A Priest Walks Into a Bar is the title of In Plain Sight’s season finale. Actually the episode itself starts out as a priest walks into a strip club but those are just semantics. The priest played by the wonderful Joe Spano, witnesses the brutal murder of one of the strippers (said stripper’s Mom sent him to convince her to quit). This turn of events makes our priest Gabriel, Mary’s final case of the season.

I love Mary. I wasn’t sure at first. The first season didn’t bowl me over but the more I saw of the show, the more I liked it. By the season one finale I was hooked. Now it’s on my must see list.

Season three has had a father theme. There is always the backstory of Mary’s father who left when she was seven but this season we also got to meet Marshall’s father, hear about Mike Faber’s (Steven Weber) SOB of a father, and we end with Father Gabe.

Father Gabe seems more than willing to give up the priesthood, something that surprises Mary, a non-believer. Gabe takes a job as a bartender, which lets him give counsel to a different type of parish. He still visits a local church though “checking for messages” as he tells Mary who asks “so, that was helpful? The praying and whatnot?” He says he feels as though there is “no one on the other end of the line.”

Then Gabe gets a secret message slipped to him from the stripper that got away. She also witnessed the murder but ran and she’s scared. Gabe plans to help her. Mary tries to show him the lunacy of his plan when he explains that faith “is precisely about taking the word of a stripper on the lam.” His belief in blind faith over reason is something that irritates the heck out of Mary. “I’ll do my best to keep you safe, Gabe but if I don’t…don’t worry. Frosty, Santa, the Velveteen Rabbit will save the day. Trust me I know. I just do.” That’s something I love about Mary. Her biting sarcasm. I have been told it’s a quality I share, not sure if that’s good or bad.

Of course Gabe doesn’t listen and ends up secretly meeting the wayward stripper. Only the meeting is not so secret. Marshall and Mary find the pair. Then the murdering mob henchmen track them down too causing Mary to yell for a change of plans as she and Marshall draw their weapons. A great shootout ensues. Our stipper has an arm wound but our murderers fared far worse. As one of them lay dying, Father Gabe reappears and offers Last Rites. Apparently there is somebody on the other end of that line.

There were a few things I was expecting at season end that I didn’t get. That may be because the season was cut short from sixteen to thirteen episodes due to Executive Producer and showrunner John McNamara taking an early leave due to medical reasons. (Fyi, we certainly hope he will be OK.) I expected to see more concerning Mary’s newly found half brother Scott, maybe even more information about their wayward Daddy. However it was nice to see Brandi getting her life back together and moving in with Peter.

As a side story, Mary is told that she can no longer bank her vacation days and has to actually use them. Jinx shows her a box of all of her old brochures for vacations she never got to go on and she encourages Mary to go have fun.

Then we get the moment of the show. Mary is lamenting that it has been a brutal year and maybe she will take that vacation, hit a bar, find a guy and “blow off some steam.” That’s when Marshall steps up. “Maybe instead of just anyone, you should be looking for someone. Someone who challenges you. Who calls you on your bs. Gets in your face and makes you think.” As the moment hangs there in the air, Stan walks up and interrupts and Marshall looks like he’s just taken a physical blow. The moment is over.

The last scene is of Mary in a sundress at a resort in some tropical locale. She looks as relaxed as we’ve ever seen her. Then Mike Faber walks out of the bathroom in a towel. The two banter and share a passionate kiss. So is Mary trying to follow Marshall’s advice or is she just blowing off steam?

I have to say I kind of saw the ending coming. As much as I felt for Marshall, it didn’t have the impact on me as say Castle’s season finale. I just don’t think Marshall and Mary are there yet. Marshall may be ready to take that plunge but Mary is nowhere close. I’m not even sure it’s on her radar yet. And I’m not sure what direction the show takes once it goes there but if they did, I’d happily take the ride.

So what do you think of In Plain Sight? Was the season finale enough for you? What do you hope for next season?

Please share you comments with us here or e-mail us at proudtvjunkie@gmail.com and we’ll post your comments below.

Comments:

IPSfan (07/01/2010 - 02:04pm)

-Yeah, it felt like they didn't tie up some loose ends. I didn't know the season was shortened. Thanks for letting us know.

Tags: In Plain Sight