Customer Reviews

In Plain Sight Season 1

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Hopefully, Mary McCormack reads her Amazon.com reviews. IN PLAIN SIGHT is the kind of intelligent comedy-drama that commercial TV should be producing, but can't or won't.

The life story of U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon who works for the U.S. Witness Protection Program (WITSEC), as told through her encounters with her colleagues and various "clients," IN PLAIN SIGHT's storylines are multidimensional and complex. So are the characters.

Mary is a tough, competent, and sharp-witted woman with ice in her professional veins. She's also nostalgic, emotional and warm, dedicated to friernds, family and the witnesses under her charge, and is committment-phobic. She drives a junkbox. She has a non-boyfriend who loves her. She may or may not love him, but she sleeps with him. She has a brilliant partner named Marshall Mann who loves her. She clearly loves him. They'd each take a bullet for the other. She doesn't sleep with him, but she's apparently jealous of his involvements with other women.

Mary has a mother (named Jinx) and a sister (named Brandi) with a combined bimbo quotient of over 250 and revolving doors on their bedrooms, who are both likeable and surprisingly innocent, and deeply wounded, and love her very much. They live with her. They don't work. She supports them. For their protection she has a cover as a low-level courier. They can't understand why she's wasting her life, and criticize her for not meeting a man as they leaf through this month's issue of Cosmo.

At work she's barbed and her emotions and moods change faster than the tides. She has a boss. He respects her. Despite titles, she's very definitely in charge. She argues vociferously with the law and order ADA who can't stand the fact that her witnesses are often career criminals with a lifetime pardon. His name is Bob Dershowitz. He's African-American. Nobody can figure that out, even Dershowitz.

Mary's private life isn't exactly a mess, but its far less clear-cut than her professional life, or would be, if she'd stop caring about her charges so much. But, as she says in so many words, she's one part secret agent, one part mother, one part confessor, one part friend, one part cop. A woman of many parts.

Mary McCormack was made for this role. "Not exactly petite" (as Mary Shannon is described), Ms. McCormack exudes a sense of self-confidence and solidity on camera, and imbues her character with layer upon layer of personality. This is a great acting job, because Mary McCormack brings Mary Shannon to life in full-color, sometimes conflicted and contradictory. She's also incredibly sexy, which doesn't seem to fit, but it does. Thank God. A competent professional, a warm caring person, and a sexual human being. Television has finally discovered a real woman.

YES!!!

I didn't catch onto this series until the first season was already over, but have been enjoying reruns on the USA network and Sleuth. And I have been anticipating the release of this series on DVD ever since. The characters are well developed, full of the flaws which accompany us all on life's path, and for the most part are very likable. That said, the over-the-top dysfunctional antics of Mom and Sis DO get old, and I find Jinx's character to be a waste of the talents of Leslie Ann Warren. She is absolutely the queen of quirky, but of all the characters, her storylines are the least entertaining, and in fact, bring down the entire show a notch. If I get tired of this series, this will be the reason for it. Mary certainly has dysfunctions of her own, but she at least, appears to be able to learn along the way. I'd like to see the dysfunction toned down. If these characters can all grow a bit, then I believe this series could have a long and successful run.

The interaction between Mary McCormack and Fred Weller's characters is especially delightful; it's the jewel of this series, and without it, I'm not sure how successful this show would be. What with his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things arcane and quirky, and his perfectly dry, straight-man delivery, he and Mary have a delightful kind of chemistry you don't see too often. In fact, I feel he really should have equal billing to Mary McCormack.

The Witness Protection aspect of the story makes for somewhat unusual storylines, which are MORE than welcome, and the show is well written. All in all, it adds up to a lot of fun. And as an extra bonus for me, it's filmed in Northern New Mexico, my favorite place in the world. What more could I ask for?

I'm not really into "cop" shows or "detective" shows that dominate network t.v. because they are usually dull, predictable, depressing, and totally lacking any humor. "In Plain Sight" doesn't suffer from these problems.

