McCormack gets star vehicle in ‘Sight’

McClatchy Newspapers

If U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon had been chasing bad guys a couple of decades ago, she might have found herself taking undercover assignments at strip joints and beauty pageants. But the lead character of USA’s “In Plain Sight,” which returns tonight for its second season, is a female crime fighter of her time, one who favors blue jeans and boots, initiates one-night stands, bosses around her partner and gulps vodka straight out of the bottle. She also has more baggage than Molly Brown.

Even more than TNT’s high-buzz female-driven series “The Closer” and “Saving Grace,” “Sight” presents viewers with a complex protagonist whose job with the witness-protection agency is only slightly more challenging than her attempt to maintain her sanity. It’s one of TV’s richest roles, tailor-made for the multitalented Mary McCormack, an actress who specializes in exhibiting strength without sacrificing one iota of feminity. The show airs at 10 p.m. Sundays.

McCormack, who received a Tony nomination last year for her work in the romp “Boeing, Boeing,” said the show owes a lot to “The Closer” and “Saving Grace.”

“Audiences have responded to those characters who are strong and complex and not girly,” she said. “We’ve benefited from that.”

“Sight” ups the ante in a dramatic season premiere that abandons the usual whodunit formula.

Shannon must deal not only with the trauma of killing a potential rapist last season, but also with her personal history, which includes a father sent away for bank robbery, an alcoholic mother (an unhinged Leslie Ann Warren) and an insecure sister (newcomer Nichole Hiltz) tangled in a drug deal. The result is a series of living-room confrontations straight out of “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night.”

It’s not the first time the series has successfully veered off-course. Last season’s finest hour dove deep into the emotional turmoil a family must go through when shuttled into witness protection, with an Emmy-worthy performance by Wendell Pierce from “The Wire.” Perhaps the most entertaining episode played out like a one-reel Western, as Shannon and her desert-dry partner, Marshall Mann (Fred Weller), found themselves holed up in an abandoned convenience store surrounded by snipers, forcing them to examine the depth of their platonic relationship.

“I like that David Maples is not doing superheroes,” said McCormack, referring to the show’s creator, who wrote for “Huff,” another show about a dysfunctional family. “He refuses to write about things that are two-dimensional.”

Weller also praises Maples for taking chances that may not be welcomed on network television.

“There’s a possibility of alienating the audience when you see their flaws and tempers,” he said. “Those kinds of risks are easier on cable.”

This season promises more tension when Mom gets into a physical altercation with a police officer, triggering a stint in rehab, while Sis goes back to school. Joshua Molina, who played McCormack’s love interest on “The West Wing,” is on board for several episodes.

But the main reason to keep tuning in is McCormack, who has scampered to the A-list of TV talent.

“You’ve got an actress who has a comedic ability, but can also be cynical and edgy,” Weller said. “She’s got a lot of defenses, but there’s also a soft, vulnerable underbelly. That’s always going to be interesting.”