Mary Shannon is the latest damaged career gal on TV.
In the tradition of “The Closer” and “Saving Grace,” Mary (Mary McCormack, “The West Wing) is a dedicated law enforcement agent whose personal life is a minefield. (She even seems to have raided Grace’s closet for her wardrobe.)
She’s a U.S. marshal who specializes in caring for those in the witness protection program. She’s great at her job despite her lack of an internal censor. She’ll say anything to tick people off. It makes her happy.
Mary’s sarcasm seems wildly out of place given the grisly nature of Sunday’s case (the extended pilot runs 76 minutes beginning at 10 p.m.) in which two teenagers have been savagely butchered. One was the son of a Mafia hit man now in the program.
Complicating Mary’s investigation is the Ukrainian bookkeeper who is having trouble adjusting to the witness protection program. This woman would like the federal government to pay for new breasts. Mary agrees to help – anything to stay away from her home, which has been taken over by her flighty mother, Jinx (Lesley Ann Warren), and her sister Brandi (Nichole Hiltz).
Next week, she protects a boy whose father worked for a drug cartel and whose mother was killed. The boy’s placement with a new family is threatened when the felon father sues for custody. A subplot with Mary’s wacky mother goes absolutely nowhere. The big reveal involving Mary’s sister that caps Sunday’s episode is dropped, at least for now.
Typical of the show’s humor (or lack of it), Mary’s partner (played by Frederick Weller) is named Marshall Mann, making him Marshal Marshall Mann. Hilarious. His snarky sensibility is virtually identical to Mary’s. It’s as if the creators realized late in the game that she needed someone to bounce exposition off of and just split her character.
USA Network’s tagline runs “Characters welcome.” There should be an addendum to that: Creativity vacancies.
Series premiere Sunday at 10 p.m. on USA Network.
