I had my say on the season premiere of "In Plain Sight" -- specifically, how tired I am of Mary investigating dead witnesses (particularly with as convoluted a case as we got here), and of Mary's family -- in Thursday's column, but feel free to share your thoughts on it here. Next week is more WitSec-specific, thankfully.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
In Plain Sight, "Gilted Lily": Mary's back in business
I had my say on the season premiere of "In Plain Sight" -- specifically, how tired I am of Mary investigating dead witnesses (particularly with as convoluted a case as we got here), and of Mary's family -- in Thursday's column, but feel free to share your thoughts on it here. Next week is more WitSec-specific, thankfully.
Wow. Everybody gave up on it, huh?
ReplyDeleteDidn't TiVo it, debating downloading it.
ReplyDeleteBut since my opinion matched yours pretty closely (WitSec stuff good, family stuff bad), can't say I'm in a rush to see this episode!
I haven't. I actually really enjoy this odd duck of a show.
ReplyDeleteI've got it on my DVR, and there's no way I would ever watch it live vs. Breaking Bad. As it is, it'll probably be awhile before I can actually watch it.
ReplyDeleteI watched it, I enjoyed it. I thought the dead witness plot was rather clever actually. I am also grateful that the writers are showing the after effects of last season's finale on all members of Mary's family, rather than just glossing over it and having Mary bounce back with minimal trauma. Finally, I got a chuckle out of Mary's PTSD symptoms presenting as uncommon kindness and calm, given her natural combativeness.
ReplyDeleteThis episode drove me crazy. Why were these people in witness protection in the first place? Do the feds really put people in witness protection when a couple of bikers are ticked off at them? But as long as they were in witness protection, isn't it frowned upon for a witness to go visit one of the people she's in hiding from in prison and tell him where she's living now? But Mary and Marshall didn't seem to be angry at Lily for breaching the witness protection agreement.
ReplyDeleteI'm not giving up on the show yet. I still love Marshall, and the show is easier to take when it has minimal or no Jinx and Brandi. But it would be nice if the writers could remember what the premise of the show is.
I think part of the reason they didn't get mad at Lily may may have been because... she was dead?
ReplyDeleteI think part of the reason they didn't get mad at Lily may may have been because... she was dead?I'm not saying that they should have devoted five minutes to it, but SOME reaction would have been appropriate. In previous episodes, they've told witnesses that they can't contact family and friends; now they don't bat an eye at hearing that Lily went to see the guy in prison and told him where they had relocated her? What Lily did was incredibly foolhardy. She had no way of knowing that her visit would be life-changing; he just as well could have called his buddies after she left and told them where to find her and her kids.
ReplyDeleteAgreed with Mary Ann for the most part. I'm mostly watching for Marshall now, but it's light enough entertainment that it gives me something on a Sunday (much like, say, "Castle" or "SVU" where I won't be crushed if I missed it, but it's a good way to kill 40-some minutes).
ReplyDeleteI don't really question why Marshall and Mary didn't lose their minds over the witness speaking with the convict partly because, yeah, she was already dead and partly (a bigger partly) because this wasn't a typical case for them. Neither were behaving as they normally would. Marshall had Mary on the mind and Mary had everything else on the mind and yet they were still working the case pretty competently. I'm not sure what them losing it over the fact that the witness whose death they were investigating chose to contact the guy she put in jail many, many years earlier would accomplish. I'm guessing that even if they didn't have the distraction of Mary's ordeal going on they still probably would have considered the fact that focusing on that probably wouldn't have accomplished much, especially if the con could be ruled out as suspect pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was the fact that I'd read Alan's review before it came on, but I went in expecting a lot more with the family, so I was happy that there wasn't as much as I thought we'd get. And as it was, only Jinx really bugged me. I was fine with the way they showed Brandie dealing with it because it was good to see that something actually affected her. Plus, knowing what we know that they probably *don't* yet know, I'm interested to see how they were a day later. Of course I'm way more interested in the Marshall/Mary dynamic, so I'm happier when we're *not* dealing with the fam...it's just that in this case, it was a natural thing to see the day after.
The story about the family in Witsec was kind of a mess, but I liked the parts with Mary, Marshall, and Stan. Of course Mary's reaction to her ordeal would be to think every day is a gift. It was both funny and scary.
ReplyDeleteBrandi gives me a major rash, but I liked that she wanted to see her dead boyfriend so she could tell him off instead of mourning his useless ass. If they're going for her redemption, it's still a long way off, but that was a good place to start.
It's always good to see Liza Weil, so "yay" to that.
I'm slow to read these posts sorry. I disagree about this show, it really built momentum last season, and was even strong in some of the family scenes later in the season. This episode was damn good in my opinion, Mary M is great.
ReplyDeleteSo...the new secretary is really the Internal Affairs investigator they're waiting on, right?
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy how disturbed everyone was by Nice Mary.
Yeah, I was happy at how little we saw the idiot relatives in this one myself. And no Raph.
ReplyDeleteIt was an odd case. But not that bad an episode, really.
I looked at the contrast of the families: Mary's anti-functional one vs the ex-witness's so-strained but still together case.
ReplyDeleteAnd add in the reality sucks part -- sooner or later the sisters have to realize they've killed both of their parents; their dad directly, and their mom when she thought her Huntington's had already hit. If they'd left the coins there....Contrast to Mary, who'd LOVE to whack hers...
It takes some fanwanking to explain away the mom seeking out the biker; but WitSec is only going to know if/when the fit hits the shan. She went to see him while he was up the river; if she decided she was wrong about his changed behaviour, she had time to erase her tracks before he was paroled/released.
The real problem was there was no way Mary was working WitSec 17 years ago. As a junior Marshal, she'd have been laying paper [warrant serving] or other scud work.