Full disclosure: I was so bored last night, I had to fight to stay awake. Wow; just not a good episode.
And for a season finale? I think the writers of In Plain Sight may have tried to dig a bit too deep with this season, what with the additional three episodes over last. I’m not saying it can’t be done (see Burn Notice, season two), but it may have been too much for this group.
Here’s the issue I take with plots like this one: where’s the drama in the main character’s life “being in danger?” Is Mary McCormack not signed on through next season? Of course she is! Could they, theoretically, pull a Sopranos and have her in a coma for much of next year? Sure, but that doesn’t mean her life will ever be in danger. Unless, of course, USA Networks doesn’t show McCormack the money. In that case….
But seriously, folks, that was a total snooze-fest. We do have some cliffhangers carrying over (who really shot Mary, will Rafe become an internationally famous commercial actor, will someone kill Francesca slowly for our viewing pleasure), but that doesn’t mean I’m left wondering about Mary. It also doesn’t stand up to last year’s finale, when we were left with the huge question of what would happen to Brandi, which, of course, was just flushed down the toilet in a rush, anyway. Maybe it’s better to have lesser mysteries poorly solved than greater ones? I guess that’s a thought.
Two things I feel worth noting: I found Mary’s reaction to Rafe shooting that commercial just nasty for the sake of being nasty. Wake up, guy! Also, it was meant to be a nice moment when Rafe and Marshall had their little chat, but In Plain Sight has never built a rapport between them, as other cop shows have done between someone’s loved one and their partner. To me, it just rang hollow; the moment could have been really cool, with these two guys who (inexplicably) really love Mary trying to discuss the scary realities of her shooting.
Big picture? I was disappointed with this season. I know; surprise, surprise, right? But seriously… I wasn’t captain of its cheerleading squad in season one, but I was extremely impressed with nearly everything about the show. I think we put too much emphasis on “female driven” or “minority driven”; what matters to me is if it’s “character driven”, and In Plain Sight answered that call in spades. Mary and Marshall, together and apart, were fantastic! They were great at what they did, the guest witnesses were interesting, and the potential for budding characters (Rafe, Stan, Dershowitz) was intriguing.
And then it was almost as if the writers started again this season. The ease between Mary and Marshall had to be built again (what?); the partners were more investigators, less competent protectors; the guest stars were underutilized; witnesses were non-existent; Stan and Rafe became groveling sideshows, and Dershowitz was a non-entity. And where the hell was Marshall?
And yet there was no need to retool! The show was doing fantastically well, as most USA Network originals have, and a tweak here and there should not a new show make. But for whatever reason, the writers went under the hood and ripped much of the engine out, replacing it with foreign parts that didn’t really make the car run smoothly. I say, “for what purpose?”
Look, I could be the only person in the world who feels this way, but it doesn’t change the fact that that’s how I see it. Will I be tuning in next spring for season three? Yes, because I like the show, and because a lot of the things I mentioned above have been re-re-tooled. But that doesn’t mean that the writers have proven to me that they remember what was good about season one.
Put simply, a show doesn’t need to be unique to stand out, nor does it need to be filled with cliches. It just needs to be all good, an impossible feat that In Plain Sight achieved, grandly, when it came bursting out of the gate last year. Will it once again find its groove?
Well, now that’s a cliffhanger of a question worth coming back to have answered.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Aug 10, 2009 @ 16:00 EST5EDT
First the positives: I loved how Mary is really, truly back to her old cynical self, and that her personality makeover from the season premiere did not last. I liked her bonding with Francesca, and I loved the scene where Francesca is NOT talking about Mary being powerful. And I did like Rafe keeping Mary’s/Francesca’s cover, making sure she did not reveal anything to Jinx and Brandy about WitSec. Maybe he finally caught on…good thing Mary gave him that book.
The negatives: I completely agree with the pointless cliffhanger, since Mary is the star. I would not object at all if it became the Marshall show, but still, not how USA bills it. Also, Mary going psycho for no reason because of the commercial? What was that? It made no sense, even for Mary’s character.
