TV-Reviewed

When you start to watch a new series, it can be a little irritating when the writers don’t tell you a whole lot about the characters’ past. This isn’t always an issue, of course, but on In Plain Sight, we know a little bit about everyone, but there hasn’t been enough time to go into everything yet. One thing that has me curious is the lack of a father/husband in the picture. Is he dead? What happened?

This topic was brought up in what I’d have to admit was a rather dramatic episode. The threat of an impending death was never there in my opinion, but the emotional drama was definitely present. All of this comes up when Mary’s mother receives a letter from the FBI stating they will be declaring her husband dead now that he’s been missing for 25 years.

Frederick Weller as Marshall Mann, Mary McCormack as Mary Shannon

It certainly begs the question: what happened? All we know is that he was a loving father, but his compulsive gambling became a big problem for not only himself, but for his young family. Who knows, maybe the family is better off without him. Gamblers who owe people money can bring unwanted company and violence to their family.

Gambling was a theme throughout the episode, as it also dealt with two protectees of Mary’s. She saved their lives several years when they entered WITSEC and now the youngest is involved in gambling. The only problem I had with this plot is that the character seemed rather young to be into gambling. I’m sure there are people out there who started out younger, but for me, it wasn’t my favorite part of the story.

My favorite part is, and will always be, the interactions between Mary and Marshall. They’re both very different people and Marshall is becoming a very funny character. His story with his ex-teacher’s-aid was somewhat interesting, but it really just served as the comedy for the evening. Without this, “High Priced Spread” would have been far too dramatic. Instead, it was a very well balanced episode. I would, however, like to see Jinx and Brandi a little more. I think the writers should be able to keep those two in the show and still show Mary and Marshall saving the world, one protected witness at a time.

Rating: 8.2

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