Luckily, I stumbled across this series last summer. The main character is a Federal Marshall who is involved in the Witness Protection program. She has to keep her clients safe and solve murders based upon her client's testimony. She and her partner Marshall have great chemistry together on-screen.

If you're a fan of "Burn Notice" you will enjoy this series as well; although they are different shows, what they share in common is humor, action, and great characters which are well written. The writers also explore the personal dramas of the main characters which makes for an interesting back-story.

Season 2 premieres April 2009 on USA network for existing fans of the show- for those that are curious and have never watched the show, rent/buy season 1 on dvd and you'll be up to speed when season 2 starts.

** highly recommended **

Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack) is a Federal Marshal with the Witness Protection Program. Working along side her partner Marshall Mann (Fred Weller), she helps witnesses adjust to their new life in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Since most of these people are criminals who agreed to testify against other criminals, that isn't always easy. For example, there's the con artist who may or may not have set her sights on a new mark, yet gets her picture in the paper. There's the man who brings his wife and mistress into the program only to decide it was time to break up with his mistress. And even when the witnesses are innocent, their lack of desire to leave their old life behind them can lead to problems, too.

If all that weren't enough, Mary's personal life is far from calm. She is supporting her dead beat mother (Lesley Ann Warren) and her sister Brandi (Nichole Hiltz). Not only has Brandi fallen for Mary's sometimes boyfriend Raphael (Cristian de la Fuente), but she is also hiding methamphetamine until her boyfriend can arrange the sale. What will happen when that little bombshell comes out?

Personally, I'm still not quite sure what to make of this show. At times, I am quite interested in seeing how things turn out. Then I get fed up with the soap opera nature of Mary's personal life. More often then not, Mary comes across as smug and condescending instead of human and funny, which I have a feeling is what they are aiming for. And the way she lets herself get manipulated by her family drives me crazy. And yet I keep watching because I need to know what will happen next. And I will tune in when the second season starts.

I certainly can't fault the acting in any of this. The actors all do an impeccable job of bringing their characters to life, flaws and all. I think it may be those portrayals that keep me coming back.

So yes, I will keep watching the show. If you are interested, I'd suggest catching some reruns before you plunk down the money for this set.

This is a fun, action packed show with excellent acting. The plots are decent too - good really for that type of genre. I love this show actually.

I am hooked on this show after one viewing - I record & keep watching: the characters are bright, articulate, and funny, the writing is bright, articulate, & funny, & the plots are believable, concise, & fast-paced. USA, please keep this show going - too many good ones have disappeared too quickly, at least from the major networks. I hope you've got it together to keep Mary, Marshall, & their cohorts with us for a long time. I will be buying the box sets, no doubt!

Only two episodes watched, but so far this is very good stuff. I'd recommend watching the pilot episode just for the "phone call" scene about midway through the show - the laugh-out-loud funniest thing I've seen on TV in a long time.

i liked the first episode, but by the second, it became clear that this is a GREAT show. the characters are unique and interesting and the twists and turns are actually surprising. if you're in the mood for a wild ride of a show, which looks like it might be a typical crime of the week show but ISNT, download this one. fun fun.

Great show. I love character driven shows that highlight humor and this show fits the bill. Mary & Marshall are fantastic partners, even though Mary can be quite a "B" sometimes. Her relationship with Raphael/Chico is complex and intense. The mother & sister can be a bit grating on the nerves, but they are probably what makes Mary the way she is. I even like her boss, although her has played so many weasly characters in other shows that I have a hard time trusting him. I hope that they explore Mary's missing father this season.

This show reminds me of NCIS and The Closer, in that it is a drama with significant enough comedy to keep my interest. Once the price comes down I will certainly buy the DVD.

As strong fans of Closer, my wife and I are quite critical about other shows out there that don't measure up in the right combination of intrigue, intelligence, enjoyment and believable characters and plot. We were pleasantly surprised that In Plain Sight has impressed us quite well. We would definitely say that IPS matured for the better in the characteristics noted over the course of the season. We hope and expect that the second season will be more sophisticated and we look forward to purchasing it.