The crack FBI missing-persons team on Without a Trace may soon be missing one of their own. Vivian Johnson, the no-nonsense investigator played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, might be killed off by season's end.
Earlier this year, Vivian was diagnosed with a serious heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes a thickening of the heart muscle and can lead to sudden death. The problem becomes critical when Vivian collapses on the side of the road in tonight's episode (10 pm/ET on CBS).
From then on, says series creator Hank Steinberg, "she will be home-ridden and coping with her future while [the squad] copes with the idea of not having her around." They may have to get used to that idea permanently.
"By the end of the season, she'll be angling toward surgery," hints Steinberg, "and potentially a life-and-death situation."
The story arc came about after Jean-Baptiste met w
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