Last week's episode was titled "4.0," a reference to a perfect grade
point average in high school. Here is a plot synopsis:
"The team searches for a missing 16-year-old girl from a Manhattan
private school, on 'Without A Trace,' Thursday, January 6 (10:00-11:00
PM) on CBS.
The team searches for a missing 16-year-old from a first-rate all-girl
Manhattan school who disappears after abruptly deciding to stay behind
as her friends leave for SAT prep course.
At first glance, Tara Patterson is a bright, all-American first-ranked
student at her top-notch school who is focused on being accepted into
Harvard University.
However, the team soon discovers that in the past four months, she has
been involved in taking 'homework drugs,' writing others' college and
high school papers for cash and allegedly having an affair with a
married man. As part of the team works to get leads on Tara's
whereabouts by tracking down the people tied to her dodgy dealings,
Jack works to get some truthful information from Tara's scared and
overprotective friends.
Anthony LaPaglia's real-life wife, Gia Carides ('My Big Fat Greek
Wedding'), guest stars as the missing teen's widowed mother."
TVRules: Episode Guide: Without A Trace: 4.0 1/6/04
http://www.tvrules.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6702
The brief summary given above omits a crucial plot point: Tara's
disappearance isn't directly related to the stimulant "homework
drugs," or to her sideline of writing other people's term papers. Tara
has been hiding a secret from everyone but her best friend: Tara is
pregnant. She had met a teen boy at an out-of-town honors seminar
seven months earlier, and their brief relationship led to pregnancy.
Tara wears loose clothes all the time so that her mother and most of
her friends don't notice her tummy. She quits the school swim team so
that no one will learn of the pregnancy. Her plan is to raise enough
money (by helping homework cheaters) to be able to go to California,
where her best friend's sister lives. The best friend's sister is a
nurse, and Tara hopes that she will be able to serve as a midwife, but
won't tell anybody.
When premature labor strikes, Tara runs away from home and goes to an
office that belongs to her best friend's father. She gives birth there
alone, then wanders the streets in a daze, clutching her tiny newborn
daughter. Tara goes to a hospital and sits on a stairway outside the
emergency room for a while, trying to figure out what to do. She talks
briefly to a hospital nurse, but when the nurse comes back to help
her, she has left. Finally she goes back to the high school swimming
pool, where she had been a star athlete on the swim team. Jack Malone
coaxes information from Tara's best friend, and he finds Tara sitting
quietly by the pool holding the baby. The baby appears to be healthy
and active, and Jack ushers the young mother and her child to safety.
I hope this helps. It was a powerful episode, well worth watching when
it is rerun, as it surely will be.
If you'd like to read a transcript of the teleplay, here is a site
that offers transcripts of "Without a Trace" that are personally
prepared by the site's Webmaster. The transcript of "4.0" is not
available yet, but if you keep checking the site, you'll be able to
access it when it's ready:
WebPhilia: Without a Trace Episode Transcripts
http://www.webphilia.com/~anthology/wat.html
If you want to find a videotape or DVD of the show, you might try
emailing Jason Irvin, who collects and trades episodes of TV shows. He
says on his webpage that he has all episodes of "Without a Trace":
J's VHS Tape and DVD Trading Page
http://irvin.jason.tripod.com/
I hope this helps. If you need anything further, please request
clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
