'In Plain Sight': I'll see your social anxiety, and raise you some medical marijuana

I love old television and movie saws, like the big case happening just days before the experienced cop, who's paired with the rookie, retires. Or, like Mary on "In Plain Sight," when the tough, experienced law enforcement officer is forced to undergo psychiatric scrutiny. But because Mary is who she is, and because something so traumatic has happened to her, this one doesn't feel old and wrung-out.

Blazin' up some spoilers, straight ahead...

Six months ago, Jerry Royal, a pot farmer, was meeting with his dealer partners when they're busted, and the feds discover that the dealers have murdered a DEA agent. And Mary nearly decked Jerry when he and his family entered the witness protection program, because he apparently is afflicted with such crippling social anxiety disorder that he can barely function without being high. Now he's got to testify against his dealers, and she's dealing with him all over again.

And of course, he comes to the meeting with the U.S. Attorney high. After Mary learns that she has to undergo a mandatory traumatic incident evaluation and psychological debriefing -- during which Shelley, the psychologist, gets to ridealong and observe her during the work day. And hoo boy -- what Shelley gets to see.

As if the meeting with Jerry weren't enough, when he goes back to work as a telephone company repairman, he sparks up, practically doubled over by the thought of having to testify. Then he hallucinates that the crop-dusting biplane in the nearby field is shooting at him, falls to the ground, and ends up in the hospital. Where he appears to have amnesia.

After a lunch where Shelley offers some probing insights about how Mary seems to go out of her way to engage in conflict with others, Mary descends on Jerry, threatening some scary bodily harm if he doesn't stop faking the amnesia so he won't have to testify. While trying to figure out how much he's faking, she even offers a potentially deadly peanut butter cookie, which she has to slap out of his hand.

Meanwhile, Mary brings Shelley by the house, where Brandi has conveniently forgotten to tell here that the help she had begged for to register for classes is no longer needed -- and has sent the washer on the fritz by overloading it with towels. They clean up, using the towels from Brandi's meth suitcase to sop up the water. Then Mary finds her mother in the ER, having fallen down after being pulled over for a DWI. As she and Shelley head downtown to see if Jinx's arraignment can be moved up so she won't have to spend the night in jail, they get to talking. Ever think about washing your hands of the whole lot of them? Shelley asks. But Mary's feelings of guilt and responsibility keep her tied to her family, and she can't seem to let go of needing to bail them out of trouble.

Finally, it's showtime for Jerry -- he's still sober, and still monumentally freaked at the idea of testifying. They've tried everything -- explaining how he'll lose his family forever and go on trial for the murder of the DEA agent if he doesn't pull it together. Then Mary hits on something. She takes Jerry into the courtroom and tells him to just look at the microphone and answer the questions. When he looks down, he sees that she's stuck a little drawing of Bob from Bob's Burgers (Jerry's fave) on the mic, which gives him something to focus on. And he makes it through his testimony.

Finally, Mary gets her evaluation. I've never met anyone as good at their job as you, Shelley says. And I've never met anyone living day in and day out with as much stress. But work seems to keep Mary sane, so she gets to return -- provided that she checks in regularly with Shelley, and cuts herself some slack. Because no matter how hard she tries to prove she's a good girl and make everything alright, her father's not coming back.

Relieved, Mary heads over to Raph's, beginning the process of reconnecting with him. And -- wowza -- finds him in the shower. He needs a towel, but she can't find any. Until it hits her: the towels in Brandi's suitcase were Raph's -- he's the one who saved Brandi's bacon on the night everything went down. "I may have underestimated you," she says, getting into the shower with him. Hey now.

Some other thoughts:

• I love what they're doing with Eleanor, the new office manager. I love that she called Mary on her rudeness and drew the line, that she's flirting with Stan, and that she's connected and confident enough to call in her FBI connections when she sees that punk of a special agent come in and try to throw his weight around. (Though I admit that I loved Stan's red-faced argument with him.) "What? So I'm supposed to like her now?" Mary says to Marshall. Yes, Mary.
• Also loved Mary dumping the box full of drywall and insulation on the FBI agent's desk after he refused to fix her house. He's picked the wrong girl to mess with.
• I do not love the Jinx plot. Lesley Ann Warren is better than what she's doing here, and that storyline just feels like a waste. I definitely understand Mary's occasional impulse to wash her hands of her family.

What did you think? Does Mary's vulnerability ring true to you? Are you hoping for some more Marshall-centric stories? Is that house ever going to get fixed?

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