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In Plain Sight – Stepmother

Not-So Fast Times in WitSec High. An episode that narrowly avoids showing us the teen Mary that would've eaten teen Marshall alive.

- Season 3, Episode 12 - "Stepmother"

I thought I would dislike this episode, particularly considering Matthew J. Lieberman, who had a hand in “Her Days are Numbered” wrote it with Dailyn Rodriguez; but, I surprisingly enjoyed it — like a box of Lucky Charms mixed with Skittles and Sweet Tarts. As I am closing on the final period of rest and relaxation, I, once again, defer to my favorite notation device: the bullet point.

Which do you prefer – the hard steel of the bullet or the warm embrace of the paragraph?

Family Circle

  • The parallels are so obvious, I don’t really need to point out the multiple Witness of the Week links to the Shannon family.
  • I loved watching Mary give Sabrina the Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles ‘tell no one’ speech. Unfortunately, just like John Connor in T:SC’s second season, Sabrina preferred to knock boots with the hot tattooed rebel, ignoring her Xena-esque protector.
  • Why do half of the WitSec witnesses and their families forget about the reason they’re in WitSec?
  • I love that Sabrina’s mother deliberately scheduled meetings during her visitations and then gave her daughter the seemingly most counterfeit-looking bills possible as an apology.
  • Why did the family keep referencing Sabrina’s attending Brown as definite? On the one hand, thank goodness the IPS writers discovered an ivy outside the top 3, but considering 15-16 year-old Sabrina hadn’t applied yet, it clearly was not a slam dunk. Plus, there are several good schools she could attend, i.e. Stanford or Rutgers, which would not destroy her future career chances (or, um, her life).
  • Brandi is a total enabler. Between giving fresh-out-of-the-hospital Scott an alcohol chaser for his prescription-strength pain killers (yes, I know, he isn’t an alcoholic but still) and handing over the check, it is clear Brandi does not practice Mary’s version of tough love.
  • At the same time, I now understand why she wants Mary to trust her despite not having earned it. Mary offers forgiveness through proof while Brandi provides trust through hope.

The Kitchen Sink (aka Random Thoughts)

  • I still like that Mary and Marshall have separate cases, but I figured they would have a balance of half apart and half together, as opposed to a focus on the former during S3’s second half.
  • On second thought, the writers did have to split them up. If Marshall continued to read Mary with the ease of a Sweet Valley High novel, I would’ve demanded they get together immediately.
  • Mary hunting down Sabrina’s pseudo-rapist ex-boyfriend in his “little racecar bed” with “Transformer” sheets? Awesome!
  • I am so tempted to download Mary’s ringtone.

Next Week
So, as the season slowly draws to its close, I have a few questions circling my seemingly tiny little mind for everyone else.

  • What happened to the favored party favorite Faber? He seemingly had a 2-ep deal, should he return?
  • Does anyone want Rafe back? How about Jinx (in her S3 form)?
  • Man, the Pearson character didn’t really pan out. Like Faber, IMDb only had her slated for two of the early S3 episodes. Should she come back?
  • Does anyone follow the show on Facebook or found themselves tempted to enter the weekly contest? I’d love to sign up for Mobile updates but fear inundation.
  • Any predictions? Anything you wanted to see that didn’t happen?

Quotables

  • Mary: “Saying what I’m about to say while you’re armed with scalding liquid probably isn’t my best move, but . . . “
  • Marshall: “I’ll be escorting my witness back to his room.”
    Mary: “I’ll be escorting his meatballs to a secure location.”

Photo Credit: USA

One Response to “In Plain Sight – Stepmother”

June 25, 2010 at 1:23 AM

Faber is on next weeks finale. He was in the promos. I would like to see the return of Bobby D. and Eleanor.

I like Jinx “coming into her own” and I’d like to see Brandi mature too. She’s got a nice man in her boyfriend.

Not sure if the brother will be back or not next season. Don’t know if I want him to return. I figure he is trouble.

Enjoyed your review, thanks

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