So writing yet another episode treatment/plot for a show, this time Without a Trace and time to share it with fans...
A British student Troy (complete with British accent!) claims to have psychic abilities: use this to stop a kidnapper, possible killer. At the same time Troy walks into the FBI office, Martin’s car is forced off the road. 2 college students, 1 FBI agent, Martin kidnapped. Troy claims he can help to find them. In fact he says he saw the vision of Martin being run off the road; and lights, another car was behind him.
Martin’s father - conveniently absent…can rile Jack up via the phone. Martin’s disappearance should be given preferential treatment so Jack should get more agents on the case because he’s one of their own and his son. They’re doing everything they can and Jack defends his team and Danny: he’s just as good as anyone else in getting to the bottom of this.
Although it is the twenty-first century and there’s the psychic channel, Sam asks Danny when and if he’s ever consulted a fortuneteller, glorified or otherwise. Danny’s passing comment is that it’s like believing in star signs – horoscopes - how many people believe these; though it’s hard to believe all the people around the world who are the same signs, could be experiencing the same event in their lives; also different astrologers make different predictions anyway. Viv reads Danny’s star sign for the day: You usually like to think of yourself as a good team player but at the moment your patience is really likely to be tested to the limits. The Moon/Mars aspect around you will generate an over-abundance of fiery energy. Try and channel this in constructive directions.
Whether Danny believes or not he’s got a job to do which involves finding the missing students and Martin. Troy’s able to give them clear indications what happened. He saw them clearly but they were masked. Can he reconcile psychic abilities with religion/faith? Danny says believe in God that’s intangible. That’s the strange thing about faith – you don’t have to believe in your fellow man or woman, our future has either been mapped out for us or we decide it, so can we change it?
The skeptics, including Jack who’s a realist. Sam, Viv think there could be something in what he says. Skeptics are made, cynics are born.
Background checks at college reveals students all know each other. Scene of accident. Skid marks at the scene showing his car was forced off the road. Forensics find blood which is Martin’s but why would the students go missing or be taken from the same place at the same time. Who knew where Martin was going and why since he wasn’t on a case? Questions why kidnapped, no ransom demand or phone calls, Sam worked on his past case files and didn’t find anyone who was released etc, anyone he put away, why were the other two abducted, did Martin stumble across something?
Troy seems to bond with Danny, knowing, claiming to know what he’s been through. As soon as he saw him he knew he was different. Danny tells him he’s already been let down before most of his life anyway, so it won’t take much for him to do the same and warns him about wasting their time and Federal offences involved. Troy replies Danny’s carried a lot of weight on his shoulders, guilt, for a very long time. He’s confronted his past but maybe it wasn’t enough and he needs to put it behind him; as he does with some of his cases. He’s seen a lot through his work and most of the time, these cases bear a resemblance to his own life, or certain aspects of his own childhood. Danny didn’t have much of one, just like him. Does Danny have an affinity towards him because he perhaps feels sorry for him, his situation? The usual angst-y stuff.
Danny wonders why he would come forward if he weren’t genuine? Possible reasons: attention, make a name for himself, money, 15 minutes of fame. He has had his abilities since he was little. Father was sceptic, mother was indifferent. Always seen as a freak, an outsider, never had friends or was accepted by anyone. He wants to have/live a normal life. He kept his abilities to himself at college and thought it would be a clean start. But told someone he liked, a girl, possibly Valentina, now missing and thought he could trust her. He was a loner his early life and didn’t have a proper childhood, he’s not about to let people attach a label to him now. He doesn’t see his ability as a gift from God. Just as the literal meaning of Troy is ‘child of the gods’ but his name means ‘gifted’ or ‘spirited’.
There are all sorts of events that can’t be explained, some are termed miracles, others paranormal. Work of psychics is documented – who’s to say there are people out there who don’t have real abilities; even FBI uses them, other law enforcement agencies, on occasions. The difference is they’ve proven themselves.
Danny: “Whether I believe him or not, it boils down to doing this job – as always.”
Jack: “I’m open to anything – once – as long as it gets results.” He should stick with it.
Do you have to open yourself up to certain beliefs and possible strange occurrences? Strange things happen short of miracles in which case, why close yourself off to a belief or feeling because it can’t be explained. There are mystical elements in all religions and these could be explained as mystical anyway, even voodoo and cults are a form of religion, don’t even have to be about religion or faith?
Danny can’t decide if he believes him or not even after he tells him things about himself: Danny’s loyal to Jack, he thinks he’s a good leader.
Maybe Danny opens up to believing when he tells him about some event in his life, e.g., special nickname his mother called him; his real name? How he handled sadness and loneliness, eg, episode 4 Season 1; when he’d name the stars after someone he missed. Who were Daniela, Erica and Andrea? Troy would have liked to have him as an older brother.
Danny, Jack and Viv argue over whether to take Troy to the crime scene and eventually take Troy to the crime scene where he tells them about a dark vehicle, possibly a Camry or Camry leaving the scene. The number plates were dirty. He senses lights, fear and foreboding. Lies are running away with us like a crazed kidnapper.
