Raw photos opened in Camera Raw look much, much different

Hello Adobe Community,
I'm hoping you can help me solve my exceptionally frustrating problem that I'm currently having.
I shoot with a Canon 5d mark III, and do my preliminary narrowing down in Photo Mechanic.
My image preview on my camera, and my image preview in Photo Mechanic match and look the same.
However, when I pull an image into Camera Raw, it looks dark and I can't easily make the changes for it to look like the preview.
Any ideas? I'd be happy to supplement any additional information necessary.

I hate to tell you this, but the histograms in both Photo Mechanic and ACR clearly show the image is underexposed.  Histograms don't lie.  It is really that simple.
The first thing I would do is adjust the LCD brightness in the 5D3 Cfns
http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/5d-mk-iii/users-guide/
Then I would make a habit of at least occasionally use the Info button on the 5D3 to view the histogram when chimping images.  You need to get a handle on how the camera copes with different situations.  I use a 1DsMK3 and 1DMK4 and I find that the default Evaluative metering tends to blow highlights in bright conditions, but will under expose in dim interiors.  So get into the habit of using AEC (Auto Exposure Compensation) to correct this.
I am wondering why you use Photo Mechanic rather than just use Bridge and ACR?  ACR is obviously giving you a much truer representation of your image, whereas Photo Mechanic is distorting things making it look brighter than it really is.
Do you have any sort of monitor calibration in place?

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