Here's Something (More) About Mary

I posted before I went to bed last night about USA Network's new original series In Plain Sight, and I am really looking forward to the premiere tomorrow night (Sunday, June 1st) at 10:00pm EDT.

I checked out the In Plain Sight web site this morning and I think Mary Shannon is the character I can best relate to on the show. Just like me, Mary is tough, sexy and smart and keeps her identity undercover. Played by Mary McCormack, Mary Shannon is a U.S. Marshal attached to the highly secretive Federal Witness Protection Program known as WITSEC, assigned to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I'm fascinated by the New Mexico locale...after living in metropolitan Chicago for 40 years, Rex's brother Jake and his wife, Connie, moved out to the Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico, in November 2006. As far as I know, neither Jake nor Connie is part of the Witness Protection Program...but hey, you never know.

Mary Shannon's job of protecting Federal Witnesses—from career criminals to innocent bystanders—is tricky enough, but it's even tougher when dangerous people want those witnesses dead. On top of the myriad responsibilities attached to her high-risk job, Mary must keep the true nature of her work secret from her family and friends in order not to endanger them, her witnesses or herself. As an investment banker, I can relate....I frequently need to tell friends and family "If I told ya (about the client/project I'm working on), I'd hafta kill ya" until a deal is closed and publicly announced.

To help facilitate her witnesses' often rocky transition into their new lives, Mary has to wear many hats at any given time: mother, therapist, best friend, maid of honor, priest, rabbi, marriage counselor, employment agent, bodyguard, and occasionally, homicide detective. Same for Roxy: former disc jockey, current investment banker, mother of two girls, hot little wife to Rex, Roxiticus Desperate Housewife, blogger, therapist to the other Roxiticus Desperate Housewives...the list goes on!

As far as Mary's loopy mother, Jinx, and her younger sister, Brandi, are concerned, Mary's job as a Federal Marshal consists of lounging around the courthouse with her trivia-loving partner, Marshall, and serving the occasional warrant. My mother thinks that unless I've gone in to my office in New York City, I'm lounging around the Roxiticus Valley instead of hard at work from my home office. It's hard for Mary not being able to tell the people she's closest to what she does, but truth be told, she prefers it that way. The last thing she wants is for anyone to have to worry—that's her job, both on duty and off.

If you can't wait until tomorrow night, or you're leaving in the dark of the night to join the Witness Protection Program, click here for a video clip of Mary McCormick with a "relocation tip". Enjoy the show tomorrow night on USA Network, and do come back to Roxiticus Desperate Housewives and let us know whether it gets a thumbs up/thumbs down and why.