Sorry for the delay; I spent all of yesterday on the phone with the postal service. It seems that no one can find the royalty check that the writers on In Plain Sight must have sent me. It’s like no one even knew what I was talking about. I figured, “the episode aired Sunday night, so they probably meant to get it to me beforehand, in which case, it should have arrived by Saturday, latest.” Thus my response to everyone that, “no, it wasn’t most likely in Monday’s mail.” It wasn’t, anyway, so that blew their theory to hell.
Anyway, while I await what most assuredly must be arriving in today’s mail, I figure I might as well revisit said episode with you. I’ll fill you all in when the check finally gets here.
I thought the training video storyline was hilarious. In its application, I was a bit disappointed by the end, because I imagined Marshal and Mary starring in it, but I like how old-school the original was, and how brain-dead even the new, finished product, was. That it was meant to mirror Mary’s life was a bit too obvious, and I’m kind of surprised that it was news to her; it was like saying to her, “Mary, you wear jeans,” and having her be stunned at the revelation. But, okay.
Martin Landau (Bob, on Entourage) guested as an old Philly mobster who was part of the original twenty witnesses that WITSEC was built around in the 1970s. Landau only disappointed in that he wasn’t believable as a Philadelphia native. He’s got too much Boca, by way of New York, in him. Beyond that, he was further proof that the recent string of guest stars, and the renewed focus on the witnesses themselves, is really working for the show.
Marshal and Detective Dershowitz (Todd Williams) continue making fast friends, and I like the buddy-buddy of the two. I was a little turned off by Dershowitz’s digging into the witness’ identity … he does realize that these people are in witness protection for a reason, right? What if the Philly PD had a sleeper mole working for the Philly mob, just waiting for someone to start looking for one of the Philly 20? Those people would be dead in a second.
I’ve also always been a bit suspicious of Dershowitz’s intentions cozying up to Marshal. Much less so now, but it’s always seemed as if he wanted the inside lane to Mary, either because he sees her as competition, a challenge, or a potential love-interest. Unclear, but bordering on user-y.
Joshua Malina (as Peter) was back (how are we to believe that he and Brandi have this budding romance when he’s never around? Not to mention how absurd the idea of the pair is….), and I liked his being the vessel that the writers utilized to knock some sense into Mary. But, did she really not realize how mean she is to her family (including Rafe) quite often?
And, this episode was a particularly nasty version of Mary, season one all the way. Exactly who I’ve been looking for! Yes, this will be a blip on the radar, as the writers turned up her nasty past where it’s been this season so that she could be more influenced by Peter and the training video, resulting in her blurting out what she did for a living to Rafe.
No way in the world do I believe that Mary would have ever felt the impulse to do that, but I understand that the writers were attempting to represent that part of what she struggles with is her job’s need for secrecy. To speak for myself, I’ve never seen her struggle so much as felt the show telling us that she was, but maybe that’s just me (See, Ryan, more open positions on the issues.)
So, yeah, season one Mary was my clarion call. And I was predicting the inevitable jolt that Rafe suggesting he move in with Mary (because, yes Mary, that is what married couples generally do: live together) would cause her. I’ve been writing about a lot of these plot points and ideas for weeks now; thus the royalty check that surely must be coming.
But I wonder where this will leave us; so now Rafe knows what Mary does, but that won’t enable her to discuss her day. He’ll still feel that same frustration at her being a closed book. And she’ll still treat him like crap.
Actually, I saw something interesting between Mary and Peter in those fleeting moments that they were together … I think he’s equipped to deal with the obvious pain she’s carrying around in a strong manner, and she would provide him with something that I think he needs in a mate: a strong, intelligent person. It won’t happen (although I will expect royalty check number two when it does), but it would definitely be better use of Malina’s talent, as I’ve said before.
Overall, not a bad little spin in the parking lot, but one that won’t last beyond this week; old Mary was unnaturally resurrected to make a broader point, and, unfortunately, she will be returned to her grave before we get to next week. In the meantime, I need to clear the rest of my day in order to wait for the mail … so excited!
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jul 21, 2009 @ 11:30 EST5EDT
Just what the hell did Rafe think her job was before? With the gun and the badge, maybe Avon saleswoman? If it’s supposed to be a secret, it’s a poor one.
*POST AUTHOR*
Yeah, I think Federal Agent is something everyone knows, even that she works for the Marshals. The unknown is WITSEC. Marshals do fugitive apprehension, protection, transport, serving documents, etc. Admitting that she’s a part of WITSEC actually reveals that people are being relocated to Albuquerque.
As much fun as it would have been to see Mary and Marshall play out the scene, I assume that the Service wouldn’t want the faces of actual inspectors to be shown, even on an internal training video.
I always thought Dershowitz’s posturing was amusing, and his intentions toward Mary a mixture of jurisdictional territoriality and romantic interest, although I wonder just what kind of relationship real WITSEC inspectors have with the local law enforcement officers they see again and again.
I think Mary was pretty clear-sighted about how mean she’s been to her family, but the realization that she’s treated Rafe in exactly the same way was unexpected.
I’ve not seen the clear separation you have between season one Mary and season two Mary, judging her ranges of emotion and combativeness to all be facets of the same imperfect person, but that’s just a perception issue. As is the difference between genuinely portraying character emotions and development and having the writers just telling us it happened (actually, that’s the main reason I just could not continue watching The Philanthropist and Dollhouse). But I do applaud your open-mindedness.
