It's Upfront Week, so I'm going to be terse with a lot of my non-schedule-related posts over the next few days. I quite liked last night's "In Plain Sight," as it dealt with a couple of WitSec-specific problems (how do you deal with divorce, and what happens if your cultural background is unusual enough to be noticed in your new home?), and had a funny turn by Richard Schiff (even if he did overplay the accent a little). What did everybody else think?
15 comments:
I liked this episode QUITE a bit, even the Brandi/Jinx bits. But especially Richard Schiff.
I would totally watch a spinoff starring his rabbi detective.
I would totally watch Richard Schiff as Rabbi: PI.
I am liking tihs season much more than last season, and love that they have gotten so far away from the procedural/murder mystery elements. Plus, the Brandi/Jinx storylines this year are much more compelling than last year's. As someone else mentioned last week though, they really need to start revisiting witnesses we've met, if only because the case load starts to feel very unrealistic. Schiff was great in this, and the nice callback to the "Mary's dad" story was nicely underplayed. One more aside - I've been rewatching SportsNight and was taken by how much Joshua Malina has aged. Time marches on.
Thirded!
I loved the episode and agree that Richard Schiff's accent was rather off and distracting. But a small complaint for such a good episode. And to think I was ready to give up on this show.
Is Mary's refusal to dump her tequila the result of a desire to see her mother fail at getting/staying sober? If her mom and sister get their acts together (as unlikely as that might be), she won't know how to relate to them.
Another vote for a traveling Rabbi Detective show (starring Richard Schiff). The Father Dowling Mysteries were worth 2.5 seasons, this idea has at least a USA miniseries in it.
They really do need to keep going with the non-cop show plots, they do well with the WitSec issues.
@Robert, I agree with your observation about Mary refusing to dump the tequila--it was an extremely vicious passive-aggressive move. I think you're right that Mary isn't going to know how to deal with cleaned-up mom and sis; she has a great deal invested in herself as the strong, smart, capable one.
It could be an interesting subplot to examine, but I hope it doesn't take over.
Karen
..I agree with [the] observation about Mary refusing to dump the tequila--it was an extremely vicious passive-aggressive move...
I wondered about that too when I saw it. The whole family has a sick dynamic to it. Mary is a chaos junkie, so she could be part of that dynamic.
On the other hand, my first reaction when I saw Brandi pouring all that booze down the drain (and I'm a non-drinker) was how expensive that was. Maybe I'm just cheap, but I had a twinge of sympathy when Mary exclaimed that the bottle of Tequila cost $50.
She has good reason to believe Jinx won't remain dry. So why waste all that money?
However, if Jinx really tries to work her program, Mary would be sabotaging if she doesn't get with the program herself. But then, I guess, dealing with a passive aggressive would make the show more interesting.
I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. I don't know if the stereotype of the wise, old Orthodox rabbi who has a surprisingly practical, real-world bent is a accurate one. But I find it a very enjoyable one.
I hadn't thought of "Orthodox Rabbi, P.I." detective show that's been suggested above, but it seems like a good idea. I'd watch it! And Richard Schiff would do it justice. Sounds like a fun show.
It was nice to see a detective show depict Orthodox Jews in a mostly non-stereotyped way. (Unlike, say, every "Law & Order" episode set in New York's diamond district.)
Am I the only one who was disapointed there was no meta joke regarding having three West Wing regulars in the same episode? And if you count Janel Maloney in L&O:CI in the hour beofre it was like old home week. At least Richard Schiff didn't get killed 5 minutes into his role like he did on Burn Notice.
After watching the episode again, it's clear that, not only did Schiff steal the show with his performance, but they've set his character up to return in a subsequent episode.
Near the end, he offered to find Mary's missing father. How he knew her father was missing? I don't know. Maybe he really is an orthodox leprechaun. But it would be great to see him back.
Rabbi PI was great. I still wonder how he found the witness.
I second the vote for liking the stories that deal with WitSec issues.
And surprisingly, the episode DIDN'T deal with the Albanians coming back to look for him. Nice change of pace type episode for that.
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