More hot than cold

By Casey Gillis

Published: May 31, 2008

I didn’t want to like Mary Shannon, the lead of “In Plain Sight,” a new USA series that premieres at 10 p.m. today.

A U.S. Marshal who works with people in the Witness Protection Program, she’s that new brand of flawed heroine, who revels in breaking the rules and bucking authority, uses sarcasm to mask her soft side and, during the simplest of conversations, has sudden epiphanies about whatever case she’s working on (For another prime example of this, see Grace on TNT’s “Saving Grace”).

Despite a few clichés here and there and the occasional shudder-inducing line of dialogue — like the clunker “How can somebody who burns so hot be so cold?” — “In Plain Sight” is good.

Maybe it’s because even Mary is aware of her shortcomings.

“OK, it’s been said I don’t always play well with others and even, at times, project a prickly exterior,” she says in one of many voice-overs, most of which seem to be aiming for a similar level of snark as the ones used on another clever USA series, “Burn Notice.”

Star Mary McCormack does a good job shifting between tough gal cop and caregiver of the witnesses she’s sworn to protect.

“On any given day, I get to play mother, father, best friend, priest, rabbi, marriage counselor and, yes, unfortunately, occasionally, homicide detective,” she says when describing her job.

At work, Mary’s got a boss (Paul Ben-Victor) whom she frequently ignores and a partner (Frederick Weller) she bosses around. Confusingly, her partner, a fellow U.S. Marshal, is named Marshall. Weller has this permanently bewildered expression and a very dry sense of humor. So far, I like him.

When she’s not dealing with renegade witnesses, Mary has plenty of drama going on at home. She’s got what appears to be an alcoholic mother named Jinx (played by Lesley Ann Warren), a bratty younger sister and, naturally, a boy toy in the form of Raphael (Cristian de la Fuente, last seen injuring himself on “Dancing With the Stars”). It’s obvious she genuinely cares for Raph, but like any good flawed heroine, she pushes him away when he gets too close.

Early on, Mary tells one of her witnesses that in the history of the program, no one who has followed the rules has been hurt. Luckily for us, it doesn’t look like many of Mary’s charges are going to follow the rules. And I look forward to seeing how she handles them.