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The Best Episodes of Without a Trace Season 1

Every episode of Without a Trace Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Without a Trace Season 1!

Binge this in 16h 40m•Peaking at 8.5/10

The series follows the ventures of a Missing Persons Unit of the FBI in New York City.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 13 - Hang On to Me
    8.5/10(304 votes)

    S1:E13

    Chet Collins has been searching for his son since the boy was kidnapped four years earlier on a camping trip, and is the one case that Jack has never been able to forget. When Chet disappears, leaving behind only his wedding ring and the mountains of debt he had accumulated in his search, Jack will go to any lengths to find Collins and save him from himself.

    Director:Paul Holahan
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 23 - Fall Out (2)
    8.3/10(286 votes)

    S1:E23

    When the team tries to plot a strategy after they find out that Samantha has been shot and that she might be critically injured in the hostage crisis situation. Jack makes a deal with Berry so that Sam can get help and Jack goes in there and takes Sam's place.

    Director:Paul Holahan
    Writer:Hank Steinberg

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  3. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 10 - Midnight Sun
    8.2/10(271 votes)

    S1:E10

    When a man leaves his home in the morning with his daughter to take her to school and then to open his dry-cleaning store, but they both of they never make it there .

    Director:Michelle MacLaren
    Writer:Hank Steinberg

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  4. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 22 - Fall Out (1)
    8.2/10(277 votes)

    S1:E22

    With the aftershocks of Sept. 11 and man named Barry , who lost his wife that day and then his job soon after. The man lashes out at her former boss an employment-agency owner. Blaming her for his wife's death and his own failure to find a job, Barry kidnaps the woman for ransom.Then he demands the money be exchanged at a bookstore, but when the cash is delivers Berry is provoked and takes the store's patrons hostage. Among them is Samantha,and given Jack's affection for her complicates the negotiations.

    Director:Kevin Hooks
    Writer:Hank Steinberg

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  5. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 5 - Suspect
    8.1/10(331 votes)

    S1:E5

    After telling his mother, he wanted to leave school for good, seventeen year old Andy Deaver vanishes from his private boarding school, last seen by it's headmaster, Graham Spaulding.

    Director:Peter Markle
    Writer:Allison Abner

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  6. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 11 - Maple Street
    8.1/10(297 votes)

    S1:E11

    Annie Miller disappears on her way to school. The group looks into her disappearance, with their suspects ranging from the local mayor, to Annie's godfather, all the way to a young man working for the father of her best friend. Twenty-four hours after Annie's disappearance, her best friend Siobhan Arintero also vanishes, leaving only a collection of videos to help find the two girls.

    Director:John McNaughton
    Writer:Maria Maggenti

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  7. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 12 - Underground Railroad
    8.0/10(275 votes)

    S1:E12

    Jack and the team search for a pregnant woman, Kathy Dobson, who disappeared from a hospital before being told that she has serious complications. As the detectives race against time to find Kathy, their investigation gradually reveals that Kathy's seemingly happy life actually hasn't been going very well. She is eight-and-a-half months pregnant and, under the tight control of her husband Paul, has withdrawn from her family and friends. Paul's brother Ritchie, who has been following Kathy and providing Paul with addresses she visits, lists a woman who may be affiliated with an ""underground railroad"" that helps battered women. When the team members find the woman, they learn that she has been assaulted by Paul—but she still refuses to lead them to Kathy.

    Director:Tom McLoughlin
    Writer:Hank Steinberg

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  8. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 16 - Clare de Lune
    7.8/10(273 votes)

    S1:E16

    A girl vanishes from a psychiatric hospital, and it appears she may have escaped with a staff member. Then the team learns of a troubling incident from her past that may hold the key to her disappearance.

    Director:Mel Damski
    Writer:Allison Abner

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  9. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 21 - Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?
    7.8/10(231 votes)

    S1:E21

    Jack's methods for investigation of child molester could result in the case being kicked out of court. Then on top of that, the Office of Professional Responsibility decides to investigate the team, but their real target is Jack

    Director:Peter Markle
    Writers:Ed Redlich, Harry Litman

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  10. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 4 - Between the Cracks
    7.7/10(276 votes)

    S1:E4

    Nineteen-year-old model Eve Cleary disappears and it turns out that there are very few people who actually knew her.

