I read John Sinnott's DVD review of Kidnapped - The Complete Series at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=27597 and...

This show isn't nearly as poorly written as the review suggests. Re: this paragraph in particular in John's review:

The character of Aubrey appears as late as Episode 9, and was also in Episode 7. The last four shows are extremely "rushed" so I'm guessing she may have had scenes, but they simply got cut out or were never filmed since so much story needed to be told in those final four shows.

Re: the ear. They never say the ear is Aubrey's...they only speculate that idea. I'm positive at some point either Knapp or King (or another FBI guy) states (I think it's a phone conversation) that the ear belongs to Aubrey's murdered roommate. Even if you didn't pick up on that, it's easily implied (ear is delivered to Cain household...college roommate is murdered...gee, I wonder where the ear came from?).

Considering this show only has 13 episodes to tell a season's worth of story, it's extremely well written and plotted. I found it funny that John compared it to 24 and then said that Kidnapped was the show that was "over the top and cliched". Compared to the silliness of 24, Kidnapped seems like a docudrama.

I was also disappointed that he didn't single out the best character and performance here: that of Delroy Lindo as Agent King, who is so good, the character deserves his own series.

That being said, most of John's review is spot-on, although I think the show is much, much better than the review would lead one to believe. It was by-far the best new show of last fall's newcomers (yes, even better than the decent "Heroes"), and I hope a lot of people get the chance to see what they missed by picking up this series...it's really worth your time and money.

NOTE: Please take John's advice and watch the featurette on Disc 2 AFTER you've watched all the shows...not only does it contain scenes from the final few episodes, but it reveals who the kidnapper is! Why they put this featurette on the second DVD is anyone's guess, but it's worth throwing that warning out there.

Thanks for reading the review Shannon. I don't think we are too far apart on our opinions of this show.

I agree that they probably cut her out when the episode count was decreased. For someone who plays a significant role in the first few episodes though the fact that she's regulated to a bit player for the rest of the show was a surprise. She's not even with the family at the end when they discover Leo's fate.

You're right, I rewatched that segment just now. They say that, according to the DNA tests, it may be Aubrey's. I've changed my review to clarify that. Thanks for keeping me honest.

My point still stands though. How did a DNA analysis of the ear point to Aubrey if it was her friends? Why didn't the kidnapper send Leo's ear? That would have served his purposes much better.

As I said in the review, it's a good show that deserved a second season. I still think that some of the writing was a bit sloppy, though.

If I may go off on a tanget for a moment, the thing that really irks me about this show was not the writing or the plot but the fact that NBC cancelled it midway through the run. Geeze, what happened to the idea of letting a show gather an audiance? (Hell, "Hill Street Blues" did poorly in its first season and it's regarded as one of the best shows ever.) There have been a lot of great shows in the last few years that have gotten the axe after a handful of weeks. And the networks wonder why people are no longer watching. I rarely watch TV now because all of the shows that I'm interested in get cancelled after 8 or 9 weeks.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.

The question you should have asked is how do the kidnappers get Leo from New York City to Mexico on a private jet so quickly? That's got to be a six hour flight on a passenger jet...how long would it be on a private one?!

I probably was harder on you than I intended...I just didn't want readers/potential viewers to dismiss this excellent show.