'In Plain Sight': Where Laura Prepon is family

There's a little bit of sweetness for everyone in this "In Plain Sight." For starters, Stan and Eleanor are just the cutest, this week's witness is nice to a fault and Mary... let's just say she's kind to her (unbeknownst) half-sister.

The spoilers are there for you.

Poor Dennis Sampson... he seems like a genuinely nice guy, except for the being in jail part. However, there's no question that he'll squeal to the warden if it punches his ticket from the big house. Once in the ABQ, Mary is nice enough to set him up with a cushy flower job. Even the hardened biker-turned-boss and his emotionally crippled assistant isn't enough to put a damper on the spirit of Dennis. His sunny disposition is put to the test when badass boss Colin is found stabbed and Mr. Optimistic is nowhere to be found.

Lucky for Mary, Dennis is safe by the time she makes it to the police department. Naturally, Bobby D thinks he's hiding something, but has nothing to keep him in lockup for very long. Mary takes the opportunity to visit Colin and wife in the hospital. By the time she returns, Dennis is rather upset that assistant Nathan won't be fairly treated (as he's now suspect numero uno.) Of course, everything Nathan screams guilty, but aside from the anger issues and gambling-on-company time problem, he's just a guy trying to turn his life around.

Back within the clan Shannon, Jinx is home from rehab. As if the return home wasn't hard enough for her, Donna Pinciotti (the fantastic Laura Prepon) knocks on the door with a letter from estranged husband James. As it turns out, James left the Shannon women only to settle down with another woman and produce a second family, Lauren being one of the kids. Yeah, if I was Jinx finding out this news, I'd pass out too.

Later in a coffee shop, Lauren share a little about her family and cautiously asks about Jinx and Brandi's side of the family. Too much to handle, Jinx pulls Brandi aside pleading with her daughter not to reveal too much to Lauren or even tell Mary of what's going on, what with the fact she would be legally compelled to tell the FBI. Yeah Jinx, that's such a fantastic idea.

Playing on Nathan's gambling thing, an order of flowers was sent suspiciously far from town, which gets Marshall and Mary into high gear with the case. Eleanor fills-in a rather interesting part of Dennis' backstory: enemies of his enemies seem to get it in the end, whether it is in jail or part of the high school debate team. They bolt to the hospital and find Colin moved to a private room... where Dennis just happens to be attempting a heartfelt apology that perhaps might lead to a nefarious ending if not for Marshall lurking in the shadows.

Turns out Dennis knows he's perceived as sweet to the point of annoying and was genuinely trying to appeal to the better angels in life. No, the "bad" guy for today is Colin's wife, Ingrid. The earlier flower story... she believed Colin was ultimately cheating on her. That morning in the flower shop, she and Colin had it out, her threatening to cut vital parts of the anatomy if he was indeed doing the deed. Unfortunately for her, it got too real and she critically wounded him when all she wanted was to make a point. That's enough for Mary to leave well enough alone.

Unaware Lauren is her half-sister, Mary returns home to family photos strewn about and the newest Shannon pounding away at another work of fiction. Sure they've met before, Mary promises to keep in touch, which prompts Lauren to hug her on the way out.

In other news:

•    Raph makes a very brief cameo, playing the good boyfriend by returning Mary's clothes freshly laundered.

•    Stan and Eleanor's relationship, while still in an awkward state, strengthens by the end of the hour, thanks in no small part to Eleanor opening up on her missing her beloved John. Stan simply stands by her, saying nothing.

What did you think? Do you believe the long lost father-has-another-family story has legs? When did you know it was Ingrid? How was it to have Bobby D and Raph back?

E-mail

• Digg
• Facebook
• Fark
• Yahoo Buzz
• Stumbleupon