'In Plain Sight' series finale: Sweet satisfaction

'In Plain Sight' series finale: Sweet satisfaction

Spoiler Alert: Five seasons of witness wrangling, crime-stopping tales came to end on tonight’s series finale of In Plain Sight. While it’s gloomy to see it go just as the season hit its stride with Mary (Mary McCormack) dealing her impromptu decision to keep little baby Norah and still being a kick-ass U.S. Marshall, the show’s swan song gave us so much to be happy about.
Albuquerque WITSEC is staying put, Marshall (Frederick Welller) and Stan (Paul Ben-Victor) both got promoted, Mary made peace with the memories of her dad, and runaway bride Brandi (Nichole Hiltz) returned sober and wiser. But the main event last night was the closure for the series-long ‘will they or won’t they’ of Marshall and Mary.
I’ll admit I’ve flopped back and forth when it comes to a Marshall and Mary romance. My uncertainty meant I wasn’t sure what ending would leave me satisfied as a fan—that was until I saw it tonight.
Marshall asking Mary to “release” him actually made me tear up a little bit. I was confused at first but as he continued his plea, it made so much sense.

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“Because if you call, I’ll come,” he added. “Every time.” You only need to close your eyes and pick an episode for proof of that. In the last two alone, he stood up the minister for his wedding and left his fiancé in the wee hours of the morning to help Mary through slapping the cuffs on daddy dearest. So moving forward with his upcoming nuptials can’t possibly be a solo decision, Mary has to stop calling.
What that conversation did was close the chapter on a romance without actually destroying Marshall and Mary. This show stands strong on the chemistry between the nerdy, sarcastic duo. They’re each other’s “you know”. All the kooky witnesses, bureaucratic struggles, and dysfunctional family events are just the white noise to their distinct fine-tuned melody. So when Marshall delivered that balcony speech, it finally clicked for me as a fan. This makes the most sense for them. Mary is his work wife but she would never work as his real wife.
There’s no question that Abigail (Rachel Boston) is perky to a fault but she is also sweet and sensitive and most importantly she makes him happy. Almost every scene with those two and their dog throws me into a diabetic coma. Mary took the words right out of my mouth when she said Marshall deserves to be happy. He really does and while, yes Mary makes him happy she’s also a ticking bomb that Marshall always feels he has to handle. That sense of obligation doesn’t make for a functional relationship. He’s on much lighter, even ground with Abigail.
Having Mary accept that and even attempt a romance of her own was just the cherry on top. Her eagerness to jump right in bed with Kenny (Josh Hopkins), “as single dad devoid of any moves” was initially worrisome. Mainly because it followed finding out that Raph (Cristián de la Fuente) was happily married and Marshall was engaged. Any arm chair television addict therapist could see what that one-night romp would have really been about. Yet telling him about her father’s death and bringing him to a dinner with everyone who matters to her proved she might like this guy. That’s saying a lot for Mary and having someone else who’s willing to let her lean on him bodes well for her being able to release Marshall. It was everything I needed to say farewell a satisfied fan.
Were you as content with the finale? Are Marshall and Mary really better as best friends? Do you think his “I love you” were more than platonic?

 Source: Plain Sight