OOC: 10 Things You Might Want To Know About Mary Connell
This post contains spoilers for seasons 1-4 of "Las Vegas" as well as speculation about season 5. Also, there's some disturbing elements about Mary's past that will be under a separate cut, so be forewarned.
1) Mary's a Las Vegas native. She's one of those locals who looks at tourists and rolls her eyes over how they get so giddy over everything Vegas. Coming to Fandom is going to be a shock because she's never really been an outsider in a new place. Not to mention that the place is too quiet without slot machines.
2) Why did she come to Fandom? Mary's been in love with her childhood best friend, Danny McCoy, since he kissed her in 4th grade. She had dreams about marrying Danny and getting a house with a white picket fence. But now Danny is in a serious relationship with Delinda Deline and it really looks like they're in it for the long haul. Mary realized that she needed to be away from Danny and Delinda if she could move on with her life and find the person that she's meant to be with. Not to mention that she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but we'll get to that later.
3) Mary arrives in Fandom after the events in the fourth season finale. She's been hired by the yet-unnamed new owner of the Arms Hotel who might actually be someone from her Las Vegas past.
4) She previously served as the Montecito's Director of Special Events. In addition to overseeing the Montecito's hotel operations, she plans million dollar weddings for guests, finds buyers for the Montecito's residential suites, takes care of rich casino whales and tracks down guests and/or housekeeping staff who steal hotel towels. So don't think she won't notice what you've taken out of the mini-bar.
5) Mary is the quintessential girl-next-door. She's sweet, kind, caring and very protective of those she cares about. Her former boss Ed Deline describes her as having a heart of gold.
6) If she has a fault, it's that she's lacking in confidence and that she's reluctant to ask for help when she needs it. Mary also has some anxiety when it comes to public speaking. She can handle introducing the band onstage at the the Montecito's night club, Mystique, but the thought of performing stand-up comedy terrifies her. Yet Mary tackled her fear head-on by going to several amateur nights at local comedy clubs.
7) Mary has a checkered past when it comes to romance. Danny eventually did ask her to marry him. She turned him down. Then she started dating a rich lawyer who wooed her with expensive jewelry but never spent any time with her after she moved in. He also tried to propose after she moved out. She turned him down too. She had a promising new relationship with hotel owner Casey Manning when he suddenly disappeared because Dean Cain was written off the show. Recently she was thrilled when an NBA player staying at the Montecito asked her to dinner, but she was in for a shock when she got back to his hotel room and found that he had a steady boyfriend waiting for him.
8) I guess it's time to address what's happening in season 5. James Caan, who plays Ed, and Nikki Cox, who plays Mary, are being written off the show. In the latter case, it may not have been a voluntary change. Meanwhile, a new owner played by Tom Selleck is coming in. "Las Vegas" has a bad habit of leaving a character in a cliffhanger storyline and then completely dropping it when the actor is not invited back for another season (see note above about Dean Cain). So the back half of season 4 had this bizarre storyline about Mary totally losing it.
9) Mary was abused by her father, a secret that she's kept from nearly everyone except Danny. She hasn't had any contact with her father as an adult, but a few years ago she was horrified to learn that he had remarried and had two small girls. Worse yet, his new wife had no idea about his past as a child molester. Just when Mary stopped emoing came to terms with Danny and Delinda's relationship, her stepmother contacted her and asked her to testify against her father so that he would not get custody of his young daughters. Mary started to bond with her half-sisters and deal with her past. Then the producers went screwy and Mary's father was cleared of all charges despite her testimony. Mary started suffering from panic attacks and started drinking heavily to deal with the stress. Then she went out and bought a gun.
10) Believing that it was the only way to protect her sisters, Mary set out to shoot and kill her father as he left his favorite bar. Danny, Delinda and Ed all tried to stop her, but they were also dealing with other disasters (Delinda was pregnant, one of Danny's former Marine buddies tried to blow up the hotel, and the casino was being robbed). Mary's father was shot and killed, but Ed and Danny were also in the parking lot with Mary and it's not clear who fired the fatal shot. We're probably not going to know until the fall who did it, and I had serious doubts that the show would be renewed until they landed Tom Selleck. So for now, Mary's going to be tight-lipped about what happened and a little leery of law enforcement types.
