First, thank you for your ...
Question: First, thank you for your column. Your analysis is great, and though I do not always agree, I always appreciate the thoughtfulness you give to your columns.
Without a Trace tried for a lighter tone last week (March 9), and I, for one, was delighted by the effort to try something different, especially considering the glut of procedurals out there. My wife and I were smiling and laughing out loud (which is better than we do with many sitcoms). While I would not like to see this all the time,
Without a Trace seems to make an effort to change the procedural formula from the inside out. What did you think of the effort?
Answer: I thought it was a little clumsy, but I also appreciated the attempt at a change of pace. It wasn't as terrific as the episode earlier this season told from the point of view of a missing teen's parents (one of
Trace's best hours ever), but it wasn't as awful as last season's pretentious dream psychodrama featuring
Anthony LaPaglia in old-man makeup. Quite a bit of mail was generated by last week's episode, pretty evenly split between those who were amused and those who found it unconvincing and hokey. Like Shannon, who wrote: "The tone of the dialogue was
soooo different — and not in a good way. Too personal, too light, totally out of character. From Jack and Elena's teasing of Danny to Martin's inappropriate remark to Vivian to Danny and Jack breaking into song at the end? Please tell me this was an isolated event and not a new direction."
Like it or hate it, I think it's fair to say that this episode was an isolated event.
