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She told me that she thought the show had hinted at this since season one (so kudos to all of you who argued that same point) but that it was Mary being engaged that scared Marshall. "I think it's one thing when you have a crush on somebody and you never think they're going to hook up but when they hook up in a real way, it's always upsetting," she said. McCormack doesn't know where their relationship is heading saying that the writers never clue the actors in. But she doesn't see something happening any time soon. "I think those things are supposed to burn for years and years anyway so we'll see," she said. Okay but I was so curious to know if SHE was rooting for them to get together. "I don't know. She's so f***ed up and he's so lovely, I don't want to mess up his life," she said. "I like him so much and she's so damaged. I can't imagine it working. But I understand why they're so connected to each other because they're sort of misfits." She also said she spends a lot of time apologizing to Cristián de la Fuente for the way her character treats Raphael. "Who is nice than Raphael?," she said, "But I have to play what's written." As for her often cranky, take-no-prisoners character, McCormack said, "It feels to me and I hope it does to the audience like a cover for pain and a cover for sadness and insecurity and vulnerability. I think it's a nice dichotomy," she said. "I think women know the truth which is, just like men, we are ambitious and grouchy and pissed off and not those things too. I think the show might connect with women more because we have obviously known it all along. And men are catching on now mostly because of cable. They're like, 'Strong women on cable. I think, 'No those aren't strong women, those are women.' All the strong women articles crack me up." And what can we expect in Sunday night's season finale (USA, 10 p.m.) entitled "Don't Cry for Me, Albuquerque" which involves Mary protecting a Latin American political activist. "I never know what I'm allowed to say. There's a big cliffhanger and I get into big trouble," she told me. Is it as stressful as last year's finale? "It's pretty intense," she said. Are you looking forward to the "In Plain Sight" finale? Talk about it below. Burn Notice So I kind of loved the "Burn Notice" finale but what I want to talk about is Michael shooting and killing Tom Strickler. To me, this seemed a little bit like a turning point for the show. It's not like Michael hasn't done violent things in the past, but to watch him not hesitate to kill Strickler so he could save Fiona was startling, at least to me. Especially for a show that is often so light-hearted in tone even when serious things are happening. I'm so curious to hear what you guys think. Psych Unfortunately I was unable to get the video streaming of tonight's season premiere of "Psych" (Friday, USA, 10 p.m.) to work, so I can't give you a review but I can tell you what to expect this season as the show returns for its fourth season. Rachel Leigh Cook returns as Shawn's girlfriend and their relationship will get more serious. Cary Elwes guest stars tonight as a famous art thief. James Brolin and Sendhil Ramamurthy ("Heroes") will also guest star this season. And you can go to psych.usanetwork.com to watch entire episodes, read the writers' commentary and play games (including Shawn's nickname generator). After we've all seen tonight's episode, I'll talk about the premiere next week. Quotes of the Week "Is it too soon to request a transfer?" Damien on "Rescue Me" when the entire firehouse gets involved in solving the problem of Sean's bright orange, um, body part. Thanks to Dean for the quote. And I agree Dean, that may be the funniest scene I've seen on TV all year. Exchanges of the Week "She's out of your league." Myka to Pete on "Warehouse 13." "How do you know what my league is?" Pete to Myka. "Not that I asked for them, but I have season tickets." Myka's response. Thanks to Barry for the exchange. ***************** "I feel weird." Turtle to Jamie-Lynn Sigler on "Entourage," while helping him buy clothes for school. "You look cute." Jamie-Lynn's response. "I look like Chuck Bass." Turtle's response. Thanks to Jeff for the quote. *****************
I made it my mission to track down Mary McCormack at the NBC Universal party Wednesday night in Pasadena to find out what she thought of the potential Marshall/Mary romance. Turns out McCormack is as delightfully candid as her character.
"Sorry for using your love nest as a holding cell, Sam." Michael to Sam on "Burn Notice." "Well, I didn't expect to be wearing pants here," Sam's response.
That's all for today. I leave Los Angeles tomorrow so I'm back on Monday with a review of the third season premiere of "Mad Men," thoughts on the season finale of "Better Off Ted," and catching up on all the TV I missed while I was in LA for the Television Critics Association Press Tour. Have a question? Seen a familiar face? Want to nominate a quote of the week? Write me at
amytvgal@zap2it.com or follow me on Twitter. Have a great weekend. Talk to you on Monday.
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
Yes, Michael shooting Strickler was startling, but I think the show earned it. It can get a little predictable--and let's face it, the characters are constantly dealing with high stakes situations. It's nice to see them sail through most of those, but every once in a while, it shakes the show (and us) up nicely when things get a little rougher.