Ed Deline did counter-intelligence work for the CIA before getting into the casino business so he has some really good connections. He brings Mary to Fandom to help her escape the mess in Las Vegas and gets her the job as manager of the Arms Hotel. Before leaving, he cautions her not to talk about what happened the night her father died until the season premiere airs and we find out who did it. So now Mary is harboring two secrets. She's cut off from Danny, the only other person who shares her confidence. She responds by throwing herself into restoring the hotel and building a new life for herself away from Vegas.
I have floating days off that vary from week to week, but generally you can catch me after 10 PM except on Sundays, when I'm definitely free after 7 PM. I can usually count on being off on Mondays. If you want to set something up in advance, the best way to reach me is at thena8572 @ gmail.com. You can also try to catch me on AIM at evilthena, but I sometimes forget to log on.
Edit: Gunther is a friend of the Delines who also has a restaurant at the Montecito. Originally the restaurant was called Corinthian, but when Gunther hired Delinda Deline as his hostess, she added a nightclub and changed the name to Mystique, which just about tripled business.
Gunther is a maniac who once attacked a Montecito security guard that told guests that the pork loin was a little dry. He abuses his sous chefs, made his waiters wear lederhosen, admits to having questionable grooming standards, and uses "escargot entrails" as his secret ingredient.
In Season 3, the Montecito adds a Wolfgang Puck restaurant and Wolfgang starts appearing in episodes where a chef is needed, including catering Delinda's wedding. Gunther was not pleased and Mary organized an Iron Chef-type competition between Gunther and Wolfgang. And I honestly can't remember who won but I just got my Season 3 DVDs.
Gunther comes to join Mary in Fandom after he gets fired by Tom Selleck the new hotel owner who prefers Wolfgang Puck.
Questions? Comments? Wanna complain/cheer the changes coming to "Las Vegas" in season five? I'm particularly partial to baked goods containing chocolate.
1) Mary's a Las Vegas native. She's one of those locals who looks at tourists and rolls her eyes over how they get so giddy over everything Vegas. Coming to Fandom is going to be a shock because she's never really been an outsider in a new place. Not to mention that the place is too quiet without slot machines.
2) Why did she come to Fandom? Mary's been in love with her childhood best friend, Danny McCoy, since he kissed her in 4th grade. She had dreams about marrying Danny and getting a house with a white picket fence. But now Danny is in a serious relationship with Delinda Deline and it really looks like they're in it for the long haul. Mary realized that she needed to be away from Danny and Delinda if she could move on with her life and find the person that she's meant to be with. Not to mention that she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but we'll get to that later.
3) Mary arrives in Fandom after the events in the fourth season finale. She's been hired by the yet-unnamed new owner of the Arms Hotel who might actually be someone from her Las Vegas past.
4) She previously served as the Montecito's Director of Special Events. In addition to overseeing the Montecito's hotel operations, she plans million dollar weddings for guests, finds buyers for the Montecito's residential suites, takes care of rich casino whales and tracks down guests and/or housekeeping staff who steal hotel towels. So don't think she won't notice what you've taken out of the mini-bar.
5) Mary is the quintessential girl-next-door. She's sweet, kind, caring and very protective of those she cares about. Her former boss Ed Deline describes her as having a heart of gold.
6) If she has a fault, it's that she's lacking in confidence and that she's reluctant to ask for help when she needs it. Mary also has some anxiety when it comes to public speaking. She can handle introducing the band onstage at the the Montecito's night club, Mystique, but the thought of performing stand-up comedy terrifies her. Yet Mary tackled her fear head-on by going to several amateur nights at local comedy clubs.