Warns Danny of what’ll happen to him, he sees brightly coloured lights illuminating the night sky and loud noises. Danny follows up on some leads on the car and one a black Camry is registered to one of the students, Sean but he’s missing too. Whilst there, Danny is shot at during a Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown., but the bullet misses. Hence the bright lights, i.e. fireworks and firecrackers near an empty building. The noise of the bullets wasn’t heard; could have been mistaken for firecrackers but analysis of the scene shows a window where the bullet went through. The bullet turns out to be a blank. Here they find Valentina but Martin and Sean remain missing.
Danny confronts him again saying he was right about the lights in the night sky and the shot but that the bullet was a blank. He should stop playing games with them. Danny tells about his brother and how they didn’t get on, that he was a lot like their father. Troy says he’s lucky he wasn’t an only child; he was loved even if not in a perfect family. Though there were extremes of emotions unless been through it yourself it’s hard to understand the sense of not belonging.
He tells Danny, “Great souls gain strength of character and comfort from literature.” His favourite is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. As well as quoting from this. Such as “I am like one who dies young. All my life might have been.” Troy thinks he should’ve been better than he is, just like Danny.
Someone from the book Troy looks up to and aspires to is Sydney Carton. He was resigned to this fate only after he had given up on himself, his life, the world and the love of his life, Lucie. This wasn’t a romantic hero or death.
Could Danny relate to Sydney too: drinking to forget – just to get by. Did everyone just pass him and Troy by; aren’t we all looking for that special someone, still. He can’t live through the eyes of a character in a book. The book was essentially about the choices we have, of changing society or changing ourselves. How do you accomplish this since we only have the power to change ourselves for the better or the worse. It was about prison doors opening and then closing shut. That’s how the novel begins and concludes. Maybe that’s how Troy saw his own future life mapped out in this way too. If he did, why let it happen in this way?
He has a vision and sees Danny being attacked from behind with a knife and sees Danny falling to the ground. This makes him change his mind again and …in exchange for a promise: - if things go wrong, he won’t be blamed or held criminally responsible. Danny asks what he means? He replies,” If I told you the truth, I’d have to lie to you…”
Danny surmises he’s been lying all along, making this up. Kidnapping not only is a Federal offence but kidnapping an FBI agent is more serious, does he have something to get off his chest or his conscience? Now would be a good time to confess. The fact they were willing to go through something like this shows how dangerous they really are and he doesn’t have an excuse: their compulsion to kidnap Martin, running him off the road where the consequences could’ve been deadlier shows they were willing to resort to anything, even murder.
Sydney Carton is fiction not reality. He was flawed but redeemed himself and paid the ultimate sacrifice in an imperfect world. This however is real life not a novel. Troy is fundamentally flawed because he can’t make friends. No one showed him what to do with his gift, or how to harness it. Being psychic does not mean having to make mistakes, to commit crimes for recognition.
Sydney died not to save his rival but for the woman he would never have; where’s the heroism in that? Sydney did not even work for himself, he was gifted but squandered his gift working for someone else, even pimping himself in a way just as Troy’s done for them. Still Sydney’s remains a hero in the literary sense – only if you analyze the novel you find he’s not.
“I would embrace any sacrifice for you…” Was planning this crime worthy of such a quote? Was Sydney Carton commendable or not? He didn’t use people – but he wasn’t a hero either – not in the sense of a true hero. Sydney sacrifices himself after he has given up on the world, not a hero’s death but one of a coward. Troy has a hero complex.
Before Troy tells the truth, he wants something from Danny: firstly for him to tell him something he’s never told anyone. Why? And does Danny take the bait? Time appears to be running out; he then changes his mind and tells Danny where to find Sean. Does Danny promise? Not within his power. The big question: why would he ask this and why now? And when the two have been found? Afraid for himself, that they’d gang up on him and save themselves, confessing all. The bigger question: did he foresee this happening and so wants to come clean now? He wants to tell him everything now because of what he saw happening to Danny.
Perhaps an extra scene here where Jack finds out about or interviews a policeman who almost suffered the same fate almost as identical as Martin. A sort of dry run showing that this was tried before. Sean and Valentina just wanted to kidnap anyone, didn't have to be an agent, hence showing this was premeditated and not spur of the moment. They’re oblivious to who Martin is and he was just an easy target.
Troy tells Danny where he’ll find Sean and Martin.
He had doubts about coming forward but they’re fellow students, he knows them, even if no one likes him, including the ones behind it. He directs Danny to the college boathouse and tells him to “take a dive to rescue yourself and remember to look down.”
At the college boathouse, Danny searches along with Sam and Jack just as the clock rings out. He hears a noise and chases a dark figure, as in Troy’s vision, but just as he sneaks up behind him, Danny loses his footing on a step he doesn’t see, stumbles, forcing the student to miss him with the knife. Thus his warning of falling, the dive; and looking down. Martin is found here bound and gagged suffering from head trauma. Any reaction from Sam?
