More *Without a Trace* spoilers
Aug. 7th, 2003 03:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ealgyldenA good, kind person sent me a couple of spoilery recent-ish WaT clippings, and I thought I'd share in case anyone else missed them. Thing is, my scanner hates me and the articles have already been moved into the paid-access archives. So the text is here, no link, don't click on the cut if you don't want spoilers. Obvious, I know, but just today I've already seen five different people getting yelled at for spoiling others when all the spoiled person had to do was not click something that was clearly labeled as spoilery, and the afternoon isn't even over yet. Sheesh. You guys wouldn't do anything that dumb, but this is public, after all, and one never knows about the world at large. Both articles mention that spoiler, plus tiny Danny spoilers and some guest casting news. Nothing for Viv. Poor Viv. Or maybe that's good, considering.
A trace of flirtation
By Hal Boedeker | Sentinel Television Critic
Posted July 24, 2003
LOS ANGELES -- Expect more sexual tension on Without a Trace in the FBI drama's second season.
Agent Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery) will turn to colleague Martin Fitzgerald (Eric Close), a situation that will test her former lover and current boss, Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia).
"We'll be curious to see how that affects Jack," series creator Hank Steinberg says.
The growing fan base will be curious too. The CBS drama has made ratings progress against the once-invincible ER on NBC. Both series air at 10 tonight.
CBS boasts that its crime procedural is beating the medical drama this summer by 62 percent in viewers. But the actors say they mostly ignore the ratings derby.
"In the end, it's kind of irrelevant," LaPaglia says. "Are you making quality entertainment is basically what it comes down to in the end. The irony is that we're here on the lot, and ER is right next to us on the lot. I have friends who work on ER."
In other plots, Spade will suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome after being shot last season. Agent Danny Taylor (Enrique Murciano) will find love and endure serious professional difficulties. "We learned last year that his parents died in a car accident, and we're going to allude to how he raised himself," Steinberg says.
A guest shot by Jared Harris, son of actor Richard Harris, could become a recurring character. Early guest stars will include Hector Elizondo, Jayne Brook and Chris McDonald.
As for the Spade-Malone affair, the show hinted at sexual tension between them in the pilot, then touched on it again in the third episode. The show didn't overtly explain the affair until
the 20th episode, although the actors knew of it from the third episode on.
"The typical way would be to build a flirtation that was going to be," Steinberg says, citing Moonlighting and Cheers. "We sort of came up with the idea that a really interesting thing would be if it was all kind of in the past and it was just sitting there."
'Without a Trace' bucking the odds and 'ER'
By MIKE McDANIEL
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
HOLLYWOOD -- The television success story of the summer is not Cupid, The Restaurant or Last Comic Standing, which have produced only modest ratings so far. Nor is it Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which last week did boffo business in cable terms but scored fewer viewers than most of the shows airing on broadcast TV.
If there is one show with summer heat, it's Without a Trace, which has been walloping ER regularly since the regular season ended in May. So far, the CBS missing-persons drama is scoring 62 percent more viewers than NBC's hospital series -- a phenomenon without comparison in ER's nine-year history.
Yes, ER is in reruns, so Trace may be benefiting from a large number of first-time viewers. And yes, the numbers could revert to last season's standard -- with ER consistently ahead of Trace -- when both shows return this fall with new episodes.
But the most anticipated scenario is this: ER will win, but in a true horse race that could be TV's answer to War Admiral versus Seabiscuit. As more and more viewers (including this one) are finding out, Without a Trace is one of television's most compelling shows, featuring an attractive ensemble cast equal to, if not better than, ER's. Unlike most procedural dramas, with self-contained, story-driven episodes, Trace dares to feature character-driven plot lines that carry over to future episodes.
It's a risky but conscious decision, one that usually doesn't pan out when a series goes into reruns and syndication. But creator and executive producer Hank Steinberg and executive producer Ed Redlich are intent on continuing that kind of storytelling.
"We want to continue to grow the characters," Steinberg told the Television Critics Association, which is here previewing upcoming shows. "That was always our intention, from the beginning, and I think one of the things audiences have responded to is that they've gotten to know our cast."
In tantalizing bits and pieces, devoted viewers are discovering information about the show's characters, played by Anthony LaPaglia, Poppy Montgomery, Eric Close, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Enrique Murciano.
