TV Jots

Premiere Features Donnie Wahlberg

USA Network is really keeping the original series coming these days now that it has so many in the stable. When one ends a half-season, another one is just around the corner. Case in point: In Plain Sight, the Mary McCormack U.S. Marshal crime dramedy, which begins its third season tonight, March 31, at 10pm ET.

The first fresh episode of 2010 is “Father Goes West,” guest starring Donnie Wahlberg (Runaway, The Kill Point, Boomtown) of New Kids on the Block boy band fame.

It’s been so long since the show’s August 2009 second-season finale “Don’t Cry for Me Albuquerque” I can barely remember what last happened to main character Mary Shannon (McCormack). But I know the episode ended with a gunshot wound for the heroine, and she’s recently discharged from the hospital when the new season gets underway.

So, while Mary — being her usual “let’s get the job done” self — returns to work right away, her partner Marshall preoccupies himself with trying to figure out who shot her. Mary has a lot to keep her busy, too, since her latest case involves a witness who may have gone back to his criminal ways.

Sneak a peek at “Father Goes West” in the following preview video. If you’re a Breaking Bad fanatic, as am I, you’ll have no problem recognizing the bald, heavily tattooed baddie “chatting” with Marshall.

That’s fantastic actor Luis Moncada reprising his “Don’t Cry for Me Albuquerque” role as Lala. He also happens to play one of the silent, sinister, and severely deadly “cousins” on the current season of AMC’s hit meth dramedy. Recognizing him makes me twice as eager to check out In Plain Sight‘s season premiere.