I read your short iwrite-up ...
Question: I read your short iwrite-up of the
Without a Trace finale in
one of your Dispatches and was surprised that you didn't have more of a reaction. What has happened to this show? The writing has been so poor this season that it's almost criminal that their writers get paid. In my opinion, their writers had two approaches in Season 4: crib from old
ER story lines or just toe the line by writing boring, exploitative cases that are comparable to the mess that is
CSI: Miami. I don't see the writing getting any better since
Hank Steinberg's pilot has been picked up and looks promising. I almost hope this show fails on Sundays — just to show CBS how far it has fallen.
Trace used to be such a quality show, with subtle personal storylines and gripping cases. Now it is just plain bad — the agents never interact, the good story lines (Danny's PTSD, the Jack/Sam history) have been dropped, and boring, clichéd story lines have been bungled. If they continue with the Jack-Anne pregnancy story line, I don't think I will be able to stand it. Does anyone in prime time use birth control? That is just unbelievable. And don't even get me started on the possible Danny-Elena romance. I'm all for Danny getting a story line — he's been hopelessly neglected for the last three seasons — but the Elena character is poorly written and acted. And do they really need another office romance? This isn't
NYPD Blue — clearly, the writers are cribbing once again. Does this always happen when TV shows change head writers? Is there any hope that
Without a Trace can rebound? I don't expect you to have all the answers, although you most often do hit the nail on the head. But I just want someone to recognize that this show is a shell of what it used to be.
Answer: You've made your points loud and clear. I'm not quite as down on the show as you, but I agree that the Elena character has added nothing but artificial and ineffective glamour to the ensemble, and I wasn't wild about the pregnancy twist, either. There are still weeks when the show works its magic on me — it's still among the top procedurals on TV — but also there are many weeks when it seems as routine as many other CBS crime dramas. It's not just that the number of great dramas on network TV has increased (though it has), but it's hard to remember what used to compel me (besides
Anthony LaPaglia) to put
Without a Trace on my yearly top-10 lists. It's now not even close.
