Mary Kills People Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Twin Flames
Diana Keng
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The pace of the season slows down a bit with Mary Kills People Season 2 Episode 3 which, honestly, is a bit of a relief because there's a lot to process.
Mary Kills People Season 2 Episode 2 ended with an amazing cliffhanger shot of Ben catching Mary as she attempts to sneak out of the Bloom house with the poisoned rum after chickening out of murdering Travis Bloom.
So when we see her marching down the warehouse corridor to meet Olivia at the appointed time, we have no idea what she's going to tell her.
When she states that she's killed Travis and disposed of the body, we are relatively sure she's lying but not sure how she's pulling it off.
And Olivia is equally skeptical. What has become apparent here is that the family resemblance between Grady and Olivia isn't physical. The characters share an equally frightening quality of ATTENTION.
As in, you do NOT want their attention on you. Ever.
I still consider Greg Bryk's portrayal of Grady last season to be one of the singular character performances of recent memory. Rachelle Lefevre had a high standard to live up to, following that act, and she's admirably freaky in her cold, focused manner.
Olivia: Swear for me, Mary. Swear for me on your daughters' lives that you killed my husband.
Mary: I swear.
Olivia: Then we're good as gold.
And, despite Mary's bravado in their first meeting, our good (?) doctor is visibly freaked out.
Now, I understand the purpose Ben plays in all of this. He represents The Law. He will probably be the means by which they get Olivia out of the way. He is somewhat predictable in a world full of chaotic characters.
Mary: What do I do?
Ben: Go home. Live your life. Let me do my job.
Mary: So you're just going to swoop in and save me?
Ben: I guess so.
He is the counter to Mary and Des' momentum. He creates conflict between Mary and Des and yet, his appearance on the scene drives them back together.
But, honestly, he's a really terrible cop.
He's barely been in two episodes so far and he's drugged and abducted Travis, confined him unlawfully, and beaten him to keep him from escaping. All this on Mary's word that it is necessary.
Then, when he finds out the Mary witnessed Olivia killing a man, he lets her drive her own vehicle in to give her statement when he knows that she's on the fence about it. Consequently, he loses her AND Travis WHILE he's checking in with his boss. Seriously, how is he still doing this job?
Related: Mary Kills People Season 1 Finale Review: Riding the Chaos
The trend that seems to be developing with Mary is that whenever Ben proposes a straightforward, (mostly) legal solution, she turns to Des and some of his outside-the-box problem-solving.
It doesn't make sense because Mary, despite being extremely smart, isn't very sensible. Ben appeals to her logic but Des speaks to her gut and she's someone who has survived because of her gut.
Mary: How long have you two been together?
Brendan: Oh no, we're not together. I mean, we hooked up once.
Germaine: Twice.
Brendan: But then we realized that we were each other's twin flame. Mirror souls.
What we are meant to believe here is that Des is Mary's twin flame, her "mirror soul". Or possibly, the intent is that MARY believes this. Especially as he kills Travis before she can because he knows she will. Argh.
Please god, never let them hook-up.
I'm a little confused on the legal term for what they've done. Mary planned on shooting Travis but never explicitly told Des this. Des poisoned Travis but never told Mary he was going to. Can it be a conspiracy if they never conspired?
Either way, they now have the dead body of the man they were hired to kill and will need to dispose of. Logically, they should just drop it off at Olivia's but that doesn't seem likely.
You want to shoot people in your warehouse in front of witnesses, that's your choice. I'm not going to tell you how to run your business so don't tell me how to run mine.
Mary
Meanwhile, we have Annie frantic to help out a patient and neither of her "end of life consultants" willing to take him on.
I like Annie. Despite the complicated business, she's become a part of, she keeps things pretty simple. She and Nicole would get along, I feel. She's kind of Mary's work sister.
Naomi and Jess, on the other hand, need to get out of each other's lives completely. I'm not sure Naomi's even a necessary complication anymore.
And she's kind of lost her edge from last season.
I THINK we're supposed to feel bad about her being shut out from Jess' life now that Heather's moved into the girlfriend role but there's been so little in her character to sympathize with that it feels overly-contrived.
And watching her sing to herself, dressed in Mary's clothes, lying on the bedroom floor was just weird.
Related: UnREAL Season 3 Episode 4 Review: Confront
Breaking from its template, there was no "client" for Team Death here although Mary finds out that terminally-ill Brendan Challis is planning to fly to Switzerland for euthanasia.
Instead of meeting someone right before they drink the cocktail, this time we're traveling the path with them. For Brendan, it was a sudden diagnosis with a very short-term prognosis. Hence, his relaxed perspective on smoking.
The beauty of a death sentence is you can enjoy all your vices guilt-free
Brendan
I love watching Caroline Dhavernas face when she listens to Dr. Harris' patients. She conveys a depth of interest in these people's lives that goes beyond the clinical.
It's very much as if Dr. Harris is collecting their stories in her head. There's a book in there, filled with the lives she's brought peace to. The first page is probably a roughly scrawled account of her own mother's death.
I'm surrounded by everyone I love. Celebrating every last second of this messy, beautiful, heart-breaking, glorious life.
Brendan
But the page devoted to Brendan Challis will be poetic and elegant and prayer-like. If she chooses to offer her services.
Who's going to be more pissed off? Olivia or Ben?
Does Mary find Naomi on her bedroom floor still?
I'm going to assume that Team Death is back on track after this. But, now that they've actually murdered someone, where's that line Des defined in Mary Kills People Season 2 Episode 1?
Diana Keng was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on X.
