(S01E04) Okay, this was the best episode of In Plain Sight to date. Action-packed and filled with character revelations, if this is where In Plain Sight is going, it's going to definitely make it beyond this premiere season.The set up has Marshall and Mary taking custody of a seemingly innocuous, diabetic, asthmatic accountant/arranger for a hit man named Lola. He's been caught in an FBI sting and will go WITSEC in exchange for "delivering" Lola.
Expertly played by Dave Foley (News Radio), he's just enough of an unctuous ass to make him amusing. When Mary throws him to the ground and pounces on him, he says, "Could you get off of me, you're not exactly petite."
The role was very much like Charles Grodin, a mob accountant, in the movie Midnight Run, with Robert DeNiro as the bounty hunter forced to take him cross country. (If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and rent it; it's great!)
The subtext of the episode was more fascinating than the case itself. Mary snoops into Marshall's mail and discovers he's been interviewing for a new job outside the Witness Protection Service. She acts out, getting moody, but not revealing why she's pissed with him. There's an interesting workplace dynamic between Marshall and Mary; they're really good at doing their business while doing this back-and-forth battle about their relationship. Do you wonder if they would they have walked into a trap if they were not bickering? I don't think so, because at the rest stop, Marshall is suspicious of the bottle drop.
So their Jeep breaks down, it's a trap. They're outside cell phone range -- good! I hate when you can just call out of a perilous situation, don't you? While checking out the engine, Marshall and Mary are ambushed by two shooters in a car -- the couple from the rest stop. There's a tremendous amount of shooting, but only Marshall is hit on first shot. Excuse me for complaining, but these people need to get to the shooting range! Mary shoots and shoots and doesn't hit either of the bad guys. There's lots of bullet holes, but only Marshall's blood.
Thanks to Marshall, they get away and find shelter in an abandoned building. Did anybody else notice how much it looked just like the NCIS finale where Jenny was killed? Anyway, Marshall he passes out and Mary gets desperate. She really needs him, despite what she says. He comes to and manages to temporarily mend his wound with a plastic tube and a bottle of water. You gotta love Marshall's ability to know what to do when - bravo.
Mary suspects the bad guys have a GPS device. They're trapped, outnumbered and vulnerable, and in this tense, dangerous situation, Marshall admits he wants to leave the marshal service because of their relationship -- but it's not a love thing (at least that's not what he's saying). He tells her, "I feel like I'm this keeper of an exotic animal." He's protecting Mary -- the exotic animal -- from the world and the world from her. The responsibility of caring for her is getting to him. Mary gets it.
She kisses him -- as a friend -- says he can't quit. He's her friend; she needs him. When he starts bleeding, Mary acts boldly because she must. She tries to get the drop on the baddies, and when she uses their Jeep to get position, she realizes Horst was never shot at. She confronts his and in a rapid connect-the-dots way, she sings words to the Kinks' song "Lola," and confirms that Horst is hitman Lola. He got himself arrested to do a job. Acting decisively, Marshal Mary exchanges Horst for a car and rushes Marshal Marshall to help. Horst is apprehended and Marshall's fate hangs in the balance.
Other points of interest
-- Mary brings "expensive coffee beverages" to the office. Marshall is stunned: "You're not a treater. ...It's just an observation, not a criticism." He's right, though. Mary wants to be reimbursed.
-- After discovering that Marshall's looking for another job, Mary cracks wise, "Why did I put up with your running commentary for three years?"
-- The weakest part of the In Plain Sight continues to be Mary's family. Brandi busts Jinx for not doing her cosmetics job. Jinx claims that "The dog ate my samples" which is dumb, but true. Brandi forces Jinx to turn to her "box." No, not that box. It's her jewelry. Guess what? All her gems are paste -- DOH!
-- Back at the bar, Jinx and Brandi drink to Mary, their meal ticket. By the way, who's paying for their drinks?
-- Great line when Mary confronts the woman from the shootout. "You shouldn't have shot my friend; I only have one friend." She then kicks her to the ground. Nice.
-- As "Lola" plays on the soundtrack -- "She walked like a woman and talked like a man" -- you realize the lyrics kind of describe Mary.
-- In voice over (the only time during the show), Mary quotes Nietzsche: "We go into the world alone and come out alone." At hospital, Mary really breaks downs and we see that she does need the emotional connection to her dysfunctional family. She is, as she says, "Infuriatingly dependent on others."
-- Lesley Ann Warren needs a new outfit. Her hot "Mary Kay" pink suit is tired.
-- This episode was really well-directed by Bryan Spicer (24, House). The pacing of the show was great; it seemed to fly by.
Five other TV shows where Sarah Palin should appear
Brought To You By ... - VIDEOS
Giveaway Monday: How I Met Your Mother season three DVD
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-23-2008 @ 12:24PM
SassylilB said...
Last night was the 1st time I watched it . It was really good! I will be watching it again! I wish they make Dave Foley a recurring character! He was best part of the episode!
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6-23-2008 @ 1:20PM
CygnusTM said...
Mary hit the male thug with a shot, and I don't think she would have asked to be paid back for the coffee if Marshall hadn't made his comment.
The main plot twist was completely transparent and was given away by the episode title!
You are spot on with the family, though. They should have cut their worthless scenes, and given us more Dave Foley.
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6-23-2008 @ 1:28PM
Christopher said...
I seriously can do without her mother and sister.
What ever happened to that boat load of cocaine her sister had in that trunk?
