Without a Trace

10 Best Episodes of Without a Trace - Season 3

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

Warning: the following content contains spoilers!

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Without a Trace - S3E1

#1 - In the Dark (Season 3 - Episode 1)

The team searches for a recently blinded girl and her companion who disappeared during a camping trip. Vivian takes over as the supervisor, while Jack struggles to say goodbye to his family.

The episode was rated 8.14 from 65 votes.

Without a Trace - S3E6

#2 - Nickel and Dimed (1) (Season 3 - Episode 6)

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A young mother disappears after leaving her three year old son with a babysitter.

The episode was rated 7.97 from 67 votes.

Without a Trace - S3E8

#3 - Doppelgänger II (Season 3 - Episode 8)

When a homeless woman disappears from a shelter, the team is forced to re-examine the case of twin brothers Greg and Rick Knowles. Five months earlier (Doppelganger), Greg Knowles had confessed to a series of brutal murders, but the team was always convinced that it was Rick who had actually performed the killings. When Greg is released from jail and exonerated of the crimes, the team has to work against the clock to prove that Rick is the guilty party and to save one twin from the other.

The episode was rated 7.97 from 60 votes.

Without a Trace - S3E13

#4 - Volcano (Season 3 - Episode 13)

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When Ian Norville disappears on a field trip to a museum in Manhattan, the team gets involved, but it isn't long before Jack turns his suspicion to his father, Daniel, who soon admits that he didn't take the necessary precautions with his son, who happens to be autistic.

The episode was rated 7.97 from 60 votes.

Without a Trace - S3E4

#5 - Upstairs Downstairs (Season 3 - Episode 4)

When a nanny, and the child she took care of, disappear from her employers' home after being fired by them, the team must determine if the nanny is a kidnapping victim, or a kidnapping suspect.

The episode was rated 7.92 from 66 votes.

Without a Trace - S3E20

#6 - The Bogie Man (Season 3 - Episode 20)

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Seven years ago, a thirteen-year-old girl named Amber Bryce went missing, and suspicion fell on her boyfriend, then-seventeen-year-old Curtis Horne. When Daisy Thorpe, who had become obsessed with getting justice for Amber's death, also ends up missing, the team is called in to investigate. While Martin and Danny work from the office, Sam and Jack work in the field, starting their investigation with the local cleric, Amber's father, and trying to find out why Curtis Horne has stayed in town all these years. While Vivian is home having troubles with Reggie, Martin makes a decision about his relationship with Sam.

The episode was rated 7.90 from 61 votes.

Without a Trace - S3E9

#7 - Trials (Season 3 - Episode 9)

When a juror disappears, the initial belief is that his disappearance is connected to the trial that is being covered, where a young man named Terrell Brooks has accused of murdering Janelle Billingsley. When the team investigates further, they learn that not only did Ducek change his will to leave his younger lover a fortune, but he has been rather mysterious about a painting from his youth in Czechoslovakia. The team soon begins to believe that Ducek is really a former Nazi soldier named Klaus Reinhardt.

The episode was rated 7.88 from 66 votes.

Without a Trace - S3E2

#8 - Thou Shalt Not (Season 3 - Episode 2)

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The team search for a nurses' aide who who disappeared from a rural road while changing a flat tire, only to discover that she is actually a fugitive wanted for the bombing of an abortion clinic.

The episode was rated 7.85 from 71 votes.

Without a Trace - S3E12

#9 - Penitence (Season 3 - Episode 12)

When Mac, a prisoner only two weeks from parole, disappears during a fight in the yard along with another prisoner, his sister contacts the FBI for help. No one can figure out why a member of the Aryan gang would escape with a black prisoner. While Martin and Viv talk to the other prisoners and Jack tries to wade his way through the sister's lies and half-truths where her brother is concerned, Danny focuses on a new prisoner who Mac had been protecting.

The episode was rated 7.84 from 58 votes.

Without a Trace - S3E11

#10 - 4.0 (Season 3 - Episode 11)

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Tara Patterson disappears from a bus stop on her way to an S.A.T. prep course, and the team is called in to investigate the disappearance of the 4.0 student. While investigating, the team soon finds out that Tara is in deeper then they think when they start learning about smart drugs and married men with secrets.

The episode was rated 7.80 from 65 votes.

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    Without a Trace - S3E18

    #11 - Transitions (Season 3 - Episode 18)

    When Stephanie Healy doesn't show up for choir practice, the team heads in to investigate and soon learns Stephanie had recently had a fight with her boyfriend. While speaking with Eddie, the team is shocked to learn that Stephanie used to be Stephen Patrick Healy. Convinced that the truth to what is happening in Stephanie's present lies in her past, the team investigates who Stephen was. Vivian has trouble hiding her worsening problems from the team, and is upset that Martin has been talking to Sam about his suspicions.

