Dear Fandom,

[giandujakiss]

I write to inform you that Allison Janney now has a semi-regular/recurring role on In Plain Sight.

Love,
Me

(Incidentally, In Plain Sight provides a nice a gender-reversal of the "genius wrangler" trope - i.e., where a male lead sort of runs rampant and breaks all the rules and is generally obnoxious and out-of-control and a female lead is put in the role of playing mommy/grown-up. There was an LJ post about it that I can't locate now but it basically sums up why I had to stop watching The Mentalist and Lie to Me, why I never even started watching Castle, and why House walks a very fine line. But In Plain Sight is the opposite, or close to - Mary's not a prodigy in the same way the male "geniuses" are, but she's certainly extremely skilled. - Edit: Oh, here's the post.)

(Oh, also? This week? Don't even get me started on another rant about how TV makes it sound as though it's ethical and appropriate for cops and prosecutors withhold exculpatory information from the defense.)

Comments

[monanotlisa]

I stopped watching The Mentalist too - it was mostly the incredible dumbing-down of everyone but Jane, but that element of their dynamic bothered me too.

By comparison, God, In Plain Sight is good. Painful (she rips my heart out, Mary does) but good.

[giandujakiss]

It really is. Her relationships with her mother and her sister are so incredibly well-done, and her friendship with Marshall totally nails my buddy!kink.

But did Dershowitz disappear this season? I miss him.

[splash_the_cat]

Yeah. Unfortunately Dershowitz and Eleanor were both dumped as part of some overall changes to the show.

[giandujakiss]

Yeah, I knew about Eleanor because the characters mention it - and though I did like her a lot, I wasn't going to complain because Allison Janney! But I miss Dershowitz.

[splash_the_cat]

I think they did mention Dershowitz leaving in the season opener too, though it was just a line. And hilariously, USA hasn't updated their website - he's still listed as a character there.

And yes, if we had to lose Eleanor, this was a more than equitable trade. Though I am really concerned that the plan to shift the tone of the show to more of a procedural is going to kill the awesomely complicated relationships Mary has with her mother and sister.

[giandujakiss]

Is that the plan? Because yeah, that would kill the relationships - but there's no reason to take Dershowitz off if that's where they're going.

And you're right - the sister left town suddenly and Mom's moving out so maybe they are going to kill those! That would be bad! I mean, I'll admit, my fave things about the show are watching Mary work a case and watching Mary with Marshall (buddy!kink), but I'd hate to see those elements disappear.

[splash_the_cat]

The wikipedia page has a short summary on the changes. Basically, they want the show to be less dark, and more about the cases, to make it more of a cookie-cutter procedural. Why that required axing Dershowitz, no clue, other than the inevitability of a network to take a great show and destroy it to make it better fit their idea of marketability.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Plain_Sight

[giandujakiss]

Oh, man, that's depressing. And the show was never dark!! And I'm particularly sad Dersh is gone now because she's broken up with Rafe and he was an obvious love interest potential.

[merryish]

Have you ever watched The Closer? I think you might like the dynamic there, based on this post. :) Brenda Lee is the wacky/out of control/genius/prodigy type, running a bit roughshod over her underlings and not at all kept in line by her male boss or her boyfriend, who make random attempts but mostly suffer in amusement and help.

[giandujakiss]

Heh. I love the Closer - I've posted about it several times :-). The first season was my favorite, when she was still grating with the team and when Gabriel had a bigger role, before he was edged out in favor of the love interest.

[ide_cyan]

I'm looking forward to S3, which I hope will air soon in Canada, but trying to avoid major spoilers. (I mean, obviously she'll come out of the coma, but I don't want to know the details.)

[giandujakiss]

Hee. Don't read the other comments to this post, then :-).