In Plain Sight 3x01 Review

Hello Everyone!

I’m so sorry my review is late. I had school and then family visiting. I’ve been running around like crazy so I haven’t had time to type up my review of the season 3 premiere episode of In Plain Sight!

I write my opinions as I watch and while I tried to keep a flow to things, this may be choppy. Hopefully I’ll refine my technique the more I do this. ;)

Lets start off with the Witness of the Week. The episode had Donny Wahlberg guest starring and there was a lot of (well-deserved) hype. But with the intensity of this episode, most of Donny’s storyline seemed like filler. It definitely was the “B” story of the episode. Also, it definitely needed to be.

-I felt bad for Nicky when he got the snot beat out of him. Was glad to hear he’d be ok though, even if we won’t see the family again (most likely)

-When Jimmy breaks into the gun shop? That was pretty badass.

-The scene where Mary talks Jimmy out of shooting TJ is a PERFECT example of why Mary is great at her job and why she loves the job so much. And them turning around and not seeing him hit TJ? Amazing.

Overall, Donnie probably isn’t the best actor in the world, but he did a pretty good job. Especially at the end of the episode, he was awesome from breaking into the gun shop until his last scene.

One of my favorite things about IPS is that its not like most shows. Usually, a character is shot and the next episode, there’s no mention. Maybe they’ll have a sling but that’s it. In this episode, it starts in the hospital. You see her bandage. You see her talk about and take pain meds, you see her double over in pain a couple of times.

It also has the emotional ramifications of being shot. She had memory troubles and the scene where she couldn’t remember? You could tell it was killing her. One thing I wished there was more of was information on her 6 weeks in the hospital.

The way the finale left us hanging was originally supposed to be for a week and the S2 finale would end the next week. Someone decided to take the finale and show it as the premiere. Later, they decided to scrap that finale and just do a new premiere. This bugs me because I’m sure if they knew this when they filmed “Don’t Cry for Me Albuquerque”, they probably would’ve changed a few things.

How long was Mary in a coma? She has memory troubles remembering her shooter? Did she forget anything else? Is 6 weeks a long time to be in the hospital for what happened to her? I really don’t know, I guess so. Is this just me or does anyone else wish they knew a little bit more?

Now lets discuss that very important scene where they catch Mary’s shooter. The slow-mo chase was hilarious. When I saw the guy I was thinking, “The gangbanger has a Chihuahua?” Wow, how tough. Ha ha! It was perfect that Mary caught him. She’s a tough person and wouldn’t be able to let anyone else do it. Another glimpse of her in pain reminds you that she’s still hurting but she’s just pushing thru it. Dedication fo’sho. (I don’t usually say words like that. I apologize. It just seemed necessary.) And just a Goof alert: when she tackles the shooter, you can totally see that they fall onto a pad covered in leaves. Just saying.

Lets talk about the characters…

Francesca shouldn’t have been in the waiting room in the finale. Actually, I’m surprised Brandi and Jinx don’t already know what Mary and Marshall do since Marshall totally yelled at Francesca about being a martyr in the waiting room, and they weren’t very vague about her being a witness.

The fight between Mary and Jinx was a fantastic scene. I generally find Jinx almost unbearably annoying but Lesley Ann Warren did a fantastic job in that scene. She made me hate Jinx just a LITTLE bit less.

Jinx telling Mary that being shot affected everyone and not just Mary is probably important. I don’t think Mary has even considered how much everyone cared.

Mary seems to be nicer to Raph. He also wasn’t in it much, but I’m hoping she keeps it up because she can be kind of nasty to him. I liked the last scene where she lets him hold her and see her scar. I can always do without the side-boob but besides that, it was a great scene.

Marshall was fantastic in this episode. Fred Weller was on fire! Marshall was definitely determined to find Mary’s shooter and Fred did a great job in all those scenes. If the scenes weren’t so funny, I’d almost feel bad for La La. Almost. But it worked because he gave up the info in exchange for NEVER seeing Marshall again! How perfect? Although, I wonder what would happen if they DID cross paths…

Brandi’s storyline was weird. I’m sure it’ll be important later so I won’t judge but I’m worried about Peter. Peter, played by Joshua Malina (who is a hilarious person to follow on twitter: @JoshMalina), seems like such a nice guy, so I’m worried about what Brandi’s going to do. Brandi asking about her dad makes me think that the private phone calls are related to her father, not to her past with drug dealers, which is what I thought after the 1^st phone call. What’s with the last scene though? What is Peter thinking and why doesn’t Brandi answer?

Stan wasn’t in it much but his scene was worth it. “Wanna fight dirty?” and then he gets all sentimental. HAHA! It was great!

I heard Eleanor’s reason for leaving is in next week’s episode. Its no surprise she isn’t back. Eleanor is played by Holly Maples. Her husband was the show-runner for the first 2 seasons (David Maples), but John McNamara replaced him this season. How awkward would THAT have been if she stayed on the show! I’ll miss Eleanor though because her battles with Mary were always hilarious. Maybe one of those new Phoenix people can be a good foil for Mary and “replace” Eleanor. Only time will tell.

Bobby gets mentioned for 15 seconds this week. We find out he’s in Chicago, but he may be back later in the season. Bobby is also no longer a regular character. I knew this and I guess the way it was handled was sufficient. I think I’ll miss him though.

Best Quotes of the Episode:

How’s Mary’s memory? “Fantastic. If I was shot by a smudge.”

“Is that condescending doctor talk for ‘I can go’?”

“Do you like it?” “Are u kidding? I wanna get drunk and do it!” This was the best Mary line of the episode!!! (Possibly ever)

“Great. Let me just down some pain pills to dull the dullness.”

“Mary here thinks it was Tito because…” [Mary shrugs] “That’s my favorite Jackson!“

“This is like a trailer for a movie called Geriatric Marshall.” And THIS was the best Marshall line of the episode. I have the sudden urge to make a fake trailer for this movie.

A few notes on filming:

I know a lot of changes were being made for the third season and that includes music, the camera they were using (they shoot in HD now), and some other cinematography things.

I thought the music was great. I forgot that Liz Phair was composing for the show now, but she did a great job. The music in the scene where they catch the shooter stands out to me.

At times the handheld camera was shaky and it distracted me. I don’t know much about shooting stuff but isn’t there a way to have the guy shake less?

The new ”set” for Mary’s house? I absolutely love it. It’s gorgeous.

And finally I have finished my review. I doubt the others will be as long as this but it was the premiere and a lot of stuff happened. If you have any suggestions how I can make my future ones better, please let me know! This is my first blog post after all.

Leave a comment below if you saw the episode. Let us know what YOU thought. Did you agree with me? Disagree? Was there anything I missed?

-Jenna

Oh, and if you aren't doing so already, follow Mary McCormack and Cristian De La Fuente on Twitter along with Josh Malina!