We've learned that senior FBI agent Jack Malone (LaPaglia) has a wife and children, and that Martin Fitzgerald (Close) is more than a little interested in Samantha Spade (Montgomery). In last May's two-part season-ender, we discovered that Jack and Samantha had an affair that preceded the show's beginning.
Next season, a love triangle will play out -- again, in tiny increments. And we'll discover some details from Danny Taylor's (Murciano) past.
"There are always going to be things happening (in the principal plot line) for our main cast to comment on, to relate to, to be affected by," said Steinberg. "And then there are ways to interweave personal stories between them that don't have anything to do with the cases. We just try and keep a balance with that and have it not take away from the urgency of the mystery that we're telling."
Sounds easy, but it isn't. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit tried it in its first season, showing Chris Meloni's character in an at-home situation, for example. That was soon abandoned, and the series has focused on solving cases almost exclusively ever since(to great success, it should be noted).
"It's hard to come up with interesting (personal) stories that you can't second-guess every week," said LaPaglia. "It's a really tough job, to do it in an intelligent way. As an actor, you always want more character-driven stuff. No matter how much they give you, you still want more. I've always felt like the formula for the show is 10 to 15 percent personal and the rest procedural."
When the show returns in the fall, we'll find out that Samantha, who was shot in the season-ender, has recovered but "is going through some kind of post-traumatic stress syndrome," Montgomery said. "She's trying to pretend that she's OK, and everyone can see that she's not. I've only read the first two episodes, but it's going in a great place. I think she's got a lot of anger, which is great character stuff, and a lot of fear that she's not dealing with."
Jack will attempt to reconcile with his still-unseen wife but will discover he still has feelings for Sam. Simultaneously, Martin will slowly pursue Sam.
"Wait until you see that episode," said LaPaglia.
Danny will find love, too -- but not with Sam.
"I'm hoping that somewhere, whether it's this season or next, I'll get thrown into that love triangle," joked Murciano. "There might be some funky stuff going on."
"That would make it a love rectangle," said Redlich.
"There will be some interesting things about Danny's past that are revealed," said Steinberg. "You may have to wait until Episode 3 for that. We learned last year that his parents died in a car accident, and we're going to allude to how he raised himself and how he got to where he got."
All the while, the show will continue to take on missing-persons cases. Guest stars lined up so far include Chris MacDonald, Jayne Brooke, Hector Elizondo and Richard Harris' son, Jared.
"And if we can figure it out, Jared may end up being a semirecurring character," said Steinberg.
Will the show beat ER?
"In the end, it's kind of irrelevant," said LaPaglia. "Are you making a good television show -- that's what it comes down to in the end."
"I think both are good shows," said Montgomery. "Ultimately, that's what matters. Is the show good?"
And one article for which I do have a link- "Looking for Latinos", from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Vaguest of vague Danny spoilers, nothing very useful or scary. Danny-content is mostly along the lines of, "[Enrique Murciano] plays a character named Danny Taylor, an FBI agent with no apparent trace of Hispanic heritage," that sort of thing.
I thought he was pretty obviously Latino, myself. What does his name have to do with it? He doesn't count as Latino if he's not named Guzman or Hernandez? Whatever.
A trace of flirtation
By Hal Boedeker | Sentinel Television Critic
Posted July 24, 2003
LOS ANGELES -- Expect more sexual tension on Without a Trace in the FBI drama's second season.
Agent Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery) will turn to colleague Martin Fitzgerald (Eric Close), a situation that will test her former lover and current boss, Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia).
"We'll be curious to see how that affects Jack," series creator Hank Steinberg says.
The growing fan base will be curious too. The CBS drama has made ratings progress against the once-invincible ER on NBC. Both series air at 10 tonight.
CBS boasts that its crime procedural is beating the medical drama this summer by 62 percent in viewers. But the actors say they mostly ignore the ratings derby.
"In the end, it's kind of irrelevant," LaPaglia says. "Are you making quality entertainment is basically what it comes down to in the end. The irony is that we're here on the lot, and ER is right next to us on the lot. I have friends who work on ER."
In other plots, Spade will suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome after being shot last season. Agent Danny Taylor (Enrique Murciano) will find love and endure serious professional difficulties. "We learned last year that his parents died in a car accident, and we're going to allude to how he raised himself," Steinberg says.
A guest shot by Jared Harris, son of actor Richard Harris, could become a recurring character. Early guest stars will include Hector Elizondo, Jayne Brook and Chris McDonald.
