Vanished: And When It Is, Will Anyone Care?
Without a Trace XXX Lite Comes to Fox
I’ll keep this short and sweet like it should be: judging from its first two episodes, Fox’s new missing-persons series Vanished has nothing to offer that viewers can’t already get from CBS’ far superior FBI procedural Without a Trace. This observation is only to be expected in some ways since the shows are inextricably linked. In 2002, word spread that a forthcoming serial program named Vanished concerned the missing-persons division of the FBI and would star Anthony LaPaglia. CBS eventually bought the series, renamed it Without a Trace, and the rest, as they say, is history. The current Vanished remains distinguished by its creator, Josh Berman, the former co-executive producer of and a writer for TV’s highest-rated series, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. I wonder if he’s feeling regret yet for not staying with that popular, high-profile program.
The Fox show’s setup is devised to be deceptively simple in order to hook viewers with the complex developments necessary to stretch the thin plot out for an entire season. The basic storyline concerns Sara Collins (Joanne Kelly), the pretty, young, do-gooder second wife of Georgia Senator Jeffrey Collins (John Allen Nelson), who goes missing from the hotel benefit being held in her honor to recognize her charitable work for education. In full view of anyone who bothers to look, including her husband, Sara is escorted from her table by a goateed concierge who claims she has an urgent call on the house telephone. The senator soon realizes his wife has not returned and starts looking for her, at which time an actual hotel employee reveals that facial hair is banned among staff. This is among the first of several very obvious clues that something hinky is underway.
The FBI is then immediately summoned to investigate because senators and other politicians are very important people, of course. Flashbacks provide a bit of crucial background on the lead agent, Graham Kelton (Gale Harold, Deadwood‘s Wyatt Earp), an adept and serious investigator who nonetheless found himself the target of negative scrutiny after the kidnapping of a 12-year-old boy went horrifically wrong, leading to the literal blowing up of the child. If the series had focused on this truly interesting case and made Sara Collins’ humdrum disappearance the backstory instead, Vanished would be much more appealing.
As it is, we meet the various additional players one by one, in assorted scenarios that are supposed to establish definitive identities for the characters, but actually only reveal how cookie-cutter and vapid most of them are, especially when it comes to the vanished subject herself and every other member of the senator’s family. For instance, who’s surprised that one of the senator’s children is involved with someone from the wrong side of the tracks who might be involved in Sara Collins’ disappearance? What would be really amazing is if this type of formulaic character did not figure in the plot.
No matter how perpetually underused, it’s always nice to see Ming-Na (ER), who plays Lin Mei, Kelton’s equally capable partner. Rebecca Gayheart (Dead Like Me) also does a good job as the intentionally irritating, eager-beaver reporter Judy Nash. The same, however, cannot be said of any of the actors who portray the senator’s family members, all of whom come across as dull, generic, and stereotypical relatives of a crime victim slyly trying to hide buried secrets from prying eyes. How many times have we seen similar deceitful behavior on television before? Too many times to count, and there’s no drama or suspense in it anywhere here.
Viewers who chose to continue watching are promised more obtuse mysteries along the way that are supposed to ultimately disclose all kinds of conspiracies and shenanigans, such as the predictable possibility that Sara Collins may not even be Sara Collins. The ride shouldn’t be too painful given the large amount of acting talent in the cast, ranging from film actress Penelope Ann Miller as the senator’s suspicious ex-wife (hopefully, she’ll add some much-needed zest to the boring senator subplot) to TV veterans Esai Morales (NYPD Blue) and Eddie Cibrian (Invasion, Third Watch) as fellow FBI agents. I wish Vanished well attempting to cultivate a successful full-season series out of what has aired thus far, but the material in the initial two episodes doesn’t engender much optimism.
The Verdict: C
Vanished currently airs Mondays at 9pm EST on Fox
Vanished photo courtesy of Fox and Frank Ockenfels
