Alright, so it was kind of sad, on its face … but, as predictable as it was, I still found the office engagement party to be pretty damn funny. Eleanor (Holly Maples) and Stan (Paul Ben-Victor) awaiting Mary and Marshals’ return with some hats and drinks? Good stuff.
Of all the shows that I watch on TV, In Plain Sight was possibly the last I imagined going PC. That is, a lesbian witness, whose sexual orientation was taken in stride. For whatever reason, I didn’t expect it to happen, but I appreciated how it was handled: nothing different happening here. Sure, there were the occasional comments by Marshal, but his inappropriateness level would have been the same had the witness been a tree, or a rock…. Give it a minute.
Mary and Marshal are deep into rebuilding the relationship and banter that they enjoyed … in season one. The reconstruction of their relationship this season has meant the loss of a lot of weeks of fun and funny, but at least it’s back; hey, I’m no complainer!
Anyone seem to catch how upset Marshal AND Mary were during that congratulatory hug in the diner, after Mary admits to being engaged to Rafe? I never liked the puppy-dog-love storyline, but there’s an authenticity in both of their feelings of opportunity lost. The subtle, unspoken, sexual attraction, and mutual love, is part of what made them work so well together in the past. Seeing Stan a bit upset just brought back memories of how creepy he was in season one.
For an athlete, and a Latin-American, Rafe seriously needs to man-up. Accepting the ridiculous crap that Mary’s MIA for his moving in? I realize I’m ignoring the fact that they have yet to discuss if he’d move in, and it’s absurd that he’s just barreling ahead with it (NO I’M NOT), but the fact that Rafe’s back to accepting Brandi as “surrogate Mary”? Maybe it’s a good thing he retired from baseball…. Give that a minute too.
The incident not only reflected poorly on Rafe; it also gave Brandi the opportunity to try and have a “talk” about their past, and their new future. Wake up lady! You had no past, other than your own attraction to your sister’s boyfriend, and your inappropriate behavior.
Yes, and Rafe’s inappropriate behavior, and his absurd acceptance of Brandi as Mary’s stand-in. Whatever relationship they built primarily stems from mutual anger at Mary for a variety of different things; it’s a revenge thing, as opposed to something built on any sort of concrete foundation. I’m guessing we’re supposed to be preparing ourselves for drama to come … how about not?
There were three moments last night that I really dug:
Question for all you loyalists: Eleanor’s the office admin. Does it not offend you when she’s sent running to do research, or pull information, that really isn’t in her job description? I just really dislike people abusing their subordinates … is that really and truly a part of her job? It’ll make me feel better to hear that that’s the case. Thanks!
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jul 27, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
re Eleanor: I’m not sure that it ISN’T in her job description. To hold a position in that office she must already have a security clearance of some kind. Possibily in a bigger office work like that would be farmed out to a junior agent, but I find it believable here.
Sorry, cliqued before I was done…
Love the song… Also was used in Sorkin’s Studio 60.
I think I missed both of your references :(
You’re right about Brandi that the whole thing was in her head, but reasonably it would still be in her head now, and she’d view it as an issue that needed addressing.
I just wish Rafe would go away.
*POST AUTHOR*
Could definitely be, I just didn’t know if she was meant to do the grunt work, or if she was just being taken advantage of. Although, would security clearance matter more than not being trained in the “Marshal’s” way of doing things?
When in Studio 60? I don’t remember. :(
Yeah, they weren’t so much references … with the first, I’d written the line about the tree and the rock, then realized it sounded weird, even if my intent (that Marshal could say something inappropriate about anything) was still there. So I told everyone to take a minute to get my intent from the awkward line.
The second was me saying that Rafe’s a girl, without having to say it in the post and get yelled at for being sexist.
I didn’t remember you as a closet (or not) Rafe hater….
The S60 episode was “The Cold Open” (the second episode) where the cast sang a number about being the very model of a modern network TV show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb5w8tpgZtw Starts around the 4:00 minute mark. The intellectual reach-around like is still one of my all time favorites.