As for the Spade-Malone affair, the show hinted at sexual tension between them in the pilot, then touched on it again in the third episode. The show didn't overtly explain the affair until
the 20th episode, although the actors knew of it from the third episode on.
"The typical way would be to build a flirtation that was going to be," Steinberg says, citing Moonlighting and Cheers. "We sort of came up with the idea that a really interesting thing would be if it was all kind of in the past and it was just sitting there."
'Without a Trace' bucking the odds and 'ER'
By MIKE McDANIEL
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
HOLLYWOOD -- The television success story of the summer is not Cupid, The Restaurant or Last Comic Standing, which have produced only modest ratings so far. Nor is it Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which last week did boffo business in cable terms but scored fewer viewers than most of the shows airing on broadcast TV.
If there is one show with summer heat, it's Without a Trace, which has been walloping ER regularly since the regular season ended in May. So far, the CBS missing-persons drama is scoring 62 percent more viewers than NBC's hospital series -- a phenomenon without comparison in ER's nine-year history.
Yes, ER is in reruns, so Trace may be benefiting from a large number of first-time viewers. And yes, the numbers could revert to last season's standard -- with ER consistently ahead of Trace -- when both shows return this fall with new episodes.
But the most anticipated scenario is this: ER will win, but in a true horse race that could be TV's answer to War Admiral versus Seabiscuit. As more and more viewers (including this one) are finding out, Without a Trace is one of television's most compelling shows, featuring an attractive ensemble cast equal to, if not better than, ER's. Unlike most procedural dramas, with self-contained, story-driven episodes, Trace dares to feature character-driven plot lines that carry over to future episodes.
It's a risky but conscious decision, one that usually doesn't pan out when a series goes into reruns and syndication. But creator and executive producer Hank Steinberg and executive producer Ed Redlich are intent on continuing that kind of storytelling.
"We want to continue to grow the characters," Steinberg told the Television Critics Association, which is here previewing upcoming shows. "That was always our intention, from the beginning, and I think one of the things audiences have responded to is that they've gotten to know our cast."
In tantalizing bits and pieces, devoted viewers are discovering information about the show's characters, played by Anthony LaPaglia, Poppy Montgomery, Eric Close, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Enrique Murciano.
We've learned that senior FBI agent Jack Malone (LaPaglia) has a wife and children, and that Martin Fitzgerald (Close) is more than a little interested in Samantha Spade (Montgomery). In last May's two-part season-ender, we discovered that Jack and Samantha had an affair that preceded the show's beginning.
Next season, a love triangle will play out -- again, in tiny increments. And we'll discover some details from Danny Taylor's (Murciano) past.
"There are always going to be things happening (in the principal plot line) for our main cast to comment on, to relate to, to be affected by," said Steinberg. "And then there are ways to interweave personal stories between them that don't have anything to do with the cases. We just try and keep a balance with that and have it not take away from the urgency of the mystery that we're telling."
Sounds easy, but it isn't. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit tried it in its first season, showing Chris Meloni's character in an at-home situation, for example. That was soon abandoned, and the series has focused on solving cases almost exclusively ever since(to great success, it should be noted).
"It's hard to come up with interesting (personal) stories that you can't second-guess every week," said LaPaglia. "It's a really tough job, to do it in an intelligent way. As an actor, you always want more character-driven stuff. No matter how much they give you, you still want more. I've always felt like the formula for the show is 10 to 15 percent personal and the rest procedural."
When the show returns in the fall, we'll find out that Samantha, who was shot in the season-ender, has recovered but "is going through some kind of post-traumatic stress syndrome," Montgomery said. "She's trying to pretend that she's OK, and everyone can see that she's not. I've only read the first two episodes, but it's going in a great place. I think she's got a lot of anger, which is great character stuff, and a lot of fear that she's not dealing with."
Jack will attempt to reconcile with his still-unseen wife but will discover he still has feelings for Sam. Simultaneously, Martin will slowly pursue Sam.
"Wait until you see that episode," said LaPaglia.
Danny will find love, too -- but not with Sam.
"I'm hoping that somewhere, whether it's this season or next, I'll get thrown into that love triangle," joked Murciano. "There might be some funky stuff going on."
"That would make it a love rectangle," said Redlich.
"There will be some interesting things about Danny's past that are revealed," said Steinberg. "You may have to wait until Episode 3 for that. We learned last year that his parents died in a car accident, and we're going to allude to how he raised himself and how he got to where he got."
