Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: More interesting cases with real characters
Cons: New character is
too perky and one dimensional
The Bottom Line:
Mary and Marshall
Make excellent guides through the
Dark world of WitSec
"I'm Not a Team Player, Stan. And That's a Direct Quote from Last Year's Employee Evaluation."
I have gone from luke-warm to loving In Plain Sight. This show on the USA Network focuses on the
Witness Protection program via the office in Albuquerque. It definitely deals with the seedier side of
life since many of the people involved are criminals. It’s realistic, but darker than I normally
like. Yet the main characters’ sarcasm
keeps me coming back. Season 4 threw
a new twist into the mix, and it made for an interesting season.
Since season three was the only season of the show to not
end with a cliffhanger, this season feels like a fresh start in some ways for
Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack). Oh, she
still has witnesses to protect along with her partner Marshall Mann (Frederick
Weller). The biggest change at work is
that their boss Stan (Paul Ben-Victor) has hired a new agent in the ultra-perky
Delia (Tangie Ambrose). Oh yeah,
andMarshallhas a new girlfriend – detective Abigail Chaffee (Rachel Boston) who
is also a bit too perky for Mary’s tastes.
On the home front, Mary’s mother Jinx (Lesley Ann Warren) is
still sober and actually building a life for herself. But the big news is Brandi (Nichole Hiltz)
who is planning a wedding to her dream guy with Mary’s acting as the maid of
honor. That is, if Mary can find time
away from her job at WitSec.
So, what kind of cases does Mary handle this season? There’s the personal when Brandi is accused
of stealing a car and Mary calls on a witness to prove she didn’t do it. Then there’s the con man who pleads himself
into witness protection if he can team up with Mary to catch a bigger
criminal. Love comes between a witness
and the suspect in a crime he was a witness to.
A teenager finds she’s been living in WitSec while another has to give
up her promising music career after a crime is witnessed. And an Amish couple must adjust to life in
the big city after seeing a crime on their farm.
While the storylines are not the happy go lucky stuff I
normally watch TV for, I find them compelling and satisfying. While it’s rare for Mary’s witnesses to come
back for more than one episode, they are usually pretty well fleshed out so we
care about the outcome.
As always, Mary and Marshall are a great team. Their zingers at each other are fun, as are
their opposite personalities. Mary is
the very definition of a pessimist whileMarshallis an optimist tempered by
realism. It allows them to protect their
witnesses and help them adjust to their new lives.
My big complaint about the season are the new characters
brought in. Actually, I did warm
toMarshall’s girlfriend Abigail. She may
be too perky for Mary’s tastes, but I think she’s perfect forMarshalland turns
out to be a realistic characters. I wish
I could say the same for Delia. That
woman is so sickening sweet it’s quickly tiring. I was looking forward to seeing her irritate
Mary, but by her third episode, I was rooting for her to meet a nasty end.
I mentioned a new twist to this season earlier. Mary McCormack was pregnant in real life, so
they wrote it into the show. It was such
big news, so I was surprised that it took them so long to actually introduce
the storyline into the season. It also
takes advantage of TV time since over the course of the 13 episodes here, she
goes from getting pregnant to going into labor.
Watching her deal with this does a lot to further develop her character,
and I loved watching that part of the show.
Of course, all the actors make the show compelling. They are so refined at this point that I
can’t imagine anyone else in the parts.
The writers continue to give the characters great dialog and some very
funny one-liners. The show may be a bit
on the dark side overall, but you can usually count on at least one laugh a
week.
With thirteen episodes, it's not surprise that this is a
four disc set. And the episodes are presented
in widescreen and full surround. Extras
are limited to the usual deleted and extended scenes and a gag reel.
Delia was enough to take a star off the season, but the show
is still very compelling. If you are a
fan, you’ll definitely enjoy season 4 of In Plain Sight.
Season 4 Episodes:
1. The Art of the Steal
2. Crazy Like a Witness
3. Love in the Time of Colorado
4. Meet theShannons
5. Second Crime Around
6. Something A-mish
7. I’m a Liver not a Fighter
8. Kumar vs. Kumar
9. The Rolling Stones
10. Girls, Interrupted
11. Provo-cation
12. A Womb with a View
13. Something Borrowed, Something Blew Up
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by. In order to combat spam, I moderate most comments. I'll get to your comment as soon as I can.