It was a game but no one was meant to get hurt, hence the blank being fired, but they took it too far and especially when he attacked Danny with the knife, that changed everything. Troy likes Danny and liked talking with him so couldn’t let this go on. He tells him he saw him on TV in the news when that blind girl went missing (season 3 episode 1 In the Dark) and knew he could reach out to him, that’s why he specifically came to see him now.
Danny tells Troy about how he went off the rails; had a fatalistic attitude to life – didn’t care what he did, who he hurt, was self-destructive, perhaps wanting to get caught deep down. In the end Danny didn’t hurt anyone, thankfully, only himself and that’s no way for anyone to live: only have one life. He’s just ruined his.
All a set up from the outset: phone records show there was extensive communication between the two phones, one belonging to the girl and another one found in the abandoned car. One number belonging to Valentina and one to Sean’s phone and text messages too. Giving details of what to do on Valentina’s PDA: “Meeting at shop. Plan’s a go.”
“Go tonight.”
Was Troy a part of it or did they use him? They did it for fame, bored rich kids with time on their hands and used it for menacing purposes. But once the press gets hold of this story, he’ll be famous in more ways than one. Perhaps he had an ulterior motive in all this anyway. Then he’ll have to deal with the fall out/invasion of his privacy – the calls of help from everyone around him, including the crank calls, nuts; so it’s a vicious circle – what he wanted to escape, what he needed: the chance of normality, now won’t leave him and will always follow him.
They chose the wrong agent to kidnap or was it because they knew he was Deputy Director Fitzgerald’s son and this would give them the publicity they desired so badly. They made silly mistakes in their eagerness to commit a so-called perfect crime. Didn’t think about getting caught, or even about forensics, technology, or that Troy could turn them in, but he didn’t save himself. Couldn’t have been more wrong in their choice because Fitzgerald will make sure they get the full might of the law and he’s a stickler for procedure and the law.
Troy fell into the wrong crowd just to belong and they only feigned liking him. Troy calls it a start to getting out of the mire of loneliness, maybe it’s his own fault but no one can tell him how to live his own life. Danny tells him that’s exactly what Valentina and Sean did.
Jack doesn’t agree to immunity for the simple reason, he doesn’t believe he was complacent in his part.
Danny wants them to go easy on him, he’s confused, he regresses into books because he can’t cope with real life, he saved Danny’s life in the end, but only after he put everyone in jeopardy to begin with. Troy transfers his hero worship from Sydney to Danny, now, he’s not a work of fiction.
At the end, he tells Danny he knows the real reason why he became an FBI agent. (Expand on his character, more insights into his personal life here…) As he’s taken away he whispers to Danny that his grandmother taught him well. What happened to his grandmother anyway?
So the final question would be, whom does Danny turn to in times of need, to talk to? His friends, his priest? What about Father Orlando from St Benedict’s (re season 2 episode 2 Revelations. ) If so have him in church in a scene?
Song: Hands. By Jewel. From the album Spirit. Especially the lines:If I could tell the world just one thing it would be, ‘we’re all okay’
Not to worry cos worry is wasteful and useless at times like these
I won’t be made useless, I won’t be idle with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
for light does the darkness most fear
Heartache came to visit me but I knew it wasn’t ever after…for someone must stand up for what’s right
Where there’s the man who has no voice...
My hands are small I know…I am never broken
In the end, only kindness matters… I will get down on my knees and I will pray….
The story line explained: that's if you want to know...
Troy is a contradiction, hopefully leaving the viewers wondering if he was involved or an unwitting accomplice (like so many of the missing’s relatives etc in an episode of the show.)
With some funny asides, like Viv reading Danny’s horoscope. (This I actually took from a real horoscope reading for Enrique’s star sign Cancer for 10th October 2005. Strangely enough it turned out to be perfect for this storyline!) Sam’s comment about the fortuneteller, I hadn’t actually seen season 3 episode 19 about the missing fortuneteller. That won’t be screened here until before Christmas 2005, at least. So that was a bit of a premonition on my part! Spooky
Troy turning up at the FBI as Martin is taken hostage looks like an elaborate set-up by Troy and the kidnappers to lure the FBI in. At once, Troy assuages himself with Danny claiming they’re just like each other. Perhaps Troy seems too undulate, especially the part about wanting an older brother.
The mental chess game seemingly played out between Danny and Troy, with each trying to guess their motives and Danny being clever enough to know beguiling Troy is playing games with them/him.
The part where he plans to confess all to Danny hopefully shows a duality to his character: wanting to control the situation and at the same time wanting to let it develop.
Having the kidnappers as bored rich kids is a good sop to the show, as Jack and Danny would be annoyed at them wasting their time/resources not to mention putting an agent in danger.
Valentina and Sean telling Troy they’d used him (or allowing himself to be used) is a way to puncture what there was of Troy’s ego as he enjoys leading the investigation with Danny.
As for A Tale of Two Cities that’s one of my fave books and movies and so with Troy being British it was a nice addition to his flawed character, in my opinion.
Written October 2005