All the while, the show will continue to take on missing-persons cases. Guest stars lined up so far include Chris MacDonald, Jayne Brooke, Hector Elizondo and Richard Harris' son, Jared.
"And if we can figure it out, Jared may end up being a semirecurring character," said Steinberg.
Will the show beat ER?
"In the end, it's kind of irrelevant," said LaPaglia. "Are you making a good television show -- that's what it comes down to in the end."
"I think both are good shows," said Montgomery. "Ultimately, that's what matters. Is the show good?"
And one article for which I do have a link- "Looking for Latinos", from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Vaguest of vague Danny spoilers, nothing very useful or scary. Danny-content is mostly along the lines of, "[Enrique Murciano] plays a character named Danny Taylor, an FBI agent with no apparent trace of Hispanic heritage," that sort of thing.
I thought he was pretty obviously Latino, myself. What does his name have to do with it? He doesn't count as Latino if he's not named Guzman or Hernandez? Whatever.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 08:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 09:41 pm (UTC)Yeah, it really does sound like they're making a mistake with this plotline. I can only hope the actual results won't live up to the (bad) possibilities.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 11:10 pm (UTC)They're making a grave error with the sexual geometry, but with any luck it'll be over fairly quickly and relatively painless. And this nonsense about Danny's love life? Hello, he's hurt, he hits on some chick to make Martin jealous, it works, Danny and Martin kiss and make up. And then kiss some more. And then get naked. And then...well, you get the idea. I'll write the fic just as soon as the episode airs. Somebody remind me.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 03:19 am (UTC)Heh, I was just about to say, "But, but, Warrick's mom? Danny's drinking? The ulcer these authors have been giving you?" The careful fic writers who pay attention, definitely. They're exponentially more attentive to such things than TPTB.
And this nonsense about Danny's love life? Hello, he's hurt, he hits on some chick to make Martin jealous, it works, Danny and Martin kiss and make up. And then kiss some more. And then get naked. And then...well, you get the idea.
Right, I knew you were brilliant. That makes perfect sense to me. Yup. That's it.
(Love the new icon. Absolutely adorable!)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 08:25 pm (UTC)I just don't know what they're thinking. I agree with Caroline, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 09:57 pm (UTC)Heh, you too?
I'll never understand the folks who run TV-land, that much has become clear. You'd think by now I'd be used to disappointment and bad plotlines, but apparently not. All we can do is hope it doesn't play out too show-wreckingly, I guess. sigh
But hey, Martin could end up all sad and frustrated and in need of comfort and really good sex, right? And they did say Danny was going to get some romance too, and not with Sam... *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 10:00 pm (UTC)I know! I watch so much tv that it should be a walk in the park. But, no. Instead it's, like 'how could they do this so a show that's just SO good.'
They did say that. And you know, they way they said it was really interesting. I was all "What, with Viv??" Okay, so only after I thought "Ee! With Martin!!"
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 10:26 pm (UTC)Heeeee. I kid, I kid because I love. But you have to admit, that is quite an idea. (I thought "Ee! With Martin!!" myself, naturally. Now if only the writers are thinking that too...)
Instead it's, like 'how could they do this so a show that's just SO good.'
Ayup. They just can't resist "fixing" things. It's so frustrating. I mean, I can and will live in Egypt if I need to to escape a bad plot, but it's so much nicer when that's not necessary. I'm still hoping they'll do this triangle thing as poorly as they handled the affair, because then I can ignore it fairly easily.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 11:03 pm (UTC)Ahh! You're so fantastic. I loved that. I laughed out loud. *g*
I'm there with you. I bet there's a nice resort. Care to share the costs of the hotel?
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 03:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 05:04 am (UTC)Ok. That's funny, but yeah. I'm all grrr over it to. I really have nothing to add, except for my "Sam has no chemistry with anyone" rant that no one, not even me, wants to hear.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 10:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 03:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 04:07 am (UTC)I hope. I hope I hope I hope.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 10:58 pm (UTC)I know, it's really just stupid. It's this whole other stereotype. Because, honestly, a lot of times you watch TV and it's like you're supposed to expect every black guy's name is Jamal and all the Hispanic guys are named Julio. Lots of people have names that don't match with their heritage. When my sister finally gets married to her boyfriend, her last nameis going to be Mohammed, and she's about as pale as you can get. And, while her boyfriend has a very ethnic last name, his first name is Gerard. So, really, the whole name thing they brought up - mentioning Danny and then Eric Delko from CSI: Miami - is just really kind of stupid, in my mind.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 03:44 am (UTC)And how in the world is he supposed to be more Hispanic anyway? The focus is supposed to be on the cases, not the characters' personal lives (except for the oh-so-exciting affair/love triangle, I guess). Is he supposed to go up to the suspects and say, "Well, as a man of Cuban descent (or whatever), I think you're lying." Or tell Jack, "My Latino intuition says the husband did it." Um, yeah.