So, let’s hope for a new season filled with tough, bitter Mary, lots of Marshall (and even Eleanor rapport), and a return to the greatness of Season 1.
*POST AUTHOR*
Yes, it was interesting that her big transformation lasted for all of an episode or two. I know one can argue traumatic experience, but I’d argue “the writers realized it made no sense for the character, and quickly backtracked”. I’m glad it’s over with, too.
While I can’t disagree with the cliffhanger bit, as it the first thing that came to mind, everything about tonight’s episode was worth it just to see Weller’s very true performance when Mary was wheeled into the ER (Or was it the OR at that point?). Marshall’s reaction would have been just that, and I’m glad the writing was layered enough to allow the character’s emotional response to stop there before shifting to the revenge/protection bit he discussed with Rafe.
The show will be undergoing some retooling for next season, including the showrunner getting canned, and decreased rolls for two of the previously main characters (Jinx and Dershowitz). A shame for the latter, but not the former.
You won’t get me to agree with you, however, that Rafe was ever a budding, or even remotely interesting character.
Ivey, you do realize that Maples has been the showrunner and creator from the beginning, don’t you? He presided over this mythically perfect Season 1 everyone but me saw.
I actually enjoy the show, so I fear this change much more than two supporting characters being rightfully scaled back so they don’t have to be shoehorned into every episode. I would have no problem with Brandi and Raph being reduced as well, especially if Eleanor was made a regular. My greater fear is that from Maples’ and USA executive Wachtel’s comments, the change in showrunner was not due to tinkering with the characters or their relationships but disagreement from the beginning over the darker tone of the show. If you look at Monk, Psych, Royal Pains, and even for the most part Burn Notice, they all have a lighter feel to them, and I hope Maples’ as-yet-unnamed replacement doesn’t go in that direction, even though that seems to be what USA wants.
Unfortunately, the reason we got this ridiculous “will Mary survive” cliffhanger is because of this dispute. Maples intended for this episode and its resolution to air in succession to close out the season, and stated that he would not have done so if he had known the network would end the season right in the middle. Apparently the second half of this two-parter was “melancholy,” “droopy,” “contemplative,” and “sad,” and I’m not sure if it will air next year or will be dropped entirely.
That being said, the real cliffhanger is not if Mary will die, but whether the lack of oxygen to her brain will cause any personality changes in the future, thus giving the new showrunner carte blanche to do whatever they want with her.
The Raph thing was quite clear to me. Mary thought that any sane person would feel the same utter and complete contempt for being asked to appear in the demeaning commercial that she did, not least her fiancé. It wasn’t even necessary for her to wait to hear his reaction because in her mind she didn’t have the slightest doubt it would be negative. Her blowup at him later when she discovered that upping the offer from $2,000 to $3,000 was enough for him to forego his dignity and self-respect, was another instance where she discovered that they don’t actually think alike and have different priorities. I can see how she lost it and took it out on Raph.
Aryeh, I can understand your reasoning for all the character changes season to season except Stan. Quite frankly, he was completely impotent for almost all of the first season. His marshals never listened to him and often went directly against his orders or acted without his knowledge or approval, even going so far as to duck his calls. It was only when Mary was kidnapped that he showed a little spine. In the second season, he’s been a pitbull from the word go, and we can finally see why other people could be intimidated by him and why he has a reputation in the service. He can even hold Mary back and sometimes change her mind, which never would have happened last year.
Well, that’s it. I hope I don’t end up dropping this show next season.
*POST AUTHOR*
Ryan – It’s no “mythically perfect Season 1” … rather, season one is when we started to watch and enjoy the show, so if the things that hooked you then are different or no more, it makes sense to lament, or at least reference back.
I don’t know how it would look, but I think season one was lighter than season two, so I may very well prefer a move back in that direction. But I fully agree that there’s always the fear that someone new will ruin things.
Are you serious about the lack of oxygen thing? They’d use that to totally retool her? That’s just laziness. And stupid.
Okay, I know that we disagree a lot, but my mouth fell completely open when you said you understood (and seem to agree with) Mary on her Rafe outburst. I think it makes more sense to imagine that she was bossing him around, because if she thinks that he sees the world the same way as she does, she knows less than zero about him, and hasn’t been paying any attention these last almost 30 hours. She was just being totally disgusting to him; I can’t fathom how you could see it any differently.
