Why you should be watching Mary Kills People
David Farnor | On 25, Sep 2019
With Mary Kills People back on our screens this week for Season 2, we round up five reasons why you should be watching the addictive Canadian drama.
It’s darker than your average show
Euthanasia, the right to die and the legal and moral debates sparked by each. These are the subject of More4’s latest import, Mary Kills People – hardly the stuff of light entertainment, you might think. But the playful title sets the tone for the series, which manages to be darker than Dexter with its frank approach to death – and yet tackles its weighty issues with the lightest of touches, while still retaining a serious edge. You’ll be provoked and challenged, but you’ll always be entertained.
It’s full of complex characters
The show follows Mary (Caroline Dhavernas), an ER doctor by day who, by night, puts down her Hippocratic Oath and picks up a syringe full of pentobarbital – then proceeds to inject that into her latest client. It’s a morbid service she carries out with her partner, Des (Richard Short), a former plastic surgeon: euthanasia to order, as long as people are committed and clear-minded enough about ending their own lives. There’s a whole fascinating ball of yarn to unravel when it comes to Mary’s motivations, as well as Des’, and the same is true of those who collude with them, such as nurse Annie (Grace Lynn Kung), who refers people to the duo. Throw in a possible relationship with Detective Ben Wesley (Jay Ryan),
and the suspicions of Mary’s daughter, Jess (Abigail Winter), and you have an ensemble of people who all value life – and death – in different ways and react to the central moral dilemma accordingly.
It’s full of surprises
From the opening scene, which sees Mary and Des on a job that goes awry – and leaves them sneaking out of someone’s flat by jumping off the balcony – their side hustle makes for a darkly comic case-of-the-week-style series, as their serial assisted-suicides attract the attention of loved ones and the cops. But there’s a vein of soap opera in there too, what with Mary’s and Des’ personal lives threatening to interfere. With the police always on their tail, and the threatening presence of Greg Bryk as Grady Burgess, a swaggering drug dealer with a queasy grin, the collision of these lives and their ambitions spiral into twisting bursts of tension and violence.
It stars Caroline Dhavernas
Watching Mary balance all of this with her own family life, job and more makes for wonderfully complex viewing, and the result is a fantastic showcase for leading lady Caroline Dhavernas. She grounds the whole programme, able to keep things darkly amusing, genuinely suspenseful and emotionally engaging, often within the same scene. After her work as Dr. Alana Bloom in Hannibal, it’s a treat to see her given her own star vehicle.
It’s quick to watch
With Season 2 now upon us, it might sound like a daunting task to start a new series, but Mary Kills People is an easy catch-up, with just six episodes in each season. With the plots racing along at a compelling, gripping pace, you’ll be overdosing on the medical drama in no time.
Mary Kills People Season 2 premieres at 12.05am on Wednesdays on More4, with Season 1 available as a box set on All 4.