379. TV Review: Vanished Episode 3

Monday, September 04, 2006

From TV.com: While wearing a wire and being watched by FBI, the Senator attempts to make a ransom drop in Atlanta.

Tonight's third episode of the new FOX series, Vanished, adds more twists and turns to an already complicated tale. Too complicated? Maybe. Things keep getting added to the mix, and you don't keep up with the things being thrown at you there is a good chance you will get lost. However, I'm still trying to get into the mindset of this series. It isn't the most fast paced show, but there is just so much going on. The pace puts you into a false sense of knowing everything that is happening, but there are so many characters involved in the disappearance of the one woman, it is definitely difficult to keep them all straight.

Tonight, we see the corpse of one woman deteriorate to the point where it can be used to help. We also see the blood on the sweatshirt identified as belonging to the man last seen with Sara Collins. Last we see the senator receive a ransom request on a phone locked in a drawer in his office. They want five million dollars without the FBI being involved. The only way he can get that type of money is from another man he knows. His accounts are being monitored, and the last thing he wants to do is set off any alarms.

The senator's ex-wife is also brought in for questioning, and she is asked about the hairs found in her hotel room from Sara's head. She is also questioned about the man that was last seen with Sara and the other bodies that have piled up since. The ex-wife is less than forthcoming though. However, in a flashback we see another development. Sara had an eleven year old daughter, and the ex-wife was trying to blackmail her because she hadn't told her husband. As for Marcy, the step-daughter, she is still on the run with her boyfriend, Ben, who is now also a suspect in the disappearance. Not only that but the man that knew Sara as Nicky Johnson, Peter, has also brought a tape of Nicky to Judy Nash because it appears she is most known on the case as far as the press goes.

As for the ransom drop goes, the FBI is clued in when the other man does end up taking the cash out to give to the senator for the drop! This forces the senator to tell the FBI about his contact with the kidnappers. As for Judy, she talks to Peter about the tape, but he doesn't like her spin on things so he takes his tape and leaves. As for Marcy's boyfriend, Ben, things get more heated as he is now wanted for murder. Marcy sees this in a news report, and she gets out of the place they are now staying with a friend of his, and she calls the police. By the end of the episode, he is brought into custody.

However, there is more that happens in this episode in regards to the drop off. The senator does make the drop, but it appears to be destined to not go well. He ends up dropping off the money, but there is an explosion that happens. However, the senator is already out of the area and on his way into a building. Once inside, he is taken up an elevator where he is given some information. He demands some information of his own when he asks for proof that his wife is indeed still alive. This proof does come, but not until later. The whole experience of the failed drop turns him off on FBI assistance, which is understandable because he just was in an elevator free falling several stories.

By the end of the episode, the kidnappers do contact him once again, and the contact just confuses things even more in my opinion. This series seems to be getting more and more complicated and confusing as things progress, and I'm not really sure how things will end up progressing over time. We'll have to wait and see. Check back next week as we have yet another new episode of the series where I'm sure things will only end up getting even more confusing.