But that was Stan! He was ineffectual, and that played a large role in how Mary evolved as a Marshal. The bigger problem is that its now not believable that he’s changed so much … he didn’t in X years as a Marshal, but did overnight? There was no progression, just a sharp turn. I liked him last year, because he fit perfectly into a slot, and made total sense. Now, not so much.
Agreed on your last; I still hold out good thoughts.
That was just my snarky way of observing that whenever you guys have a problem with Season 2, you lament how much better it was in the good old days of Season 1, while I honestly don’t see that much difference. It’s like when my friends rag on how bad the Star Wars prequels are, and don’t seem to recognize the wooden acting, lame dialogue, and juvenile humor in the original trilogy.
The point about the brain damage was just the result of my trepidation. A good replacement showrunner won’t take the easy way out, and will change Mary’s character organically, but if we’re saddled with a hack they’ve been left the perfect excuse to hack her personality to pieces.
No, I don’t agree with Mary or find her behaviour defensible. I do find it easy to understand and predictable, whereas Abigail above thought it sprang from nowhere, so I thought I’d offer a possible explanation. I do think Mary doesn’t really know Raph, and would not be surprised if the writers were building toward the end of the relationship. I’ve just pointed out in the past that it’s plausible that they could keep the two together despite their incompatibilities, as that can happen with some couples in real life.
Well, like I’ve said in the past, I felt Stan was the only character they totally rebooted, and for the better in my opinion. I was just disputing your comment that he became a “groveling sideshow” because I felt that the exact opposite had occurred. As for his influence (or lack thereof) on Mary, that would depend on if she had had other supervisors before Stan, and also the length of her partnership with Marshall. I would enjoy finding out the answers to both of those questions next season.
*POST AUTHOR*
You would never hear me say that … I thought all six Star Wars movies (those that I saw) were terrible. No selective memory for me!
It dawned on me, that since you understand how a couple could not share personal things with one another, and yet should be concerned when they do that the other won’t be able to keep their secret, that, cutting through everything to the core, you think one could be in a solid relationship without any trust. Is that accurate? How?
So, when I said I saw Stan as a groveling sideshow, my generalized description was referencing the fact that, while before he may have been weak and ineffectual, now he’s supposedly a tough guy, but still ineffectual. At least if the outcome is understandable based on the limitations of the ingredients, it makes sense. If the outcome remains the same, but he’s supposedly a totally different guy, what are we meant to think. You’ve said before that he’s stood up to Mary this season, but has he really? Where is he effectively controlling her? And how does he seem like anything other than sniveling, or groveling, in his relationship with Eleanor, particularly if you think she’s another Mary?
I think that there can still be trust without knowledge. That sort of compartmentalized marriage is probably old-fashioned, especially since the rise of the two-income household, but I can see it still happening today even in the U.S. Whether Mary and Raph have that kind of solid relationship is certainly debatable, though.
Wow, it’s times like this I question whether we’re even watching the same show. There are times in the second season when Stan can speak a few quiet words to Mary or even just look at her, and she’ll know to clamp down on her big mouth, at least until the third party has left the room. That would never happen in the first season; Mary was completely uncontrollable. And though Mary and Marshall still go around Stan’s orders at times, it happened almost constantly before, sometimes even doing the opposite of what he specifically said. And Stan was quite the equal of Eleanor (I’d even argue moreso) in coolness during their one hook-up scene. After that, they’ve both been awkward, yet intrigued. I haven’t seen either of them mooning or groveling.
I don’t think Eleanor is another Mary, just that her personality is equally strong, though different.
*POST AUTHOR*
If it works for others, so be it. I’m just glad that that type of relationship is so foreign a concept to me. But, either way, as you say, I wouldn’t be so sure that Mary and Rafe have even that kind of solid relationship.
