IN PLAIN SIGHT Series Finale: What Did You Think?

So, IN PLAIN SIGHT ended its five year run tonight, and like with all series finales, there are bound to be some feelings about what went down.

IPS was in the fortunate position of knowing before the season even started that it would be the last. And as we saw by the end of the episode, they definitely laid the groundwork for what would be the end for a while. But about that ending…

While the show certainly seemed to indicate in recent weeks that Marshall might finally admit how deeply he felt towards Mary and romance might be in the cards for our favorite marshals. Alas, despite the possibly misleading promos and the prompting from Marshall’s own father to consider if he was really sure about his engagement with Abigail, Marshall doubled-down on his relationship and told Mary things needed to change between them. And honestly? I’m not sure how I feel about that. (It’s safe to say my emotions have changed radially over the past week.)

It’s not even that I thought Mary and Marshall should end up together. They were intrinsically intertwined, but that doesn’t always equal happily ever after in a romantic sense. (Nor should it.) Heck, it wouldn’t have entirely made sense for them to suddenly become a couple (especially since Marshall was so newly-engaged) by the time the episode ended.

But that being said, something about how things were resolved felt off.

Maybe it was the feeling of a band-aid covering the bullet wound because Marshall asked Mary to stop leaning on him since he would come every single time she called. How does that make his relationship with Abigail the right thing to stick with? If this was the best thing for them (and if they weren’t going to inevitably fall back into this pattern six months, a year, or ten years from now), why would he not say something like, “I can’t be that for you.” Take some responsibility, man! Say what you need and take the steps to make sure it is followed through. Instead, it felt like, “I will always be there for you and come every single time you call, so if you want to take responsibility for my relationship falling apart, continue to call and act as you are.”

Or maybe it was that it felt like things got resolved for Mary’s own personal life too quickly and neatly. Look, if you’re going to end up with someone who is not your co-dependent partner, Josh Hopkins (or, you know, his IPS character) is not a bad person to fall for. He was caring, understanding, and you just knew they were going to end up together after he handled the news of her father’s death. But between that, the picture-perfect ending for Marshall/Abigail and then all of Mary’s family problems seemingly falling into place, everything almost felt too…neat. And that was a bit jarring for a show that was always a bit messy.

(Also, Mary, spreading your father’s ashes at the track for the jockeys and horses to inhale as they ride through them? EWWWWWWWWW.)

…and with all that being said, it’s not like I disliked the episode. My emotions have changed dozens of times, but I’m thankful they didn’t ruin the Mary and Marshall friendship, which was truly always the heart of the show.

But enough from me. What did you think of the IN PLAIN SIGHT finale?