    Director:Steve Gomer
    Writer:Ed Redlich

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  11. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 9 - In Extremis
    7.7/10(271 votes)

    S1:E9

    Third-year-resident Anwar Samir vanishes from the hospital he works in. Because of his Saudi-Arabian background, suspicions of terrorist links arise.

    Director:Peter Markle
    Writer:Francisco Castro

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  12. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 14 - The Friendly Skies
    7.7/10(245 votes)

    S1:E14

    The team investigate a disappearance of a flight attendant who may have been having a relationship with one of the pilot's.

    Director:Paul Holahan
    Writer:Hank Steinberg

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  13. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 18 - The Source
    7.7/10(230 votes)

    S1:E18

    Delia , a television reporter, disappears in the middle of the investigation of a nightclub owner who is a suspected drug dealer. They also discovers that Delia was working on the case of a murderer on death row who she thought was innocent, and who might be linked to an assistant district attorney working with Jack on the case.

    Director:Peter Markle
    Writer:Greg Walker

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  14. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 2 - Birthday Boy
    7.6/10(329 votes)

    S1:E2

    Eleven-year-old Gabe Freedman is separated from his father on the subway to Yankee Stadium.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writer:Hank Steinberg

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  15. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 6 - Silent Partner
    7.6/10(269 votes)

    S1:E6

    Patrick Kent, a Vice-President of a New York investment-banking firm, vanishes from a San Diego airport, only leaving behind two empty suitcases.

    Director:Randall Zisk
    Writer:Greg Walker

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  16. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 7 - Snatch Back
    7.6/10(268 votes)

    S1:E7

    Abby, the three-year-old daughter of ADA Angela Buckman and her NYU lecturer husband Matthew, vanishes while in the park with her nanny.

    Director:Leslie Libman
    Writer:Stacy Rukeyser

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  17. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 15 - There Goes the Bride
    7.5/10(237 votes)

    S1:E15

    A bride disappears at her own wedding and suspicions of kidnapping. Meanwhile, the team explores the relationship between the newlyweds, who were lived together for a little while.

    Director:Deran Sarafian
    Writer:Steven Kane

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  18. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 1 - Pilot
    7.4/10(392 votes)

    S1:E1

    Maggie Cartwright appears to have simply walked away from every thing in her life, having left everything of hers behind. Later a ransom note appears on her mother's email list demanding a million dollars for her safe return.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writer:Hank Steinberg

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  19. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 8 - Little Big Man
    7.4/10(257 votes)

    S1:E8

    After a confrontation with a local bully, foster teen William Hope disappears leaving his job at a burger restaurant late at night.

    Director:Paul Holahan
    Writer:Jacob Epstein

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  20. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 3 - He Saw, She Saw
    7.2/10(276 votes)

    S1:E3

    Four different witnesses claim that a woman was abducted from a mall parking lot while her husband was standing just yards away with his back turned to her.

    Director:Rachel Talalay
    Writer:Jan Nash

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  21. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 17 - Kam Li
    7.2/10(232 votes)

    S1:E17

    They search for a retired U.S. Army officer who has disappeared right after a dinner that was given in his honor by former members of his Vietnam platoon

    Director:Randall Zisk
    Writer:Jacob Epstein

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  22. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 19 - Victory for Humanity
    7.2/10(244 votes)

    S1:E19

    They search for a young high-school teacher who disappeared after a night class in the Bronx, turning up contradictory information about the subject.

    Director:Charles Correll
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Without a Trace Season 1 Episode 20 - No Mas
    6.9/10(220 votes)

    S1:E20

    The team find themselves up against the ropes as multiple mysteries arise in the case of a boxer. Dante Jones disappears moments before a bout with a $500,000 purse that which could have made him a title contender. Jack suspects it's stunt, but Vivian, a Jones fan, can't believe that the charity-loving, straight-arrow fighter would go doewn that low road. The search goes in a new direction when his younger brother who he is always bailing out of trouble, vanishes. Then it's learned he has made 2 million dollers in the past five years,but he only has $6000 in his bank account.

    Director:Paul Holahan
    Writer:Greg Walker

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Hang On to Me" is the best rated episode of "Without a Trace" season 1. It scored 8.5/10 based on 304 votes. Directed by Paul Holahan and written by Unknown, it aired on 1/30/2003. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Fall Out (2)".