Somehow, I did buy Mary just flat out telling Rafe the truth. I wonder how many agents and soldiers with classified jobs in the real world do confide the generalities of what they actually do to their spouses. Against all the rules, certainly, but it must sometimes happen. Just not to the degree of The Unit.
Yes, the Mary/Rafe friction is inevitable now that she’s actually forced to adjust, but it’s not a preordained conclusion that neither of them will change. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens (and if it meets your suspension of disbelief ;-).
The way you describe the Mary/Peter relationship seems to me to apply just as well to Mary/Marshall. I just don’t see future storylines in either of those detours.
As for Rafe, I would expect he thought Mary was an armed Federal agent. He might have even known seen her badge on the nightstand before and known she was a U.S. Marshal. It’s the WITSEC part that’s the secret.
*POST AUTHOR*
Oh, you’re definitely right; I just had this picture of Marshal and Mary playing, like, 1960’s Marshals for the video, in black and white. Like June Cleaver for the feds.
I think it’s the soft emotions that were lacking last season, and some of the stronger posturing that’s missing this. It’s difficult to explain, but something that screams out at me every time I tune in.
“But I do applaud your open-mindedness.”
See; I’m growing. :-)
Actually, I’m sure many people with classified jobs share some of that secrecy with their spouses and/or families. I just didn’t see Mary being one of them. I thought she’d talk around the edges about her day with him, not open up the fact that WITSEC relocates witnesses in New Mexico.
Yeah, that was true last year with Mary and Marshal. For whatever reason, I think the writers shelved that, along with Marshal’s personality for the first half of season two. I don’t see a future for them, but I CAN see it for Mary more with Peter than with Rafe.
Hee… at least we got to see Mary and Marshall acting out a scene to mock the suit and the director. You’re right; I could have watched that go on for the entire episode.
For me, Mary is just as hardass as ever. The reboot in season two was that Marshall and Stan will actually stand up to her and sometimes even forestall her more impulsive tendencies. I think you’re right about the softer emotions, but I think of that as peeling back an onion, and expect more in the future. She definitely has not lost her edge or her toughness.
Actually, I was thinking that such people couldn’t talk anything about their day-to-day lives at work so as not to compromise operational security, but might have shared their true professions with their spouses as a one-time honesty. I can see Mary in that last scene as being ready to blow and just having to blurt out something deeply truthful to Rafe. I was only surprised that she said it out on the street and not in a locked bathroom with the shower running as we so often see in movies and television.
I respect your Mary and Peter preferences, as I do like Malina. For Marshall, I don’t see his personality changing so much, but they have shelved his awkwardly obvious crush on Mary. I don’t know if they’ve written it out or he’s sublimating it after their kiss in the stables crashed and burned, but I prefer it this way and they have a more equal partnership now. And seriously, three guys interested in Mary all at once strained my credulity last season.
*POST AUTHOR*
A training video with Marshal and Mary should definitely either be made for the website, or a DVD extra for season two. It’s be hilarious.
Are you kidding?!? Mary’s hard shell is used now in the stiffest and most awkward of ways … she’s totally changed at her core to a more emotive, and soft person. I’d see that as your “peeling back an onion” if it felt right, or real, in any way. For me, it doesn’t.
The way I imagine it, people in classified jobs share there “position” with whoever’s in their immediate sphere, plus non-specific things that they do, or experiences that they have. Sure, not the shootout, but the fact that they had to chase a witness down to an out-of-state hotel? Why not?
As for Mary, specifically, I didn’t see sufficient build-up for that crescendo. The video, and the talk with Peter, should have been things she chewed on for a few episodes, until, sometime in the finale, it came out. It was a wholly unnatural utterance where it was, and, again, I felt like it was forced, rather than organic.
“…three guys interested in Mary all at once strained my credulity last season.”
I agree with you, wholeheartedly, mainly because none of the three had a believable reason to be interested in her. Where it may be strong elsewhere, this show does a poor job substantiating back-stories … ironic, considering what Marshals need to do.
If you skip the commercials on USA, be sure to slow down and watch the farewell to Monk, where we see Mary and Marshall, Shawn and Gus, Sam Axe, Hank Lawson and Jeff Goldblum’s character all talk about how much Adrian Monk means to them personally.
I’m not being facetious. As we’ve previously established, we have very different impressions of Mary, with which we’ll just have to live.
Even the tiniest detail mentioned to one’s spouse might be let slip to that spouse’s friend, who repeats it to their friend, and so on and so forth. It could be anything, even just who was where at what time and talked to whom. Mary even scoffs at the CIA’s secrecy in comparison to WITSEC.
I don’t know how it works in real life, so maybe too much of this is from The Unit, where the CO (Robert Patrick) sent operatives out to test the security-mindedness of his soldiers’ wives, and one of them failed.
If I have this problem with Mary, whom I like a lot, you can imagine how I feel about Emily’s three (thus far) suitors on Make It or Break It.
*POST AUTHOR*
Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll keep an eye out for the commercial. If it’s anything like the Burn Notice/Royal Pains crossover, where Michael sends Hank the housewarming gift, I imagine it’s great.
I think we have different experiences with marriage, too, either from personal experience or other. My wife wouldn’t be my spouse if there was a chance she’d let something private between us slip, just as not sharing something like thoughts of retirement wouldn’t even be a remote possibility between us. I guess it’s just different strokes.
Found it unofficially captured on YouTube: Monk Tribute. USA really needs to put this up on their site.
*POST AUTHOR*
Thanks!