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On Television: 24 and Without a Trace

© Kelcey Woolsten

When confronted with the dearth of quality crime films to come out the last few weeks, I felt the need to turn my attention back to television. There is no need to go to the local multiplex-currently the most intelligent and compelling crime drama is readily available from the comfort of your own living room. While there are many quality programs, including FX's "The Shield" and HBO's "The Wire," two programs that I feel have really stood out this season are FOX's "24" and CBS's "Without a Trace."

Fox's "24" is not only one of the most intelligent and suspenseful programs on television, it also benefits from being extraordinarily timely. The show deals with the race against time and the crime of terrorism. The scenarios that occur on the show feed into the public's worst fears, yet at the same time, watching the calculated responses of the show's protagonist, Jack Bauer(Kiefer Sutherland), and its fictional president David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) is reassuring in a way, although the show is entirely fictional. "24" also offers a first-rate cast and compelling characters. Kiefer Sutherland is being allowed to give the performance of his career every week as Bauer. Other standouts on the show include Penny Johnson Jerald as President Palmer's manipulative, self-serving ex-wife Sherry, Sarah Clarke, the show's reoccurring villain Nina, and Laura Harris as one of this season's surprise adversaries. The best thing about "24" though, is the writing behind it. Every week "24" manages to be tight and fast-paced as well as offer surprise plot twists that do not seem silly or contrived for the most part.

"Without a Trace", which follows "CSI" on CBS Thursday nights has proved to be a better complement to the wildly successful forensic science drama than its spinoff, "CSI: Miami," "Without a Trace" is also produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and in some ways also builds on the formula established by "CSI." in that it takes a case from the beginning and gives the audience a view of the entire investigation. However, instead of focusing on homicide investigation and forensic science, "Without a Trace" deals with the world of missing persons investigations starting with the day of a person's disappearance-a type of investigation that relies more on interpersonal skills and psychological profiling than on strict science. The cases are compelling, and the stories of the missing individuals behind the investigations hook the audience in and keep them involved for the length of the program. The ensemble cast that makes up the FBI's missing persons unit on the show is also great. Anthony LaPaglia plays Jack Malone, the agent leading the unit, with sensitivity and conviction. Also excellent are Poppy Montgomery and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

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