That sort of thing really bugs me, because it's so silly. I mean, I'm Jewish, but I have a WASP last name and I don't walk around being Jewish. I just am. Like Danny just is Latino.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 04:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 12:31 am (UTC)And I'm sorry, did the StL P-D writer miss the fact that Danny spoke Spanish with the gang kid in an ep and is so *NOT* generic white-boy non-Hispanic?
I'm so not going to go over the "triangle" crap 'cuz been there, bitched about it already. *sigh*
BHOK!
I just *know* I'm going to hate next season with a passion.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 03:54 am (UTC)Poor Marie. First she's the betrayed wife, now she's the Invisible Woman. Girl has no luck a'tall.
And I'm sorry, did the StL P-D writer miss the fact that Danny spoke Spanish with the gang kid in an ep and is so *NOT* generic white-boy non-Hispanic?
Right, that's what I thought! Here I've been thinking that using his ethnicity in subtle, logical ways like that, without having some Very Special Episode about it, was one of the good things about this show. Guess I was wrong. It's so frustrating that you just can't win when it comes to minority representation on TV- either Character A is not ethnic enough or he's much too ethnic. I really thought Danny was one of the better Latino characters out there. shrug
I just *know* I'm going to hate next season with a passion.
I'm forcing myself to stay optimistic. I stress and bitch about it now (because gawd, how could I help it? This stupid love triangle...), but I refuse to give up hope until I actually see my wonderful show get wrecked. Which I won't. Nope. Won't happen.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 04:01 am (UTC)That's why these articles have me a tad disappointed. A hate love triangles, with a passion. I'd rather they left romance out of tv series entirely (unless it's between my slash OTPs, 'natch).
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-08 07:28 pm (UTC)Just a heads-up- the guy in this episode who was still hunting for his kidnapped son (the Charles Dutton character) gets his own episode, and they're repeating it this Sunday at 8pm. I don't remember if there's much Danny/Martin, but I do remember that it was really good anyway. (and I owe you episodes- my sister thinks her boyfriend can dub tapes at school- he's a tech teacher- but he's still off camping in the Adirondacks. If he doesn't get eaten by a bear, I'll ask him).
I'd rather they left romance out of tv series entirely (unless it's between my slash OTPs, 'natch).
Oh, me too. I know there are people out there who love love triangles, but I'm so not one of them, especially when it's my preferred character who's the "other guy." Poor Martin's going to get stomped, and I don't want to see it. Unless it ends up sending him into Danny's arms. That'd be okay. ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-09 05:33 am (UTC)This Sunday, eh? I'll make sure to set the vcr. Here's hoping your sister's boyfriend doesn't get eaten by a bear :)
Yeah, I just hate triangles. Someone's going to lose, and I don't like seeing love and relationships treated as a contest. Poor Martin. Let's hope Danny will be there to comfort him.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-09 02:46 pm (UTC)I don't think it's the sort of thing you'd notice on a first viewing. I'm just really obsessive about those two. Danny started out okay, but then he changed into this burnt umber pinstriped three-piece suit- he looked more like he was going to swing-dancing than tracking down missing persons. Plus it didn't fit very well. Not flattering. And Martin wore his infamous checked shirt, for the first time I think. It's just a plain old windowpane check, but it makes him look like a WASP dweeb (which he kind of is. I love Martin, but he's a dork), and he wears it in three or four different episodes. (Here I always complain that TV show characters never wear the same thing twice, and when one finally does, I complain about that too!)
Poor Martin. Let's hope Danny will be there to comfort him.
I'm all in favor of that. And then they live happily ever after, because I'm a sap. Aww.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-11 04:39 am (UTC)I watched the Chet-centered ep tonight - it was good! Now I'm curious about the back story between him and Jack (who I really like, although the knowledge that he had an affair with Sam is unsettling).
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-11 05:29 pm (UTC)