In Plain Sight Episode 1.01 Pilot Recap

In Plain Sight Episode 1.01 Pilot Recap

Airdate: June 1, 2008

After watching the premiere of the USA Network’s new original series In Plain Sight, I must say that I’m hooked. Completely.

Maybe it’s because I love the intrigue of the whole witness security (WITSEC) program — giving people new names and new lives and all the drama that goes with it.

I love the main character Mary Shannon, the tough U.S. Marshal played by the former West Wing cast member Mary McCormack. She’s a riot. She can be funny and sexy one minute, and completely cranky and sarcastic the next.

As a U.S. Marshal, she’s cool and collected (as long as she gets her way). She doesn’t let her emotions get to her and she’s not afraid of anyone — no matter their size. But off the clock, she’s a mess, largely in part to her family. She keeps her super-hot boyfriend Raphael (Cristián de la Fuente) at arm’s length, though he seems to be the one person who would allow her to be herself if given the chance.

Her partner Marshall Marr (Fred Weller) has potential, though he had more of a minor role in this episode. My favorite part was when he had to watch her fake a girly twosome over the phone to get a suspect to give up their location. Marshall was having a hard time, as any guy would I guess, watching as she pretty much imitated Meg Ryan’s famous scene in “When Harry Met Sally.”

Her relax-by-the-pool-with-a-drink-in-her-hand mother Jinx (Lesley Ann Warren) and troubled druggie sister Brandi (Nichole Hiltz) add an extra element to the show. Mary definitely has her hands full. I also liked her interactions with police homicide detective Bobby D. (Todd Williams), who called Mary out for being secretive, and her boss Stan (Paul Ben-Victor), who spends the entire episode trying to figure out what to get this non-typical girl for her birthday.

In Plain Sight’s pilot starts with a middle-aged man named Frankie Sr. stopping in front of an apartment building, leaving his family in the car. He goes to a high-level apartment and tells the person he has a delivery for them. When the person comes to the door, he shoots them several times through the door. Not hearing anything, Frankie opens the door and finds that the man he shot didn’t fall in the apartment — but rather fell out the window — landing on Frankie’s car hood (scaring his family).

In the next scene, U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon and her partner Marshall Marr (Fred Weller) are introduced as they prepare to meet a new witness, Tasha, at the train station. Tasha is a young Russian woman from Kieve who has been living for the past three years in New York.

While waiting, Mary gets a phone call from her sister Brandi who’s not happy that Mary didn’t come to pick her up, but instead sent her boyfriend Raphael (Cristián de la Fuente). Mary tells her that she’s working, and basically, to deal with it. We also find out that it’s Mary’s birthday and that she’s not thrilled about it or the surprise party her family is throwing that she already knows about.

Next, Mary and Marshall arrive at the location of a double homicide of a young man and girl, which involves a family member of Frankie, who is now in the witness security program as he waits to testify against his boss. Lead homicide detective Bobby Dershowitz (Todd Williams), who prefers to be called “Bobby D,” called the U.S. Marshall’s office to the scene after finding multiple IDs on the male murder victim. The female victim’s chest was cut open while still alive, according to the coroner on the scene. The girl also had an unsual small-shaped tattoo on her chest. Detective Bobby D isn’t happy that Mary won’t give him any straight answers, meanwhile a group of Indians on bikes watch in the distance. He theorizes that the murdered girl, Sienna Burk, was the target because her father was an unpopular land developer who took the land from the Indians.

Ticked off that Frankie’s son Frankie Jr. was one of the two killed, Mary doesn’t have the patience when her boyfriend calls to tell her that he left Brandi in the car while he is stopping at the youth center. Mary warns him leaving her in the car isn’t a good idea as she has a penchant (or compulsion, she says) for boosting cars — just as Brandi takes off in the dust. As Raphael asks Mary to come pick him up, she pretends that their phone conversation is breaking up and hangs up (something she did earlier to her boss on the phone).

Before finding Frankie, Mary and Marshall drop off Tasha at her new apartment, Tasha breaks down and says she wants to go home. Mary goes into mother mode, telling Tasha that she can never go back, trying to comfort her while explaining the danger. She tells Tasha in the history of the U.S. Marshals, no witness has ever been hurt who has followed the rules. Asking her if there is anything she needs, Tasha tells her she was promised new breasts. Mary tells her she will work on it, but in the meanwhile will have her basic cable turned on and will bring her some groceries.

At the coroner’s office, Mary tries to prevent the distraught Frankie from tearing through the body bags to find his son, while he vows to avenge his death. Mary tells him that his wife Felicia needs him now and that avenging his son’s death will break his plea agreement. Frankie tells Mary she has 24 hours to find the killer.