The shooting of Strickler did not startle me but it reminded me what Michael used to be and the things he had to be willing to do to complete his missons.
Whenever they show some one from his past life they always refer to him as a preety hard case. In Miami he tries not to build a body count probably so he does not raise his profile. But when push come to shove he can kill and not even blink.
that is good to know.
I love Michael I really do but we have to remember, Michael was a spy and sometimes spies do bad things. HE tries to avoid killing whenever possible, this time it wasn't avoidable.
Amy, thanks for the insights from Mary McCormack about In Plain Sight. I always find it interesting to see what the actors think of the characters they play.
I didn't have any trouble believing that Michael would kill to protect Fiona on Burn Notice. He is a spy, after all, and sometimes when he smiles you can see the dangerous part peeking out.
On a completely unrelated topic, I had planned to completely byp*** The Beautiful Life on the CW in the fall but after watching the first two episodes of Make it or Break It on Hulu, I've got a bit of a crush on Nico Tortorello (sp?), so I'll be tuning in, at least for the first couple of episodes.
Thank you so much, Amy, for the Mary McCormack interview and for asking what we are all dying to know. It's nice to know, as the viewer, that you're not just making stuff up in your head when you watch a show. ;)
Regarding Michael: my first thought when he shot Strickler was "good." That's it. My reasons for thinking that are that Strickler was a really, really bad guy. Perhaps the worst "bad guy" Michael has ever dealt with in that he truly meant for Fi to not only be killed, but most likely much worse. I saw it as Michael doing what a spy sometimes has to do, but in this instance it was to save the woman he loved.
oops, i could have used a spoiler alert about BN.... oh who am i kidding: i'm not a spoiler nazi and it'll give me a slightly different read when i catch up later.
thanks, amy, for catching up with mary mccormick. i like her interpretation of the Mary/Marshall thing.
I was shocked that Michael shot Strickler, but then I was thrown off when Diego was freaking out about Michael being involved with Strickler. DUH? Why else would Michael have asked him to look into him. That seemed like a sloppy writer's mistake there or an editing issue.
Back to Michael shooting Strickler. I was initially surprised, but when you do a character analysis and look at past behavior, Michael has NEVER been open about his emotions, but one could always read them in his actions. Had his childhood not been alluded too, we would've figured it out by the cases he takes. We know he cares about Fiona because of his actions, not what he says. He respects his friends through actions, he doesn't have to give flowery words. He may be exasperated by his mom, but he went to therapy for her. It's all in his actions and Strickler was preventing him from saving her. Remember when he threatened Barry for not telling him how to get to Sam? What I think shocked everyone was the expression the actor chose to have after doing it. The coldness. There was zero remorse. Does anyone else understand what I'm saying?
BTW: Loving the length of this column.
Thanks for the comments from Mary McCormack. I like her comments on women on television and on the Mary/Marshall front. I think she's right -- right now Mary is too messed up to be in a relationship with anyone (which is why I don't think she'll make it down the aisle with Raph). We'll see how Mary and Marshall end up after this "simmers" for a while longer and Mary tackles some of her issues.
This did feel like a turning point on Burn Notice. Mostly (for me) because Michael has spent all season desperate to get back into the spy game, but he threw that all away without a thought to save Fi. Maybe his priorities are changing a bit?
Regarding "Burn Notice": They continually remind us that Michael's "not going anywhere", so it normally makes sense for him to try to maintain an even lower profile than he was used to as a globe-trotting spy, and tone down the blatant violence. But Michael was being backed into a corner by Strickler, and that's never a smart thing to do to someone who's got "kill them all" on his list of job skills. This also reinforced Michael's ability to show by action what he can't put into words: that he does indeed love Fiona. Getting back into the government spy business is very important to Michael. It's just that Fiona is even more important.
Of course Michael ended Stickler. Stickler was bad news on steroids, and had the audacity to threaten either Fiona/Sam/Mom/Bro. I saw that coming a mile away (just thought it would be next season). They setup evil people to be killed by other evil people... every other episode! Not seeing the controversy here, Amy, sorry.
MM nailed it! Mary is a complete (if competent) M.E.S.S.. Getting 'involved' with with Mary would cause irreperable damage to Marshall that the thin shield of 'just friendship' protects him from. She's gonna get her fiance to kill himself before its all over (nobody really thinks she's gonna make it down the aisle or even the justice of the peace do they??)
And I'm crossing my fingers for Psyche, but if it's another season of the James Roday lame-azz comedy quip show at the expense of the rest of the cast, I'm done.
BTW, who's Chuck B***, didn't get that...