Testemunha Ocular

After a lifetime in law enforcement, I don't like cop shows. The vast majority of them take themselves waaaay too seriously, and Hollywood displays very little understanding of how cops and police departments work. Oh, they have their technical advisors who show them how cops do tactical stuff, and they do manage to get that stuff mostly right, but it's the day to day stuff that they screw up. For example, how many times have shows depicted a detective leaving some major department and going to another city and immediately becoming a detective? Sorry folks, it just doesn't work that way. I don't care if you have a gold shield in the Big Apple, it you move to another state, you're going to go through the entire testing process all over again, go through another academy, and start out as a junior patrol cop working a beat.

So I don't like cop shows. Except.....

Mary Shannon has to be the most irascible, sarcastic, cynical, wry, blunt pretend LEO to ever pin on a TV badge. I love every minute she and Marshall are on the screen. Whoever writes for the show, especially the dialogue, is a genius. Practically every other line Mary utters is something that I wish I had thought of. At the same time, I identify with both her partner Marshall, and her supervisor Stan. Mary is the sort of partner and subordinate that you love to work with while simultaneously dreading whatever they're going to do next.

The show is hardly a model of realism, but I've given up on Hollywood ever getting that right. I watch the show because I want to see Mary cause Stan to pull out the rest of his hair, to hear her lay into some pompous FBI agent, to tell some protectee or family member just what an idiot they are, or to cause Marshall to go off on some existential tangent. You go girl!!

Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack) is a U.S. Marshal who spends her time relocating and working with federal witnesses in the witness protection program. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mary works with her partner Marshall Mann (Frederick Weller). She is a tough fast-talking agent who won't back down, but her family life is a mess. Her father is a criminal. Her overly dependent mother Jinx (Lesley Ann Warren), and younger sister Brandi (Nichole Hiltz) are even more of a mess.

Mary McCormack is amazing and has great platonic chemistry with Frederick Weller. It's a simple, fun cop procedural and everything works. The dysfunctional family and love life are all great.

This is one of those shows that if given enough time will develop a loyal following. I have watched 5 episodes so far. I talked my girlfriend into sitting down for the pilot and she was hooked. Mary McCormack does an excellent job of showing a flawed character struggling with a dysfunctional family and the evils of her job(protecting and hiding criminals in Witness Protection). Fred Weller is excellent as her laconic partner. Paul Ben-Victor is dead on as the not-quite-aware section chief of the U.S. Marshall's Service. The shows are well-crafted and allow Ms. McCormack ample opportunity to zing her co-stars with great one-liners. The developing back-stories on her family show great promise. Lesley Anne Warren is an over the top version of the mother no one wants to claim as their own. She's a hard-drinking "good-time" girl who likes men, a LOT. Nichole Hiltz is her sexy, ditzy sister who is attracted to trouble. The cast is a lot of fun to watch and I am going to be rooting for them to be renewed for a second season.

I'm not really a fan of TV crime shows, but new series always give me the chance of experiencing some fresh air - so I check them out. In this case, I was glad I did. The pilot started off slow, but after about 30 minutes (it was 90 minutes total w/commercials), it actually became interesting and stayed that way to the end. Subsequent episodes have kept up the momentum.

One novel aspect of the show is that its about a lady marshal in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She's in charge of people in the "witness protection program" who have been assigned to her area. She cautions and reassures them that since 1970 (when the witness program started), "No one who has followed the rules has ever been harmed." Powerful words.

Can they comply? When things go wrong, can she protect them? How can she keep their identities safe - even from the local police?

Aside from the setup, the show is ultimately interesting because she's fun to watch. She's sassy, witty, playful, smart, responsible ... and physically tough. I recommend watching an episode; if the lead character grabs your interest, then you're likely to enjoy the show.

Mary McCormack is the only believable actor/actress i have seen in a police drama series since Helen Mirren in the early Prime Suspect stories. She is not like your Without a Trace or Numbers cops, that seem to be posing for every shot, or putting folders over there bodies to cover up the fact that they are going to have a baby, Mary McCormack's character in "In Plain Sight" is the reason to watch this program, she really is amazing, as a in your face, don't give a damn, down to earth veteran US Marshall the stories are not bad, getting better in fact, some of the other cast are a bit hammy, , so what, over all its an entertaining show, with some great one liners, plenty of action and i can only hope that the networks realize that they have little gem of a series here and give it a fair chance, and not kill it off before it starts, so to speak.