Actually, I see how we have been seeing the same thing, just that we’re willing to accept different amounts of questionable stuff. I can only speak to how I perceive these things, but here’s what I’ve seen this season: the show-runners decided Stan needed to be a stronger person. Instead of organic growth (an impossibility when he wasn’t so the season before, which was the previous day, timeline-wise), it needed to just be one of those, “there’s a good spot for him to have backbone!” it’s like you said weeks ago on Make It or Break It, what counts is who you are in the dark? In the normal course of business, Stan was same-old. In moments where the writers had an extra 30 seconds, he was backbone man. The result was a pathetic, unnatural characterization of what they wanted him to be.
Then, with Eleanor, they went back to old Stan. Fine, since that’s how he should be, but here he was, rotating between personas all in the course of one scene. If he’s 100% old Stan, that’s him. If he’s Alpha for flashes, and then old Stan with his lady, then, yeah, he seems like a groveling fool most of the time.
Ah, but if Eleanor is strong-willed, how is she not the Alpha played against a Stan?
Yes, we agree that, although all the characters were tweaked somewhat at the beginning of the season, Stan’s change was so drastic that there was no way to write it in believably. I much prefer pitbull Stan, so had no problem with it.
I honestly don’t see Stan being wimpy at all with Eleanor, just interested, but uncertain as to their status together. And Eleanor can continue to be an Alpha Female, but doesn’t need to be dominating in private with a male, whether he’s Alpha or not.
I don’t think I could marathon any of these episodic shows, USA or otherwise. There has to be a long-running storyline to keep me glued to the set.
*POST AUTHOR*
I guess I see him as pre and post “spined” Stan; pitbull is way beyond where he is for me, largely because the writers don’t seem to have allowed his newfoundness to be consistent. As you know about me, I just have a hard time with things that whiff (in this case reek) of in-authenticity or whatever, to my nose.
There’s something to the short season on USA that lends itself to re-watching. I’m not sure why … possibly because for me the drama of the episode matters less than the overhanging arcs (like on Psych, for instance)?
*POST AUTHOR*
Ivey – I thought it was a little bit hammy, but I agree that it was great to see the Marshall/Mary connection back in top form … you know, like where it was back in the beginning of season one when Marshall got shot? Way to make it all the way back to the beginning!
I agree about Jinx, and Dershowitz, although I think they shove him in a bit too much now. I still find it hilarious, but according to him the police department out there is large; so how’s he always the one called out on their cases?
I imagined the following happening with Rafe: he makes it to the majors, where his success is a problem for Mary, both because of the publicity, and also the “easy” life that she would so loathe. So maybe it wasn’t the character as much as the promise of their storyline together. Could you imagine Mary walking to her car one morning and running into paparazzi? Or what she might to them? :)
I’d completely forgot that Marshall had been shot.
I guess I need to revisit the first season :)
*POST AUTHOR*
Season 1, Episode 4: Trojan Horst
Its probably worth picking up the DVDs if I can find them on sale.
*POST AUTHOR*
Maybe. All I can say is, we marathon a number of shows each season before their premieres, including Burn Notice and Psych. No such marathon for In Plain Sight. Not to say I don’t like the show (because I actually do), but can you re-watch these? It would have to be a NICE sale. ;)
Yes, I know Maples has been around from the beginning, but I’m also do not subscribe to the “mythical season one” theory, either.
This show, IMHO, is best when it focuses on the cases (and thus Marshall and Mary), and not Mary’s personal life. A downsizing in Jinx’s role is a welcome change for me, but I do like Dershowitz, and think that the show will be worse off (though marginally) without him.
*POST AUTHOR*
That’s what I’ve been preaching!
I won’t miss either character (and could stand less Raph) and won’t mind the increased focus on the Marshals and their work. However, I do hope they don’t change this show into a straight procedural, as I stopped watching those ten years back. I follow In Plain Sight for the regular characters and the black humor, and usually find the witness of the week either stupid or annoying.
At any rate, I understand we’ve got 8-9 months to wait, so I hope people don’t forget about it the way they did Life and Chuck.
*POST AUTHOR*
Interestingly, I think USA’s shows tend to not be forgotten, but rather highly anticipated, through the long breaks. I wouldn’t worry.