Season four of In Plain Sight comes to an end with “Something Borrowed, Something Blew Up” tonight; I had the chance to see an early version of the finale, and it was amazing. Really. If you like this show even a little bit, you don’t want to miss it, and there’s something for everyone – action, drama, humor, and, of course, witty banter. Plus Marshall saying “chuppah” a bunch of times.
In preparation for the finale, I spoke with actors Fred Weller and Mary McCormack, who play Marshall and Mary, about this season, next season, their characters’ relationship, and more. The actors certainly share the characters’ tendency to tease each other and finish each others’ sentences, so in the exchanges quotes below I’ve tried to preserve some of that tone for you without making the actual answers completely unreadable. Enjoy!
On what their characters learned this season:
Mary: “I mean, obviously in the finale my sister’s getting married, so you know, it’s Brandi so things don’t always go according to plan. And probably she’ll use birth control from now on. She’s learned about that in a real way. Let’s see, she’s learned AA seems to work, her mother’s still sober, which is a miracle. What else has she learned? I mean, that Marshall’s an even better friend that she thought, which is, you know, hard to believe because he’s really stepped up with the whole pregnancy thing and – golly, I don’t know. I think for Mary this season, I think one of the things that’s been fun for me this seasons is that her family has sort of not been the mess ups that they’ve been traditionally. And so, she’s sort of had to figure out who she was when she wasn’t looking after them, you know? And I think that’s been an interesting thing for Season 4 because for the first three seasons she’s been bitching about how she’s the only adult in the family and she has to clean up their messes, and all of a sudden they’re sort of – she’s the hot mess. You know, she’s the one who’s knocked up and single and they’re sort of getting on with their lives.”
Fred: “Okay, I learned stuff.”
Mary: “What’d you learn, pal?”
Fred: “I think Marshall learned that while he thought that Mary’s obstreperousness could not get any worse. He found out that there is no ceiling on it, having been with a pregnant Mary for a while. Look it up, obstreperousness, I’m talking to you, Mary.”
Mary: “Show off. That’s a show off. Honestly, it’s unbelievable.”
On how she would feel if her character kept the baby:
Mary: “Both ways both ways are dramatic. I don’t actually know what they’re going to do at this stage, I really don’t. But, I do know that I’m sort of excited to play it either way. I mean, I think giving a baby up for adoption would be incredible, in terms of dramatic stories, and the keeping it obviously has, you know, crazy sort of opportunities for her to – I mean, the thought of her raising a child – sounds fun also.”
On whether Mary is aware of Marshall’s feelings:
Fred: “Marshall thinks that Mary is afraid of her feelings and that she’s got many layers of self defense over them.”
Mary: “I agree with that.”
On whether Marshall is aware of Marshall’s feelings:
Fred: “I don’t think Marshall is in denial about his true feelings for Mary at all. I think he knows. I think he’s come very close to telling her. I think she probably knows too. I think she – I think he thinks that she reciprocates those feelings as much as she can. I don’t know – Fred doesn’t know if Mary McCormack agrees, but …”
Mary: “No, I agree with that. I think Mary Shannon is able to compartmentalize in an unhealthy way, you know, and push things out of the front of her brain and push them to the back of her brain for comfort and ease, so survival. But, I think deep down she sort of is aware of stuff, but she’s able to sort of just push it away, you know, and make noise and fill her life with other things that are easier, simpler.”
On how Marshall justifies his relationship with Abigail to himself:
Fred: “I think he’s sort of licking his wounds with her a little bit. I mean, he likes her. I think he’s surprised that he likes her. They get along. They have fun times. But I think he knows there’s something missing. I don’t think he’s always aware of it, but I think he’s a romantic at heart and I really feel like he’s got this undeniable longing for Mary and I think that it’s always lurking there. But, he’s got to move on and he’s got needs, after all, so – for companionship and so forth, so …”
Mary: “Don’t say needs.”
Fred: “Needs, don’t say needs?”
Mary: “I’ll throw up. Oh, my God, I’m going to throw up.”
Fred: “He’s got carnal urges …”
Mary: “Oh, stop.”
Fred: “Can I say carnal urges?”
Mary: “Just stop. Can we stop, please?”
Fred: “I mean, you know, he can’t be a monk forever.”
And is it unfair to Abigail?
Mary: “Yeah, do you ever think of that?”
Fred: “What? What’s the question?”
Mary: “That it’s unfair to Abigail on some level?”
Fred: “Yeah. Yeah, I think probably so, yeah. But, she’s – yeah, she’s young.”
Mary: “She’s young.”
Fred: “Yeah, sure. It’s complicated. It’s messy.”
On whether Mary and Fred were hoping Marshall would be the baby’s father:
Mary: “No, I wasn’t.”
Fred: “No, I don’t think …”
Mary: “It seems that we’d missed so many fun steps if that were the case. I mean, I was already really pregnant …”
Fred: “Yeah, I don’t think that could happen.”
Mary: ” … when we made that decision, so it had to be someone – I think if it had been Marshall we would have skipped so many steps and I think the audience would have felt robbed.”
Fred: “Yeah, we’d have to hook up episode two or three of the season, and then what? You know …”
Mary: “And that hadn’t happened. I mean, we’d already shot – timing wise that couldn’t have worked anyway, but I think also it would have been a – I just think it would have rushed – accelerated something that’s sort of fun to draw out.”
Fred: “I think that Mary and Marshall should and will hook up at some point, but it’s a little bit like the escape from Gilligan’s Island. I mean, what comes after it is going to be tricky.”
On whether there are other questions that would keep the show going if Marshall and Mary got together:
Fred: “What other sources of mystery? Well, I mean, I think that certainly Mary’s character is – I don’t think we’ll ever [plumb] those depths entirely. I think if Mary and Marshall hooked up it would not exactly be a frictionless relationship, so that would cause drama … I mean, a hook up would have to be, I think it’s just a temporary thing that gave rise to other issues. What do you think, Mary?”
Mary: “No idea. It’s too big a question for me … That’s like a writer’s question.”
On where their characters will be in five years:
Fred: “I don’t know. We are probably still arguing.”
Mary: “She’s probably still in the same job, right? I mean, I imagine that’s a job that’s going to stick. She likes that job.”
Fred: “Arguing about different stuff, probably be having hooked up and moved on to other people. Marshall’s trying to keep her from making her child a total wreck.”
Mary: “You’re implying that I keep the child.”
Fred: “Listen, we’ll see, right?”
Mary: “Watch yourself now.”
Fred: “I don’t know. I don’t know what happens next season anymore than anybody else does. I have no idea what happens.”
Mary: “You sucker.”
What Fred would like to see for Marshall in the future:
Fred: “Well, I’d like to see him get into some kind of romantic relationship with Mary, but not something that’s too cozy or long lived. I just feel like it’s got to happen at some point. I don’t want to jump to shark. I mean, I think that the more drama would ensue as a result of that. I don’t think that they would – they’re certainly not going to start getting along better than they do now, which is pretty questionable already, you know what I mean? And there’s plenty of room for conflict and trouble.”
Speaking of conflict and trouble, there’s plenty of both of those in the In Plain Sight finale airing tonight on USA. Trust me, you don’t want to miss it.
Photo Courtesy of USA Network
I think the baby should be Marshall’s. In a flashback, they both know that something happened. It’s just neither can remember because of some drug they injested during one of their travels helping a high-pofile guy the agency is trying to hide. The drug was actually meant for the person they were protecting but Marshall drank most of it, thinking it was the drink he ordered, and of course he and Mary share stuff. That would be awesome on trying to work this one out for the entire next season.