“As far as justice. You’ve got your version, I’ve got mine,” Frankie says.

When Marshall goes in to the office to get some information for Mary, Stan McQueen, chief inspector for WITSEC’s southwest region (Paul Ben-Victor) and boss to Mary and Marshall, is introduced as he talks to Marshall about getting Mary the perfect birthday present. The only problem is that he is completely clueless as what kind of gift Mary would want.

Meanwhile, Mary heads to a bar near the crime scene to sniff out witnesses, and has an interesting “talk” with a guy in the men’s restroom, comparing his penis a mini taquito “like they serve at happy hour” and throwing a bar of soap at his privates. He eventually tells her that he doesn’t have anything to do with the crime but he and others aren’t happy that with Indian land being turned into commercial property. Turns out that an Indian, Edwin Talltrees, took the land from Cale Burk.

As Mary heads to the highly elevated nice spread owned by Talltrees, she says in the voiceover: “Ripping off your own people has its upside. I wish I had people to rip off. (I just love her sense of humor), Introducing herself to Talltrees, Mary jokes that it “must be a bitch to get pizza delivered here.”

He tells Mary that he has known Sienna her whole life, as he and her father went to school and college together. Sienna and his son, Kyle, played together until going to private schools. When she asks for an alibi, he tells her he and his son watched karate championships on television at the time of the crime. When Mary asks to speak to Kyle, Talltrees at first declines, but then reconsiders. Mary asks Kyle about his alibi, which he collaborates with his father. When Mary asks them together who won, they both say in unison the name of the winner. Kyle says he and Sienna were close until his father and Cale Burk had the falling out over the land and they were not longer allowed to see each other.

Walking off, Mary wishes she were more like Columbo, having something witty to say that would catch her suspects in a lie.

Mary stops at home briefly to check up on Raphael (as she keeps a To Do List in her car that ranges from “move witness” to “check on Raphael) to find him and Brandi fighting in the backyard near the pool because Brandi still has his keys. Mary’s mom Jinx (Lesley Ann Warren) is nursing an alcoholic beverage while sunning and asks Mary to intervene. Jinx tells her that everything could have been avoided if she would have picked up her sister instead asking her boyfriend, saying the only thing Mary does is serve warrants and drink coffee at the courthouse. Mary outs Brandi about a dime bag of drugs she found, which Brandi denies, and then lashes at her mother for always making excuses for Brandi.

As Mary walks away, Brandi and Raphael continue to argue. When Brandi throws Raphael’s keys in the pool, Raphael picks up a screaming Brandi and throws her — deservingly — into the pool.

Later, Marshall contacts Mary about a possible lead, the best friend of the deceased girl, who works at a clothing store. The friend tells Mary that Sienna was friends with Frankie Jr. (and offered to help him with his virginity) She did have a boyfriend that she had broke up with a month ago, but he was big secret. She doesn’t have any idea who would want to kill her.

Next, Marshall and Mary check out a lead from a phone call from a mobster’s phone to Frankie. Thinking that Frankie Sr. was trying to get a better deal, Mary dials the New York-based mobster, Richie, pretending to a girl he met at a party. I would compare this scene to the famous “When Harry Met Sally” scene. You know, the one in the restaurant where Meg Ryan shows off how easy it is to fake it…. Mary pretends to have a two-some with another girl on the phone to get Richie to give up his location (so he can hook up with them). Meanwhile, Marshall is taking her dirty talk in. As she gets the location, which happens to be in Albuquerque, she tells Richie her husband just got home and gestures for Marshall to act as if he just caught his wife with a woman in bed on the phone. He does a pretty bad impression and Mary hangs up, giving him a “what the hell?” look.

After capturing Richie and bringing him in for questioning, Mary gets a call from Frankie Sr., who has left his secure location without permission. Asking him how a mobster got his phone number, Frankie’s wife says she may have accidently given it out through e-mail, and then begins blaming herself for her son’s death.

Back at the office, Mary wants to question Richie before the FBI gets involved. One-on-one, she ends up using the table as leverage against Richie when he makes a lewd comment. Richie takes in her cleavage as Mary informs him that’s as close as he will be getting to a woman for a long time, and letting him know that she was the party girl “faker” on the phone, leaving Richie panting.

Meanwhile, Stan shows Marshall the pair of stilettos he bought Mary for her birthday, right as Mary walks up and sarcastically asks how women can wear them: “Oh my God, look at me I’m a cosmo-drinking whore.” Stan calls them “evidence” to explain why he is holding them.