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6-23-2008 @ 1:52PM
Diane said...
I'm done with this show. I've watched all the episodes so far and really it just doesn't work for me. I think most of the writing just stinks!
The actors are awkward with each other (Dan,the Mom and the baseball player boyfriend-why did he leave the show again?), the back story lines don't flow and seem forced into the episode just for in between filler for the WITSEC people. For that matter the WITSEC story lines seem to kinda bumble around as well. And I thought that last night they are either desperate to make the show work or just bad story planning for Marshall and Mary to "have the talk". OBVIOUSLY he's not leaving after 4 episodes.
On the positive side, I think the scenes at the office are good with the character interaction and the family scenes could really be developed as family but there has to be a blending of the two somehow for this to work about Mary's life.
Now, I'm just waiting for Psych to come back along with Burn Notice- although I'll be curious to see if they left Burn Notice alone or screwed it up with a revamp!
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6-23-2008 @ 2:51PM
Leslie said...
I got the impression that the pink suit was a uniform the cosmetic saleswomen had to wear. It's certainly shorthand for "going to 'sell makeup' now."
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6-23-2008 @ 2:55PM
Deb said...
Really liked this episode, esp that Marshall's character is being fleshed out more. So far he had been overshadowed by Mary, but I guess that was Marshall's point.
I had read other's negative comments about Jinx/Brandy before and never really felt that way until now. The M&M scenes were really gripping and then the fluff of J&B was very jarring. Although I thought that when Jinx resolved to leave the past behind, and grabbed the jewelry box, I expected her to go back to the jewerly store and get the cash. That would have been a real step forward for her! However, she just drunkenly fell all over the other patrons in an attempt to give the jewerly away. Very disappointing character development on part of the writers. Please have Brandy go back to NJ, and have her take Jinx with her. The writers should rework Mary's personal side. PS - I also wondered how they were going to pay for the drinks. Were they going to rely on the "kindness of strangers?"
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6-23-2008 @ 4:20PM
Max said...
I agree about the family stuff. It sucks. Here we had this great interaction in the abandoned gas station with Mary, Marshall, and Horst, and we have to cut to these 2 losers in a bar. At least Tivo has fast-forward!
One of the nice things about other procedurals like CSI:Vegas is that they keep the personal life stuff to a minimum (or at least they did at the beginning) and focused on the interaction of the main characters in the story. IPS should stick to that, too. The interaction between the marshals and Stan, the cop, and the FBI agents they begrudgingly work with is far more interesting than her family and sex life.
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6-23-2008 @ 4:24PM
christina said...
I dunno, I pegged that the dude was Lola from the first inhale of his inhaler. I thought that the episode was so-so...not sure if I'm digging it yet.
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6-23-2008 @ 6:10PM
Toby OB3 said...
Once again, I watched the show via DVR delay and fast-forwarded through the subplot of Jinx and Brandi. They were totally removable, no need for them at all to interact with the other plot.
Which can only mean: Get rid of them! They're vestigial!
Oh well, combined with the commercials, I was able to speed through the episode in 35 minutes!
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6-23-2008 @ 7:59PM
Piper said...
I really liked the episode, I am a big fan of Dave Foley. My question is, if you are Lola, why bother even pretending to be killed or kidnapped? Once they get to New Mexico, isn't he going to be in the WITSEC program? Couldn't he pretend to be killed then?
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6-23-2008 @ 8:37PM
keithnl said...
The crying was the best, when she totally broke down when her mom showed up. You rarely see someone completely lose their sh*t like that, so that was tres tres super cool.
As was Marshall checking the car after the water bottle was dropped.
I didn't mind the wacky family tonight so much. I was a great distraction but at least we got to see that dopey sister is'nt exactly thrilled to have a whoreish mom. And we got to see whore mom find out her worth with all the fake jewelery. Finally they both acknowledged Marys importance, the worst part of the wacky families in other shows is how oblivious they are.
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6-23-2008 @ 8:48PM
SethDavis said...
I really like the show, but I had the whole Horst-is-Lola twist figured out pretty quickly. His medical needs/effete-like persona seemed a little too Verbal Gimp-like for me.
But it was about the journey, not so much the final resolution, that made the show a good way to kill an hour.
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6-23-2008 @ 8:58PM
tagtime said...
I agree with Sassylilb. The show was good because Dave Foley was great. His character was funny and serious. I enjoyed seeing him act in this show. I think if they could bring his character back again that would be a good thing.
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6-23-2008 @ 9:27PM
Jojee said...
I like it when Mary is vulnerable. I took the show off my dvr list and then decided to put it back on after this episode. The first one I really liked.
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6-23-2008 @ 11:05PM
Anita said...
This was a great ep. But I agree with others regarding the family. I think they're best when they're supporting Mary - but it's too soon to flesh out the family members individually, especially when the Marshal-Mary connection is far more compelling.
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6-24-2008 @ 4:39PM
AliB said...
It was boring beginning to end. Don't US marshals have to be able to shoot straight? Neither one of them could hit the side of a barn. The best part for me was the 'Psyche' commercial - Ebony and Ivory - absolutely brilliant and hilarious.
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6-24-2008 @ 4:43PM
AliB said...
It was boring beginning to end. Don't US marshals have to be able to
shoot straight? Neither one of them could hit the side of a barn. The
best part for me was the 'Psyche' commercial - Ebony and Ivory -
absolutely brilliant and hilarious.
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