Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Sunday, March 31, 2024

DVD Review/TV Series Recap: In Plain Sight - Complete Series

 


+++Fair warning, this will contain minor spoilers from throughout the series. +++

In Plain Sight was a procedural series about a US Marshal that aired on the USA Network from 2008 to 2012 and starred Mary McCormack, Frederick Weller, Nichole Hinz, Paul Ben-Victor, and Lesley Ann Warren. The story is centered around Mary Shannon (played by Mary McCormack), who is a witness protection inspector in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Each episode contains a case of the week storyline, which pertains to some new witness (or witnesses) who need protecting, and more arc-driven storylines involving Mary's personal life. That is mainly centered around her dysfunctional mother, sister, and other agents in the Albuquerque office.

McCormack does a great job with her character, playing Mary as harsh, cold, and uncaring at times, yet the exact opposite at others. Her more tender side is covered by a smart mouth and sarcastic wit. Fredrick Weller plays her partner Marshall perfectly as well. The two have great chemistry, and throughout the series, it is implied and teased that he loves Mary but there is never an overt will they get together vibe, really ever, over the run of the series. To the extent anything between them is teased in the background, it is resolved at the end of the series. The other story that plays out well throughout the series is Mary dealing with her family issues. While Mary does have to deal with her screw-up sister and flighty mother, it is the fact that her father abandoned the family that is the big serial storyline that goes through the entire series, and the resolution is done very well.

There are a couple of options for full-season sets. One that packages the individual DVD seasons together and one that is a complete series set. As far as extras go, both sets appear to have the same content. The first few seasons have a small amount of extras such as some deleted scenes, commentary tracks on select episodes, and a gag reel. There are no extras for seasons 4 and 5. Ultimately, I think the series did a good job of not being too repetitive. The weekly cases were entertaining and were not repetitive. The various characters evolved over time, and the show did not hang on too long to the point where it got stale. I also think the fact that the seasons were kept short (13 episodes from seasons 1-4 and 8 episodes in the last season) kept it from getting flat. The series is well-written and very well-acted. It is a very good procedural drama with some humor mixed in, and it is absolutely worth the time to watch.



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