Again, the Elanor stuff makes sense to me. I’m sure just like civilian office politics, sometimes the best inter agency stuff is done behind the scenes…
I’m just tired of anything to do with Rafe. Between the whole thing with Brandi this year, and the whole domestication thing this, I just want it to go away. (FWIW, though, I don’t find Mary’s agreeing to get married is off character)
*POST AUTHOR*
Awesome! Thanks for link. I need to buy the DVD already.
I actually don’t mind Rafe, and he could be a great character. Mary just kills his soul.
Don’t forget Eleanor and Stan made balloons too!
This seemed post-PC to me, in that the writers didn’t even seem to be trying to teach the audience a lesson (or they just wanted to see Sherilyn Fenn and Kelly Hu make out). I guess it makes sense that if the CIA sent an operative to seduce a gay woman, it would be most effective if the agent was actually gay as well.
I guess that answers my question about Marshall’s sublimation of his crush, now love. I have to say that McCormack and Weller really sold both scenes well with their understatement and uncomfortableness.
1. You don’t understand, but Rafe does. For Mary, that is trying hard.
2. I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General was unutterably cute.
Although we don’t know Eleanor’s responsibilities on paper, since there was no previous office administrator, there are only three inspectors in the office, and she has no staff of her own to supervise, she might actually be their support staff now. Certainly if she wasn’t supposed to be doing research for Mary, she’d be quite vociferous about it when asked. Instead, she’s business-like and professional.
*POST AUTHOR*
I really wanted a picture of the party for the post, but USA sucks at providing stills for their episodes. They usually just release posed stuff.
Marshal and Mary, and the actors, are a great pair. I’m not into the idea of their being a couple, but their relationship should be at the core of the show again.
I’m going take the road of least resistance here; what is it that Rafe’s saying Mary’s done that is trying hard? I wasn’t saying that what she’s done in weak, I was saying, what’s she done?
I know you don’t like the references, but there’s a tremendous scene from The West Wing, involving a ton of Gilbert & Sullivan show posters, a subterranean office, and giddy West-Wingers singing. It was feel-good in the context of the episode, but it was also, as stand-alone, a very silly cultural reference, that I got a whiff of with “I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General” on In Plain Sight. Really cute.
I addressed the Eleanor thing a bit above, in response to Ivey, but I’d add, to you, that if Eleanor’s getting thrown this crap work in the crunch, when it’s do or die, she wouldn’t say a word about it, even if she wasn’t meant to be doing it. She’s too dedicated to her job and country for that.
Actually, I don’t like any of the possible pairings for Mary, even Mary-Marshall, but I do enjoy the discomfort they cause her. Mary-Dershowitz, as you mentioned to An below, could be fun, and certainly much less boring than Mary-Peter.
Rafe’s line was humorous for me, but not in the way it was for you. For someone as grumpy and stubborn as Mary, not digging in her heels and kicking and screaming while being dragged out of her comfortable routine shows incredible forbearance and restraint. For anyone else, it would barely be civility. Rafe knows he’s lucky to get that much out of her. And I don’t think he was seriously expecting her to help with his move if she was scheduled to work that day. I did like Dershowitz immediately after that with the coffee, though.
I don’t mind new The West Wing references, just was not enamored of the same one being put forth again and again. I’ve tried in the past but I just think Sorkin’s writing style, like Straczynski’s, doesn’t appeal to me. As an aside, I know the song not from Gilbert & Sullivan, but from Tom Lehrer’s adaptation.
Okay, now you’re making me laugh. One time I might have given you, but Mary’s thrown this stuff at Eleanor in several episodes now, and the idea that Eleanor would not have snarked back to her at least once is ludicrous. :-)
*POST AUTHOR*
All wishful thinking. It’s Rafe until she kills him, and then we’ll talk. ;)
Re-read what you said about Rafe’s expectations from Mary … and he loves her, why? How is that acceptable human behavior?
I think you think a lot more highly of Eleanor than I do. I think she can crack wise, but she’s just as cowed in Mary’s presence as all the other bozos.
I think it’s just one of those cases where there’s someone out there for everyone. How do the hardass, emotionally-unavailable male cops in these shows keep their hot wives/girlfriends from leaving? Mary is very difficult, but Rafe seems to love her enough to work with that and appreciate what change she can make, little by little.
