Watch Without a Trace Episodes

Without a Trace is a fast-paced procedural drama about the Missing Persons Squad of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The sole responsibility of the special task force is to find missing persons by applying advanced psychological profiling techniques to peel back the layers of the victims’ lives and trace their whereabouts in an effort to discover whether they have been abducted, been murdered, committed suicide or simply run away.

The team reconstructs a "Day of Disappearance" timeline that details every minute of the 24 hours prior to the disappearance, following one simple rule: learn who the victim is in order to learn where the victim is. Senior agent Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) heads the dedicated team that knows too well that every second counts when someone vanishes. His squad includes Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery), an agent who doesn't let her good looks get in the way of being tough; Vivian Johnson (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a no-nonsense investigator; Danny Taylor (Enrique Murciano), an intense and private agent; and Martin Fitzgerald (Eric Close), the newest member of the team, considered a lightweight by the squad because his only experience involves fighting white-collar crime.

In six seasons, much has happened. Martin Fitzgerald is no longer considered the lightweight he once was, having earned the respect of the team through his solid work. Jack Malone has been through many ups and downs and now finds himself in a bad position following the mishandling of a case. Vivian Johnson has proven herself, and a new agent has been welcomed into the ranks — Elena Delgado (Roselyn Sánchez), a Hispanic female agent who came on in the program’s fourth season as the squad faced ever-increasing demands on its time and resources. A former member of the NYPD, she is already known to Danny and their connection grows as the series progresses.

Without a Trace aired Thursday nights on CBS from its premiere in 2002 until the 2006-2007 season. CBS moved it to Sunday nights for one season, before moving it back to its regular Thursday slot for season six. The program now airs in its new timeslot of Tuesdays at 10 P.M. Viewers can catch the seventh season of the program in this timeslot beginning September 23, 2008. Repeats of [i]Without a Trace[/i] also air regularly on TNT. The first and second seasons of the program have been released on DVD in the United States, with latter seasons available only in other markets.

Litepanels used underwater for 'Without a Trace'

For a recent episode of the CBS series "Without a Trace," underwater cinematographer Pete Romano needed to make sure that the audience could see one of the show's regular actors, even though he was underwater. The solution was the Litepanels MicroPro light in a SeaSun underwater housing.

Using the underwater studio, Tank One, in Long Beach, Romano pulled the details from the actor's face while getting a balance fill light that didn't overpower the shot.

For the episode, Romano put the Litepanels MicroPro into a special watertight housing that also allowed for color correction or diffusion units to be slid into the front. The combination was so small and close to neutral buoyancy in the water, it was easy to move as the action was followed.

Because the Litepanels LEDs required less than one-tenth the amount of power as traditional underwater lighting sources, the batteries ran 10 times longer than old-style underwater fixtures. For this shoot, Energizer E2 Li-Ion AA batteries were used, allowing for the MicroPro to run for more than five hours.

Romano's company, Hydroflex, designed SeaSun housing for the Litepanels fixture. The fixture-housing combo creates a soft light with no cables and is neutral in the water, giving the user the ability to gel or diffuse when needed.