In Plain Sight, "To Serge With Love": What a country!

Haven't written about "In Plain Sight" in a few weeks, even though I've watched every episode (the above photo, in fact, is from last week's show; USA didn't have any photos from last night's). Time to get back into the swing, however briefly, just as soon as I find out if I get an employee discount to subscribe to the paper...

"To Serge With Love" was the strongest episode the show's done since the last one I reviewed, "Iris Doesn't Live Here Anymore," and what those two have in common is a plot about the mechanics of WitSec. There are so many cop shows out there that it feels both dull and wasteful when the show gives us generic murder mysteries spiced up with a touch of WitSec detail.

Now that the show has been renewed for a second season (USA announced it during press tour), I hope the producers come to the same realization that Josh Schwartz mentioned about "Chuck" in my re-freshman story and resolve to tell stories that only "In Plain Sight" can do, in a way that only they can. The banter between Mary and Marshall is always fun, but that's not going to be enough to keep me with the show if we come back next season and every episode is about Mary trying to figure out if a witness was killed randomly, or because of what they did before going into the program.

I should also give the writers credit for making Mary's sister sympathetic in the last few episodes. I'm still not sure what Nichole Hiltz and Lesley Ann Warren add to the show, other than allowing the producers to give Mary McCormack a break now and then. (See also the non-Dexter-related stories on "Dexter," or any scene on "House" where Hugh Laurie doesn't appear, though those are still usually about House in some way.) But at least Brandi has stopped being actively annoying, and her scene with the baby and the teddy bear was as affecting as it was shameless. (That's also a remarkably well-behaved and happy baby, considering what kind of parenting it likely gets.)

What did everybody else think?