Visiting Detective Bobby D for information, he tells Mary he hasn’t found out anything about Sienna’s secret boyfriend nor has he found any evidence linking Talltrees and his son to the murders. He tells Mary he wanted to interview the boy’s parents (Frankie Sr. and wife), but they were no where to be found. Mary tells him they are probably on vacation. Tired of her secrecy, Bobby lets her have it, telling her he found out everything he needed to know about Frankie Sr. by making one phone call, basically saying she doesn’t like to cooperate. Getting personal, he tells her that’s probably why she doesn’t have relationships that last over a few months, no real friends and always feels like she’s on the outside looking in.

Hurt by his words that cut to the core, as she admits in a voiceover that she’s been known not to play well with others, she heads over to Raphael’s house to thank him and apologize (kinda) for helping with his sister. Not wanting to go in his house (because that always leads to sex), she of course can’t help herself when he answers the door shirtless. So, of course, she comes in to explain, and they still end up having sex. Afterwards, he wishes her “Happy Birthday” but asks if she would be upset if he misses her surprise birthday party because he doesn’t want to be around her family after dealing with the sister earlier. Plus, he said, “We already did our thing.” Trying to act like the comment didn’t hurt, she tells him it’s no big deal as their relationship is just sex anyway, so she shouldn’t care what he does. He attempts to disagree, but she starts to leave. He asks her how a person who burns so hot can turn so cold, and she tells him while walking out to let her know when he figures it out. In the car, she breaks down in tears.

Back at the office, Marshall tells Mary the FBI put Richie in the “program” for flipping his family, and 30 minutes before, he walked out of the safe house. Red flags go off for Mary as she realizes that she allowed Frankie Sr. to stay in their house one last night, thinking they were safe with Richie in custody.

Not answering the phone, Mary panically goes to Frankie’s house to check up on them. She calls Richie’s phone and hears it inside the door. Telling Frankie to open up, she and Marshall barge in as shots go off. Inside, Frankie’s wife Felicia is holding the gun. Richie is on the floor dead and she’s now holding the gun toward her husband. Asking her what she is doing, Felicia says her husband is the reason everything has happened and the reason why her son is now dead. Mary negotiates with her, telling her if she shoots her husband, she will have to shoot her. She tells Felicia that he’s not worth it, that she can give her a new name and a new location away from Frankie. She can even fall in love again (with someone new). Felicia surrenders the gun and they take her away, as Frankie freaks out realizing he has just lost his wife, as well as his son. She tells Frankie that she will probably be released because she shot Richie in self defense, and will be given a new life away from him. Frankie reminds her he still wants his son’s killer brought to justice and the clock is still ticking. She tells him “screw you and your clock,” as he will be transferred by the next day and out of her hair.

Stopping by her surprise party, her mom is, of course, drunk, and talking with Stan (who gives Mary $50 for her birthday – no perfume, no stillettos). She finds out that Brandi is upset so she goes to talk to her. Brandi promises to do better and they share a sisterly moment (for about a second). Brandi gives her a birthday present — a necklace she picked up from Indian stand that features a design which is the same as the tattoo Sienna had. Brandi says it means “May you always sleep under the tall trees.” Mary, realizing that the Talltrees connection, thanks Brandi and tells her she has go to do something. As soon as she leaves the room, Brandi opens up her suitcase full of white powder and sniffs a little.

Police arrive at the scene of Talltrees along with Mary and Marshall, and use their search warrant to look for clues. Mary finds a picture of Kyle with his shirt off doing karate, a tattoo matching Sienna’s on his chest. Taking him in to custody, they learn that he killed her because she broke up with him. Talltrees says he will use his money defend his son. She tells him his son is sick, gutting his ex-girlfriend while she was still alive, wishing him luck on his defense. She says he might want to increase his security too, as there are people (Frankie Sr.) whom want revenge.

As she walks away, Bobby D asks Marshall if Mary is seeing anyone, but Marshall just half laughs, half shrugs.

Going home, Mary finds a note from Raphael, which says “I don’t’ accept your definition of us.” She falls asleep on the couch, forgetting about the groceries she promised Tasha hours before. She heads to Tasha’s apartment in the middle of the night, a brown grocery bag in tow. After apologizing for being late, Tasha wonders why she brought her “porn” along with her groceries. To pick out your new breasts, she tells her.

In voiceover as the episode ends, Mary says if she ever runs into “the son-of-a-bitch who promised her a lifetime of excitement and opportunities,” she will shoot both of his knee caps out.

If you missed the first episode, USA Network will continue to play it throughout the week and also has the full episode available online. 

Image: 2008© USA Network/Michael Muller

Tags: in plain sight, in plain sight series, usa network, usa series, mary mccormack, u.s. marshal, witsec, nichole hiltz, todd williams, lesley ann warren, paul ben-victor, fred weller, Cristian de la Fuente