writing begun by Season One.

For the curious, here is the episode list, first aired 09/25/03-05/20/04.

The Bus
Revelations
Confidence
Prodigy
Copycat
Our Sons And Daughters
A Tree Falls
Trip Box
Moving On
Coming Home
Exposure
Hawks And Handsaws
Life Rules
The Line
Wannabe
Risen
Gung Ho
Legacy
Doppelganger
Shadows
Two Families
The Season
Lost And Found
Bait

One of the TV's best dramas finally gets it's well deserved second season
TV is filled with procedurals of all types and covering ever genre one can imagine, from medicine to homicide. When it first debuted, Without a Trace was something of an unknown. The premise of a team of FBI agents search for missing people in the NYC area was excellent, but could the show beat the expectations that is wasn't another CSI clone? One viewing of the first episode and I knew this was something very different.

Anthony LaPaglia as Jack Malone is one of the most intelligent casting choices in the past 5 years. He brings a charm, gravitas, and emotion to the character that feels authentic. Poppy Montgomery does a very nice job as Agent Samantha Spade, with solid supporting work from Marianne Jeanne-Baptiste, Enrique Murciano, Eric Close. As an ensemble, this is one of the best currently on television. Plot wise, this show is also one of the most interesting. The stories are well thought out, and thankfully stay away from the Law and Order type "ripped from the headlines". Each search for a missing person is done in a way the keeps the watcher intrigued until the very end, and refreshingly for a procedural, the good guys don't always win. The missing are often found dead or never found at all, which is sadly how it is in real life.

The Season Two DVD set contains twenty-four full length episodes, mastered in dolby surround and presented in widescreen. Don't expect too much as far as featurettes or commentaries go, the first season was pretty bare bones, and CBS is likely refraining from spending too much money on this box set until it can be shown to be profitable. Clearly the current run of Without a Trace on USA is having an impact on ratings and viewership, and that is likely the big reason behind this release two and one half years after season 1. So pick it up on March 13, and show them this show deserves more releases. Highly Recommended.

A.G. Corwin
St.Louis, MO

Excellent as ever
The second Season of Without A Trace does not disappoint. The plots are believable, often shocking and never dull, and the five main actors have fine-tuned their interaction. The delicately crafted imbalance of five agents, with Poppy Montgomery's character not being able to forget her former lover Jack Malone (the chemistry between the two actors is a delight to see) and unable to commit to her new man Martin Fitzgerald, adds extra spice to an already nail-biting series. Incredible that the entire series was filmed in Los Angeles, I would have sworn it had been shot in the Big Apple where it is meant to take place. Keep up the good work. And please release Seasons 3 and 4 which are already available at Amazon.co.uk but without the extras and 5 minutes shorter per episode.