In Plain Sight: 1.12 ‘A Fine Meth’ Review
Original Air Date: August 17, 2008
And that’s a wrap for the first season of In Plain Sight, and not a bad one at that, although not very fun or funny either. Here’s what happened:
Shortly after Neil “Spanky” Caruso is captured following the multiple murders and kidnappings on the previous episode “Stan By Me,” Stan and Marshall try to persuade the criminal to confess that Brandi knew nothing about any drugs in exchange for a new protected life in WITSEC. This is especially important because if Brandi goes down, so could Mary and her career by association.
Spanky’s not buying, however, because he realizes dead federal agents mean automatic death penalty consequences. Since Stan and Marshall have nothing he wants to deal, the only way Spanky will come clean about Brandi is if they let him walk, and that isn’t going to happen.
Fortunately for the marshals, a little diligence and investigative work reveals that (1) Spanky was arrested in a motel recently for child endangerment — that would be Brandi’s handiwork, of course — and (2) the baby of drug addict and witness Rachel Miller, the strung-out blonde with Spanky’s brother Russell in the motel room, has hemolytic anemia.
The last detail helps Stan and Marshal discover that Spanky is the baby’s father after they learn it’s medically impossible for Russell to be. Voilà — there’s a motivation for Spanky to deal and absolve Brandi of any guilt.
In exchange for his confession, the government will take the baby away from Rachel and place him with a good family so he won’t end up dying of an overdose along with his mother. Similar circumstances turned Spanky to a life of crime after his own younger brother and mother od’ed at the same time.
Meanwhile, there’s a lot of angry exchanges at the Shannon home. After Mary states she won’t help Brandi — in fact, she’ll report anything Brandi tells her directly to the FBI — Jinx can’t understand why Mary won’t at least share her feelings. So, Mary finally does following yet more ridiculous accusations from her mother and sister that she thinks she’s special and gets off on their frequent screw-ups.
Mary shares that she doesn’t think she’s superior but knows she is because she has managed to live a responsible and law-abiding adult life. Jinx retaliates by confessing that she lied to Mary after her father left since he didn’t really think she was special. Mary’s response is to bring out a box of letters from her father that he’s been sending her for the last twenty years.
The first letter is from the day he left on February 5, 1978, the second about ten years later, and the last from a few days after Mary relocated to New Mexico and Jinx showed up. He always calls Mary special and asks that she take care of her mother and baby sister.
While Jinx is stunned, Brandi is pissed, and she announces that she doesn’t have a father. A visit from drunk Raphael helps Mary realize she should help Brandi when he tells her how distraught her younger sister was after she gave Biscuit the teddy bear to Rachel’s baby. Brandi is afraid that with Biscuit gone, there are no more ties connecting her and Mary, so Mary could abandon her and leave her with no more protection.
Mary is moved enough to ask Brandi to tell her side of the story. Yet, just as Mary pulls out of her driveway in her convertible with the suitcase beside her, the FBI shows up to execute a search warrant for her house and car. They tear the place apart, literally, on vengeful FBI agent Robert O’Conner’s command, but find nothing, including in the suitcase, which is filled with towels.
Brandi and Jinx are both stunned to find neither of them removed the meth. But a smiling Raphael batting at the baseball park later hints he may have something to do with it, especially when the scene cuts to a worker placing lines along the field with a powdery white substance.
I’m stumped how Raphael could have made the switch, so an explanation of that is one thing to look forward to next season. The other is daddy. I hope we finally get to meet the mysterious alleged bank robber who can still turn the lives of the Shannon women upside down decades after he abandoned them … or did he?
And finally, I have a feeling we’ll also probably see more of determined Agent O’Conner, who informed Stan after the fruitless search of Mary’s house that he’s just getting started. What a shame, too, because I really, really don’t like him.
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POSTED IN: In Plain Sight, Recaps, Season Finales
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