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RSS'In Plain Sight': Trying to learn from the mistakes of the past
Whatever you might think of Mary -- her brusqueness, her lack of sentimentality, her inability to suffer fools with anything approaching gladness -- she's the person you want on your side when bad things go down. And she was at her best in the foxhole on tonight's "In Plain Sight."Here come some spoilers, along with a character reference...
Things are coming apart with one of Mary's witness families. Two months ago in Las Vegas, as mom Maureen was partying with her boyfriend and leaving 16-year-old Tripp to take care of his much younger brother and sister, Maureen more or less witnesses her boyfriend's murder in a deal gone bad -- he's selling stolen microchips to a gang. Now, after two months in the program, Tripp's cutting classes and his mother's taking insanely stupid chances with their family while she's busy trying to choose Mr. Wonderful from a crowd of losers.
Tripp swears he's not doing drugs and seems like an average, run-of-the-mill sullen teenager, but he's gone from being a good student with a bright future on the baseball team to cutting classes and dropping out of sports. Mary and Marshall find Tripp folding laundry at the house in the middle of the afternoon. He's been skipping school to take care of the little kids while his mom does God knows what with God knows whom. Mary's upset -- she didn't catch what was going on, she's alarmed for the kids, and she doesn't want to see Tripp go through what she went through as a kid, taking on too much responsibility for the family's well being way too young. Then she's called to the house -- Maureen's charming boyfriend, who has a domestic violence conviction, has busted into the house looking for her, and is in a fistfight with Tripp, which Mary and Raph break up.
Mary tries to talk Tripp into considering foster care for himself and the kids -- to give himself and them a chance at a safe, stable life. She tells him about her family and how she grew up, and after overhearing Mary on the phone with Jinx, Tripp agrees to pursue foster care. But when Maureen comes back, Tripp's trapped -- he won't walk out on her. It might not end up as bad as her situation, because he has Mary to turn to, he says -- which rocks her back on her heels -- and is incredibly sad.
Meanwhile, we get a glimpse of things 20 years down the road. For her DWI trial, Jinx asks Mary and Brandi to write character statements on her behalf. She asks Brandi to go to an AA meeting in her place, which turns into an ordeal for Brandi -- yet she seems to grow about 40 times as a human being through the course of the afternoon. But what finally hits home is the videotape of Jinx's arrest. It's pretty hard to deny your behavior when it's staring you in the face, and it shakes Jinx right out of her denial about her alcoholism. In court, she changes her plea to guilty, apologizes to the arresting officer, and admits she's a blackout drunk who needs help -- and is sentenced to 28 days in a state-run rehab.Some other quick thoughts:
- Mary's temporary thaw and quick flare-up with Eleanor was priceless -- as was Marshall's comment about them needing to bust out the baby oil and fight like real women.
- Loved the scene with Raph and Tripp taking batting practice at the ballpark. Mary McCormack hit a pitch-perfect note of fierce protectiveness that never wandered into shrill.
- Also happy to see Marshall's nerdom back -- the guy knows an awful lot about microprocessors.
- I love seeing Joshua Malina in almost any setting -- and his brief interaction with Brandi at the AA meeting was a nice wake-up call for her.
What did you think? Do you believe rehab will fix Jinx? Do you think the therapist last week made Mary better able to deal with her past?
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I also loved Josh Malina on the show. He's a great actor and a terrific add to IPS! Cutie!
I wonder if we'll see Malina again - he's too good an actor for such a minor part. Maybe Brandi seeks him out in a future episode.
Big misstep: Raph broke a bone in his hand fighting with domestic violence guy (after Mary had told him to stay in the car), but brushed off Mary's concern about it in the hospital. Er, isn't a broken hand a big deal for a baseball player, and didn't that detail get brushed off a little too easily? I wonder if that doesn't become a bigger deal down the road.
Wonder how Mary and Brandi handle being in the house together without having the common enemy (Jinx) to worry about. There's good possibilities there dramatically, I think.
Love this show - loved this episode. 2 small items - I agree about Raph's injury being possibly a career-ender & did anyone else scowl when, during the fight, Mary hovered in the doorway (albeit, sheltering the kids) while Raph & Tripp beat up on the bad guy? Not a very Mary-like action. Otherwise - terrific emotions from the women & heartbreaking parallels between the 2 families - & all without hitting us over the head. Well done - bring us more!!!
Yes, the parallel between the two families was great. There was a little more Jinx this week (eww), but at least it didn't go over the top. More Brandi than Jinx, always a good thing. And what they did with Brandi at the AA meeting was unexpected - really impressive. Good writing and acting. I'm a big Joshua Molina fan too, hope they can keep his character going.
Pat, I agree that Mary likes action, but her job - and her p***ion - is protecting her witnesses and their families. So in this instance, with two others to help, her protecting the children made perfect sense to me.
I do love this show. Really, really love this show!
Loved this episode! I bet we will see Tripp again. Mary looked genuinely touched to see what an impact she had made on him, and I hope she continues to push him towards living a life for himself.
As for Raph, I think he brushed it off because he did it for Mary. It IS a big deal for a baseball player, but it's a small fracture, and he felt being there for her was more important.
Mary is still dealing with PTDS from last season's kidnapping. I think that coupled with her own screwed over childhood made her sheltering the younger siblings believable. Raph had an injury last season too. He was just coming out of it. I too thought he'd be more upset at a second injury but he called it a "boxer's sprain" which means no broken bones, right?
I'm just glad Mary's family is showing some growth. Now, if we could just focus on the criminally underused Marshall and Stan . . .
Wonderful to see this interation among Mary with Tripp. This lady really has a heart as well as the sense to see through it all--it may take some time, but she does.
And finally to see Jinx actually show some REAL human emotion after seeing the tape--WOW-that blew me away. And with Brandi actually acting human in acknowledging that the AA story was really her Mom's side of the story--as she saw it--she actually showed some human emotion, as well. There MAY be hope for these 2 afterall! Great ep! Go Mary!
This was an excellent episode. I was laughing one moment and crying the next. Now that's what I call entertainment. It was touching to see Tripp realize that whether he or Mary liked it or not, he had to be there for his mother and his brother and sister. That's just the way it is. It was also touching when he told Mary it would be better because he had her. Last year I was a strong proponent for getting rid of Brandi and Jinx, however seeing them grow and try to change their ways as they understand how their behavior affects the other members of their family has been good. I'm so glad that Jinx faced up to what she had been doing to her daughters most of their lives.
I know I'm late to the party, but the episode just aired yesterday where I'm at.
I just wanted to add that my favourite line was Mary saying to Marshall "I don't know why I don't hate you" - paraphrasing a bit, but you get the point.