reviewed by Charity Bishop
    

One of the most popular crime dramas on television is Without a Trace. Its first season had snappy writing, a fantastic cast, and some truly emotional moments between the actors. The second season is not enormously different but there is a spark missing here and there, since the writers changed directions with a couple of cast members.

When a school bus full of children vanishes on its way to the high school, the frantic school board contacts the FBI's missing persons division. With the lives of a dozen innocent kids' lives on the line, division director Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) takes this kidnapping very seriously. Scouting the school turns up some suspicion toward two rebellious teenagers, but the team becomes convinced they are not working alone when a ransom demand turns up a few hours later, along with one of the missing kids. While Jack works behind the scenes, his associate Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery) is facing the aftermath of her own hostage situation and resulting shooting. The department wants her to see the local psychologist in order to work through her issues and make her "field ready" again, but she is resistant toward accepting that anything is wrong. Only Martin (Eric Close) seems to be able to get through to her, and he's facing unsettling judgment calls of his own after shooting a suspect in an abduction case.

It soon becomes apparent that the past is returning to haunt all of them, when Danny's (Enrique Murciano) older brother comes up for parole, and a series of violent killings force Jack to relive an earlier case, setting him at odds with Vivien (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) and threatening his attempts to reconcile with his estranged wife. The result is a number of decent cases with surprising conclusions but something was missing for me this year. Maybe because the focus was a little more off Jack, who seems to be the emotional core of the series, although he did have several fantastic episodes. "Copycat" is a fine piece of work, a chilling glimpse into a world of revenge and serial murders, in which you spend the last ten minutes hanging on for dear life. It was nice to see that nothing from the first season was cast off or swept under the rug, that these are "normal" human beings that must contend with fear and recovery. 

Sam's journey is an important one, as she learns to leave off her semi-dormant feelings for Jack and overcome the emotional issues of having been held hostage. It was also nice to see Jack's attempts to piece back together his family, even though his wife is sadly unreceptive. I appreciated some of the sacrifices he made toward the end of the season. It did disappoint me that there seemed to be quite a few more sexually-oriented cases this year, since it tends to draw lines between more family-appropriate material and racier editing. In "Revelations," Jack suspects a missing priest has been involved in molesting alter boys, but it actually has a surprisingly decent representation of faith and forgiveness. In "Copycat," conversation revolves around a series of kidnappings that involved rape and murder. The disturbing "Our Sons and Daughters" has a twist that reveals an orgy club amongst high scholars. There's a lot of conversation about multiple partners. Shaky flashbacks show kids messing around in their underwear, and might include one or two more graphic implications in the background.

In "Coming Home," we learn of an adulterous homosexual affair and see a flashback of a male-to-male kiss. "Risen" follows the sad story of a sex addict who becomes a member of a cult. It contains brief sexual sounds and implications. One of the most disturbing episodes is "Wannabe," which does not involve sex but is about youthful persecution in high schools. After one of the boys insults a girl, her female peers trick him into a stable under the premise of fooling around, only to tie him up in his underwear and abuse him -- they kick straw and manure, punch, and verbally abuse him. There are depictions of crime scenes and violent deaths. We actually see a couple of people killed in flashbacks. There's very occasional mild profanity. One of the most interesting episodes by far is "Doppelgnger." It revolves around two twin brothers, one of which is a murderous, manipulative psychopath with power over the other. It's a fascinating glimpse into criminal psychology and man's inner sin nature, as well as being a nerve-wracking ride.

It is a good season for older viewers who won't be too easily shocked by some of the subject matter, but the first season is a better choice for more casual viewers.