Mary Kills People ended its 3-season run on Global in Canada last night. We are still quite hopeful for a U.S. outlet for Season 3, whether Hulu, a cable TV channel, or both.
There are no spoilers for the series finale but some mild Season 3 spoilers ahead.
The summer setting disappears as winter is here, to borrow from Game of Thrones. Winter changes the dynamic of Season 3.
In Season 3, the foil changes from a traditional criminal element to a more subtle criminal. Elizabeth Saunders stars as Francine Thorp, a nurse at Eden General (the hospital where Mary worked). Thorp may parallel what Mary has done on the surface but not when you take a closer look.
As an American who pays attention to Canada, Francine Thorp seemed to be patterned after the real-life case of Elizabeth Wettlaufer. Wettlaufer was a registered nurse who was convicted of killing 8 senior citizens and 6 attempted murders in southwestern Ontario between 2007-2016. Insulin was involved in both the real and fictional cases.
Francine Thorp has proven to be far more creepy than those who were chasing Mary in seasons 1-2. The fiction and the real-life story were both a lot about passing the buck.
The other major addition to Season 3 was Rachael Ancheril as Lucy Oliviera. Lucy proves to be a ethical temptation for Des.
Nicole (Charlotte Sullivan) became a bigger part of the show since her name was on the lease for the hospice. The hospice proved to be a co-star creating the kind of environment that Des and Nicole wanted and Mary could tolerate.
Jess, Mary's older daughter (Abigail Winter) and her best friend Naomi (Katie Douglas) kicked up their game in Season 3. Jess knew more about what her mother did. Naomi tested her friendship with Jess with her suicide attempts. Their relationship has gone through ups and downs. Their symmetry was about sisters (though Jess has a younger sister), friendship, and deciding to end life.
Naomi has a lot of problems and has shown a lot of immaturity. We've seen peeks in Season 3 as to Naomi's mindset. Douglas has a difficult task in making Naomi remotely likeable. See her in Level 16 to find out how good she is as an actor. Lola Flanery as Cambie, Mary's younger daughter, got a stronger voice in Season 3.
While Annie (Grace Lynn Kung) didn't have as much of an impact in Season 3, Kung felt like a real nurse in approach and attitude in the show.
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Tara Armstrong, Tassie Cameron, Marsha Greene along with Caroline Dhavernas: the feminist approach to assisted suicide was intriguing to watch. Dr. Mary Harris was angelic in her approach to her patients and seriously flawed. You had to watch every movement, every facial look from Harris/Dhavernas. She was surrounded by strong, flawed female characters that portrayed an enriching story and gave humanity to a difficult issue for a lot of people.
Lifetime made a great choice to pick up the show but a poor choice to not carry the show to the end.
Mary Kills People has only 18 episodes, but told a fascinating, real, emotionally torn drama. Mary Kills People is a good argument against the perception that Canadian TV is boring.
photo credit: Mary Kills People/Global
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