‘In Plain Sight” (9 p.m. Sunday, USA) is a rare misstep on the part of USA Network, which in the last few years has had enviable success with breezy escapist fare such as “Monk,” “Psych” and “Burn Notice.”
“In Plain Sight,” which stars Mary McCormack as a U.S. marshal in charge of relocating people in the federal witness protection program, is another attempt at mixing the jokey and the serious within a loose procedural format. But “Sight’s” writing is distressingly predictable, and McCormack’s character is the least interesting thing about the show.
McCormack plays Mary Shannon, a cop in the gruff-but-lovable mode. But Shannon’s mostly gruff, and the attempts to give her shadings, depth and lovable qualities mostly fall flat.
“Burn Notice” (which, along with “Monk” and “Psych,” returns in July) surrounds its cool and compelling lead character with a memorable supporting cast. Not so here; Shannon’s saddled with a ditzy mom (Lesley Ann Warren), a slacker sister (Nichole Hiltz) and a pretty boyfriend (recent “Dancing with the Stars” contestant Cristian de la Fuente).
The one exception to this generally unremarkable supporting roster is Frederick Weller, who plays Shannon’s droll partner, Marshall Mann (yes, he’s Marshal Marshall). He’s one-note comic relief at first, but in a July episode, “Iris Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” Weller’s dry delivery and laconic intensity are used to good purpose.
That episode acts as a showcase for guest star Wendell Pierce, better known as Bunk Moreland on “The Wire,” and it largely works because Weller and Pierce are an interesting combination on the screen. The episode is also somewhat effective because it leaves the funny-ha ha aspect of the series behind and demonstrates how hard it is for many people to adjust to life in the witness protection program.
Most people would react with a mixture of anger, petulance and fear at the idea of leaving their lives behind, and Pierce’s character does just that when his successful family must leave their comfortable lives in Los Angeles and relocate to Shannon’s home city, Albuquerque. When it peeks under the surface of those kinds of complicated emotions, “In Plain Sight” becomes something more than just another cop show.
But most of the time, it’s just another cop show, with a lead character that does and says everything you think she will. She even says, in one cringe-inducing voice-over, that “we all live in hiding.” But the problem with “In Plain Sight” is that far too much about it is obvious.
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