I know; I just couldn’t resist. Some shows lend their names to corny lines and poor puns. What are you going to do? However, not all shows lend themselves to having their easily punned titles played with. Sometimes, you just luck into a situation….
Like with In Plain Sight: Rafe (Cristián de la Fuente) has got to rid himself of Mary (Mary McCormack). It’s clear as day, and I just don’t understand how the show has yet to see that. Even the actor himself has yet to realize the disaster that is this relationship. As I’ve mentioned before, I had the opportunity to read an interview transcript with de la Fuente, where he spent a considerable amount of time raving about his plot with Mary. I just don’t get it: why do some people crave pain?
There’s nothing about the Rafe/Mary love that spells healthy, and nothing about it that doesn’t point directly to one of two things: 1) The relationship will crash and burn, leaving Rafe shattered and Mary mainly intact (she’s not completely heartless). Or, 2) The relationship is successful, an outcome only possible if Mary becomes someone the character’s not meant to be. And then the show crashes and burns, and we’re all left shattered.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme, but we will be left minus a show that we’ve all come to really enjoy. I’ve already gotten considerable blowback from people who believe that I’m advocating minimizing Mary’s human side. On the contrary! I think she needs to be as well-rounded as any other character on (good) television … that doesn’t mean she should come equipped with the standard arsenal (guy trouble, mom trouble, sibling trouble, daddy trouble). It means she needs to be rounded properly, as the person that she is. And she doesn’t work in a committed, loving, moving towards long-term relationship. She’s too focused on career right now, too stunted by her familial issues to forge solid relationships that don’t revolve around work, her one salvation. That’s not cutting her off at the knees; that’s being realistic. And having her in a relationship that doesn’t work right now doesn’t help her grow, it just makes me look away.
As for Rafe: he’s a great guy. Loving, caring, a stable person who has the ability to make someone very happy. Why in the world is he doing this to himself? Take an example from the end of this past episode. Mary goes to get him a towel so that he can get out of the shower. She can’t find one, and realizes that he swapped his towels for the drugs at the end of last season. “My hero!” So she hops in the shower with him. Why, because she loves him? Or, because he did something for her, and that’s all that gets through to her? The scene really turned me off, as it spelled out for me exactly what’s wrong with their relationship: she’s a user, who only has time for others when there’s something in it for her. Just think back to the series premiere: she sent a protesting Rafe to pick up her sister, Brandi (Nichole Hiltz). How sweet!
You know, maybe Rafe is right for Mary; I don’t know. But what I do know is that he’s wrong for who she is right now. The creators of In Plain Sight have crafted a wonderfully powerful female character, who they then tried to saddle with all of the typical storylines that a female lead usually gets bogged down with. Why? Let Mary breath! Let her be who she is. If that’s a woman who eventually evolves into a loving wife and mom in addition to being a Marshal, awesome. If not? What’s the problem? Why is it not right to imagine that some women have other priorities? Why’s a single life of dedication to one’s work solely a man’s prerogative?
And why do these shows take the best guys they can find and crush them under the heel of a mismatched woman? Rafe’s great for the show, and I definitely want him to stick around. But he could add so much more if he were given the opportunity to stand on his own two feet, away from the danger that Mary’s love puts him in (and, far away from Brandi, who brings a whole different kind of crazy.)
Put this relationship to bed (figuratively) once and for all. Believe me; In Plain Sight will soar without the baggage.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Apr 27, 2009 @ 13:30 EST5EDT
I don’t know about keeping Rafe and Brandi apart. When she was taking care of him last season she seemed to become a lot more responsible. It’s as if being saddled with responsibility is just what Brandi needs to make her grow up, because God knows she wouldn’t take on any responsibility willingly.
I’d like to see the two of them together with Brandi actually growing up and being a less annoying character, which wouldn’t take much. The Mary/Rafe thing isn’t woring at all and neither is the Mom-and-sister-from-hell thing. Maybe this way we could have a lower annoyance factor coming from Mary’s family and a reason to keep the Rafe character on the show, because to me he’s always seemed unnecessary even if the character is a really good guy.
Oh, and Aryeh, for that title you should be placed in WITSEC!
It had to be said.
*POST AUTHOR*
Yes! Nice! :)
*POST AUTHOR*
I accept! Anything’s better than Mary and Rafe, and you’re right; maybe it will make Brandi more tolerable.
I totally agree. I hate their relationship so much. She’s going to pound him into the ground someday.