NETWORK: USA
AIR DATE: June 1, 2008
STARRING: Mary McCormack, Frederick Weller, Lesley Ann Warren, Paul Ben-Victor, Cristian de la Fuente, and Nichole Hiltz
CREATED BY: David Maples

The cable dominance of USA continues this week with the debut of the highly-anticipated In Plain Sight, a show that should continue the net's dominance and add another hit to their repertoire. Following the formula set by Monk, Psych, and Burn Notice, In Plain Sight centers around a fascinating lead handling weekly mysteries with ease. Sight's Mary Shannon, played perfectly by Mary McCormack, will fit nicely next to Adrian Monk, Shawn Spencer, and Michael Westen. In fact, she could become the most fascinating character on the network. In Plain Sight struggles a little bit out of the gate. The first two episodes are good-not-great, but the third and fourth chapters are fantastic. Give Mary and the rest of the gang on In Plain Sight a chance and you'll be hooked too.

McCormack stars as a U.S. Marshall in charge of people in the Witness Protection Program. Like a lot of female TV characters on shows like The Closer and Saving Grace, Mary has to balance a challenging personal and professional life and even solve a mystery of the week in between. The peek under the hood of how the WITSEC Program works is one of the most fascinating parts of In Plain Sight. How does a person forced into hiding handle tragedy? How does a child who watches his father kill his mother grow up under protection? And, most interestingly, how does a man who has worked very hard to build an accomplished life leave it behind when something his daughter witnesses forces the whole family into the program? It's a great concept.

For the first two episodes, I was concerned that it was ALL concept. McCormack is undeniably great (the role should turn her into a star and hopefully get her a Golden Globe and Emmy nod) but it's kind of a one-woman show in those first two chapters and we don't need another star vehicle. There are already too many of those on TV. Luckily, Mary steps back a and allows others to shine in the second two episodes sent to us by USA. The Wire star Wendell Pierce guest-stars in the third chapter, the best episode so far, and he's Emmy worthy. Pierce never got the credit he deserved on The Wire (no one on that show did) and it would be great to see him get a guest nod for this fantastic turn as a man confronted with choosing between a very successful professional and social life and his family. Just the details of how a whole family goes into the program in this episode makes it the best. It's fascinating TV. And the fourth episode, which features a guest turn from Dave Foley, is nearly as good. Foley's interesting but this is the one where Mary's partner, played with deadpan wit by Frederick Weller, gets to shine. It's also when the family subplot - featuring Lesley Ann Warren as Mary's mom and the gorgeous Nichole Hiltz as her sister - on In Plain Sight starts to get really interesting. McCormack is great in the third and fourth episode but every show is only as strong as its ensemble and their development is what will really pull this show away from the pack.

Honestly, In Plain Sight follows a similar pattern to most of the USA hits. The first episode of Psych and Burn Notice did very little for me, but each series got more confident and assured as they went along, getting better week-by-week until they settled into a groove. Based on the trajectory of In Plain Sight in its first four episodes, it's likely to be one of the best shows on TV this summer. The consistent string of hits by USA is enough to almost make the other networks jealous. They're the Yankees of basic cable. And they've hit another home run.