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» Articles » Entertainment Tonight: "Without a Trace" Love Triangle (September 25, 2003)

"Without A Trace" was the sleeper hit of the 2002-2003 television season, finishing the summer with excellent ratings and causing TV critics to speculate if it will beat "ER" in their shared timeslot this coming year. The cast, however, feels no such competition.

"To think we could compete would be arrogant and stupid," "Trace" star ANTHONY LaPAGLIA tells ET succinctly during our visit to the set.

On tonight's show, we'll take you behind the scenes as the action heats up on the FBI missing person's drama when its second year premieres Thursday, Sept. 25, at 10 p.m.

But fans of the show looking forward to more 411 on Jack Malone's (LaPaglia) affair with underling Samantha Spade, played by POPPY MONTGOMERY, won't be disappointed.

Poppy explains, "Anytime anyone has an affair with their boss, it gets sticky. For Samantha, she really has feelings for Jack. Not only is he her boss; he is married. They are going to be dealing with that this season because he goes back to his wife."

And Anthony adds, "It creates more tension, and that has been bleeding through on the episodes we are doing so far."

Now that Jack is unavailable, rumored for season two is a budding romance between Samantha and co-worker Martin Fitzgerald (ERIC CLOSE). But don't look for them to heat up the sheets immediately. Each episode only has a small window of opportunity for the writers to expose the personal side of the characters.

"My hope is they build it over the season and let the audience push for these people to be together and create the conflict of her still having feelings for Jack," Eric comments.

"The Bus," which kicks off the second season, tells the story of a hijacked school bus with 13 students on their way to the first day of school. If it sounds familiar, it is because it is loosely based on the 1976 Chowchilla, CA, bus-kidnapping case.

"I always think that truth is stranger than fiction," Anthony says, "and that stories resonate better from real life, especially in reaction to this kind of show. But I don't want to turn it into 'Unsolved Mysteries.'"

Even as they search for the missing children, Jack becomes overprotective of Samantha, who was shot in the leg in the first season finale -- and maybe with cause -- as Samantha is overreacting on the job.

"I think she is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome," Poppy says. "She doesn't want everyone to think she messed up. She wants them to think she is okay. The job is important to her."

For more on the season premiere of "Without A Trace," tune in to tonight's ET.

[source: etonline.com]

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