7) Mary has a checkered past when it comes to romance. Danny eventually did ask her to marry him. She turned him down. Then she started dating a rich lawyer who wooed her with expensive jewelry but never spent any time with her after she moved in. He also tried to propose after she moved out. She turned him down too. She had a promising new relationship with hotel owner Casey Manning when he suddenly disappeared because Dean Cain was written off the show. Recently she was thrilled when an NBA player staying at the Montecito asked her to dinner, but she was in for a shock when she got back to his hotel room and found that he had a steady boyfriend waiting for him.
8) I guess it's time to address what's happening in season 5. James Caan, who plays Ed, and Nikki Cox, who plays Mary, are being written off the show. In the latter case, it may not have been a voluntary change. Meanwhile, a new owner played by Tom Selleck is coming in. "Las Vegas" has a bad habit of leaving a character in a cliffhanger storyline and then completely dropping it when the actor is not invited back for another season (see note above about Dean Cain). So the back half of season 4 had this bizarre storyline about Mary totally losing it.
9) Mary was abused by her father, a secret that she's kept from nearly everyone except Danny. She hasn't had any contact with her father as an adult, but a few years ago she was horrified to learn that he had remarried and had two small girls. Worse yet, his new wife had no idea about his past as a child molester. Just when Mary stopped emoing came to terms with Danny and Delinda's relationship, her stepmother contacted her and asked her to testify against her father so that he would not get custody of his young daughters. Mary started to bond with her half-sisters and deal with her past. Then the producers went screwy and Mary's father was cleared of all charges despite her testimony. Mary started suffering from panic attacks and started drinking heavily to deal with the stress. Then she went out and bought a gun.
10) Believing that it was the only way to protect her sisters, Mary set out to shoot and kill her father as he left his favorite bar. Danny, Delinda and Ed all tried to stop her, but they were also dealing with other disasters (Delinda was pregnant, one of Danny's former Marine buddies tried to blow up the hotel, and the casino was being robbed). Mary's father was shot and killed, but Ed and Danny were also in the parking lot with Mary and it's not clear who fired the fatal shot. We're probably not going to know until the fall who did it, and I had serious doubts that the show would be renewed until they landed Tom Selleck. So for now, Mary's going to be tight-lipped about what happened and a little leery of law enforcement types.
Ed Deline did counter-intelligence work for the CIA before getting into the casino business so he has some really good connections. He brings Mary to Fandom to help her escape the mess in Las Vegas and gets her the job as manager of the Arms Hotel. Before leaving, he cautions her not to talk about what happened the night her father died until the season premiere airs and we find out who did it. So now Mary is harboring two secrets. She's cut off from Danny, the only other person who shares her confidence. She responds by throwing herself into restoring the hotel and building a new life for herself away from Vegas.
I have floating days off that vary from week to week, but generally you can catch me after 10 PM except on Sundays, when I'm definitely free after 7 PM. I can usually count on being off on Mondays. If you want to set something up in advance, the best way to reach me is at thena8572 @ gmail.com. You can also try to catch me on AIM at evilthena, but I sometimes forget to log on.
Edit: Gunther is a friend of the Delines who also has a restaurant at the Montecito. Originally the restaurant was called Corinthian, but when Gunther hired Delinda Deline as his hostess, she added a nightclub and changed the name to Mystique, which just about tripled business.
Gunther is a maniac who once attacked a Montecito security guard that told guests that the pork loin was a little dry. He abuses his sous chefs, made his waiters wear lederhosen, admits to having questionable grooming standards, and uses "escargot entrails" as his secret ingredient.
In Season 3, the Montecito adds a Wolfgang Puck restaurant and Wolfgang starts appearing in episodes where a chef is needed, including catering Delinda's wedding. Gunther was not pleased and Mary organized an Iron Chef-type competition between Gunther and Wolfgang. And I honestly can't remember who won but I just got my Season 3 DVDs.
Gunther comes to join Mary in Fandom after he gets fired by Tom Selleck the new hotel owner who prefers Wolfgang Puck.
Questions? Comments? Wanna complain/cheer the changes coming to "Las Vegas" in season five? I'm particularly partial to baked goods containing chocolate.