Without a Trace · S4, E8
A Day In the Life
This unique episode, told from the point of view of the missing person's parents, expresses the emotional anguish of the mother and father of a missing 15-year-old boy as the team does its best to find him. Susan (multiple Emmy Award winner Laurie Metcalf - "Roseanne") and Larry (Matt Craven - "Crimson Tide") Hopkins desperately call the authorities when they realize their son, Shawn, has missed his curfew. But the team's involvement ends up adding to the Hopkins' feelings of powerlessness, angst and frustration, especially when they're questioned as potential suspects in Shawn's disappearance. They begin to resent the team for the seemingly slow pace of the investigation and for not relaying every twist, turn and procedure involved in the search. Additionally, the Hopkins begin to turn against each other when the team's findings make it clear that Shawn has been involved in much more than the parents ever knew or imagined.