    The episode was rated 7.80 from 65 votes.

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    Without a Trace - S3E23

    #12 - Endgame (Season 3 - Episode 23)

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    Paige was last seen sneaking out of her office at the same time as an NYPD detective was asking her boss to direct him to Paige for a routine inquiry. To the team's surprise, the NYPD detective turns out to have been an imposter, causing them to question why Paige chose to run from this mystery man, what he wanted -- and if he caught up with her. Further investigation uncovers that the seemingly upstanding and socially conscious Paige was involved in a lucrative identity theft ring with close ties to a terrorist on a watch list who was recently seen in New York with her. Meanwhile, the remaining team members are gravely concerned about Vivian, who is undergoing open-heart surgery on that very day.

    The episode was rated 7.78 from 59 votes.

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    Without a Trace - S3E14

    #13 - Neither Rain Nor Sleet (Season 3 - Episode 14)

    After postal worker Rosie Diaz goes missing during what seemed to be a regular workday, the team initially connects her disappearance to her cargo, which include $12,000 worth of the game Demon Storm, which all the kids were after. But when the team gets in touch with child protective services, they learn that Rosie recently had her foster children taken away after an anonymous abuse call. A search of her home uncovers a DVD containing child pornography, and the team starts to look at the case from another angle. Danny comments on Martin and Sam's obvious closeness, and wonders why they're keeping it quiet.

    The episode was rated 7.77 from 64 votes.

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    Without a Trace - S3E3

    #14 - Light Years (Season 3 - Episode 3)

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    This time, the team searches for a delusional appearing Sci-fi fanatic who disappeared from his appartment after ranting on about those "out to get him" (before peeling back the tinfoil covering his windows). Jack also has to deal with the consequences of his actions in the affair and how it affected the rest of the team.

    The episode was rated 7.75 from 56 votes.

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    Without a Trace - S3E16

    #15 - Manhunt (Season 3 - Episode 16)

    Martin is swamped with guilt after a young boy is kidnapped shortly after he jogs by. The team tries to reassure Martin that his presence was a help rather than a hindrance as they search for the kidnapped child, but Sam's continued reluctance to admit to their relationship partnered with Martin's jealousy of her relationship with Jack only cause more problems.

    The episode was rated 7.75 from 60 votes.

    >
    Without a Trace - S3E7

    #16 - Nickel and Dimed (2) (Season 3 - Episode 7)

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    To find a missing young mother who was recruited as a drug mule, Samantha goes undercover to lure the drug trafficker who recruited the young woman.

    The episode was rated 7.75 from 71 votes.

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    Without a Trace - S3E5

    #17 - American Goddess (Season 3 - Episode 5)

    The winner of a plastic surgery make-over T.V. show vanishes during a publicity event, which was all about her.

    The episode was rated 7.71 from 63 votes.

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    Without a Trace - S3E10

    #18 - Malone v. Malone (Season 3 - Episode 10)

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    Things with Jack and Maria's divorce are getting nastier as Maria's attorney forces Jack to relive not only his childhood traumas, but also throw his affair with Sam in his face and attack his dedication to his job.

    The episode was rated 7.71 from 70 votes.

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    Without a Trace - S3E19

    #19 - Second Sight (Season 3 - Episode 19)

    After a young woman named Agnes Deschamps goes missing, the team takes a look into her disappearance and learns that the young woman was believed to be a psychic. Sam has trouble accepting that one of their witnesses purports to be a psychic, although she is thrown when the woman correctly points out her problems with Martin. Jack, Martin and Danny pick up the extra hours with Vivian out awaiting heart surgery and together the team manages to track the young woman down after a supermarket parking lot kidnapping yeilds an unlikely clue.

    The episode was rated 7.70 from 64 votes.

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    Without a Trace - S3E17

    #20 - Lone Star (Season 3 - Episode 17)

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    Lance Hamilton is a successful real estate agent in his early thirties who disappears one day after showing a house. When the team gets involved, they soon realise that Lance had more than one dealing with a local hood, Jimmy 'The Tooth' Fusco, and begin to suspect that Lance may not have been the good guy everyone thought he was. After tracking down the woman Lance had recently been spotted kissing in his office, the team needs to revise their opinion, knowing now that Lance is one of the good guys, but wondering if he's died for his beliefs.

    The episode was rated 7.69 from 59 votes.

    >

    Last updated: jan 08, 2023

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