Yep, I think Eleanor’s had a long career in the Federal service and encountered Mary’s type many times before. I don’t think she’s intimidated by her in the slightest, but can dampen the hostility when she wants to. The men in the office, I’ll agree are scared of Mary.
*POST AUTHOR*
They’re okay with their wives staying home and shopping all day, gossiping with friends and flirting with the bagger in the grocery store.
The problem is, we’re being told that “Rafe seems to love her enough to work with that and appreciate what change she can make, little by little.” I don’t feel that that’s ever been substantiated, and it doesn’t make any logical sense.
I guess we’ll agree to disagree; I think Eleanor’s little more than bluster, AND, she has a strong respect for the badge.
Actually my point was not what the male cops thought about what their wives/girlfriends did at home, but how those women put up with their men being stubborn, uncommunicative and distant as an analogy to Rafe putting up with the same behavior from Mary and not giving up.
Basically, you’re asking how the Mary-Rafe relationship can possibly work, but we see that same dynamic all the time in cop shows, just with the genders reversed, so I was asking how this was any different.
*POST AUTHOR*
Right; I’m saying the wives put up with their men because the men are “okay with their wives staying home and shopping all day…”
Hmm, A, I actually agreed with your IPS post this time, all the way up until the first bullet point.
I like the return of the M-M chemistry and loved the pirates sing-off. However, I was not happy about the hint of M-Dershowitz chemistry over coffee or the Rafe-Chica matchup. Both M-D have great chemistry, but with Rafe and Marshal, it’s just an embarrassment of riches. Regarding Rafe and Brandi, I had hoped the writers had killed the storyline. But, clearly not. And, copy-paste what you already typed.
Minor things: I love how the show covertly reveals Mary as a better/different agent from Marshal i.e. Marshal actually/accidentally revealing info to D while Mary keeps it close.
Concerning Eleanor, doing duties above the office admin rank makes her more relevant to the show and it’d be a waste of her background if she were just the stapler & filer-er. Plus, it marks her as well-regarded. Also, Stan commented when E 1st arrived that the office formerly had more agents but Mary & Marshal reduced that, but, they still need support. Plus, the plot goes faster when Marshal and Mary don’t have to run back to the office to research.
Minor note, ‘as a hispanic man,’ um, as a minority woman, isn’t that a bit of generalizing? Is it legal to tell a US Marshal that she can’t track down her murder-involved witness b/c he wants moving help? However, Rafe does need to man up and realize that he and Mary aren’t on the same page for the long haul. She is making an effort, but his quitting his job, initially faking the engagement, and moving in two weeks later is hyperspeed.
*POST AUTHOR*
At least I made it 2/3 of the way this time! :-)
I actually happen to think that Mary and Dershowitz would make for the best relationship on the show. Call me crazy, but I think they’d be even better than Mary and Peter. It’ll never happen, but imaging it at least keeps my mind off of how bad Mary and Rafe are toegtehr.
Oh yeah; Marshal is totally a goof, and I think it’s his instincts that make him a good Marshal, rather than being strategic, like Mary. They definitely complement each other, though.
I wouldn’t minimize what it’d mean to be the admin of a US Marshal WITSEC office; she’d be in charge of everything from witness transport and care, to testimony scheduling, to who knows what. There’s a lot more there than stapling, and that’s still support. It doesn’t mean she should be doing/is qualified to do research.
My point was definitely a generalization … Latino men are stereotyped as manly and male-centric. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my saying he needs to be more like that stereotype, and that he falls short right now. I’m not denigrating him, or his ethnicity.
I wouldn’t suggest that he tell Mary she can’t go to work; I’d suggest they discuss his moving in, and then schedule it for a time when she will be there. That means he may need to wait, and also that she needs to commit to being there.
The Marshall & Mary awkward thing was going on during & after his toast all well.
I loved that everyone kept calling Marshall princess & how he said that he got a lot of compliments with the ring.
*POST AUTHOR*
Ditto! I’m actually surprised he didn’t get ridden harder about the ring! :-)
It was bittersweet watching Marshall barely try to get the ring unstuck. You just knew he didn’t really want to give it back.
*POST AUTHOR*
And the look on his face when he finally gave it back….