TVSquad

(S01E09) If you've invested in this show from the start -- as I have -- here was a really welcome episode to fill in the blanks. Finally, we were given a little back story about Mary, the place she's living, her obnoxious family, her frustrations with her life and even Marshall's unrequited (or so he thinks) leering for his partner. There was even some good character stuff for Bobby D -- whom Mary colorfully calls a "little prick" -- which was really nice.

I liked the case of a Chicago cop doing a "Serpico" -- going undercover to rat out police corruption -- and winding up killing a fellow officer in self-defense and being forced into Witness Protection was on target. And unlike the ridiculous Russian girl in the pilot who was asking WITSEC for new breasts, this was a realistic relocation. He resented being stuck in Albuquerque, and proving that he wasn't a stone, he was attracted to Mary. Of course, Mary did cross a line by sleeping with the guy, but that was all right, too, because it proved that she wasn't a stone, too. And since it was back story, it was pre-Raphael.




When another former Chicago cop happens to be killed, Eps is implicated in a very convoluted way, forcing Mary and Marshall to defend their charge and also investigate who really did it. Any time Mary has had to interact with Bobby D the show has perked up, and this was no different. But when it comes to crossing the line, his using her cell phone to uncover Eps identity was tricky and clever, but it I know my Law & Order, completely inadmissible in a court of law. Even if Eps had shot Rodriguez, there would have been no conviction because the evidence was all tainted.

One of the reasons the Eps character worked so well was familiarity. The actor, Jason Wiles, was a Third Watch regular -- playing a cop. He had the whole cop thing down pat, definitely adding to the verisimilitude. Also, I could definitely see him and Mary hooking up again because that door was left wide open at the end of the show.

Other points of interest

-- Why is Raph incapable of doing his laundry? Even Dr. Horrible did his own laundry.

-- Roxanne attacks Mary -- cat fight!! Granted, they're both in law enforcement, but this kind of fighting is really a guy thing. Cat fights are a male-fantasy. What is it with male scriptwriters and their obsessions with two girls wrestling, beyond the sexual turn on?

-- So the suitcase of cocaine didn't float down the river after all. Brandi retrieved it, although I recall her dropping it off a bridge and there was none in sight, and now she's going back to Chuck. I see flaws in that plan, don't you?

-- Marshall is too smart and observant not to have picked up on the fact that he walked into a gay bar. Also, Albuquerque can't have that many gay hangouts that someone as sharp as Marshall wouldn't know this one. Really. They're like an open secret in most cities.

-- Stan found a pair of balls! For the first time he acted like federal marshal with some clout.

-- I think Mary and Raph are done. She's moving on.

-- Call me crazy, but reading someone else's cell phone is an invasion of privacy, even if you're a cop. It's wrong.

-- I like Mary's idea about having a room full of cornflakes -- very practical.

-- I wonder if this was considered as the first episode? Or maybe it should have been in the first two or three. The info about Jinx driving from Paramus to help Mary move in to her house was great, especially Mary's line, "There are two kinds of surprise, Marshall, birthday and Pearl Harbor. Guess which category Mom showing up falls under?"

-- Mary told Brandi and Jinx to leave her house -- will they? I doubt it. When have they ever listened to her before!