Category: TV Reviews

Life on the Line – Director: Adriana Maggs/Writer: Keri Ferencz

Frankie and Flo are hanging out, talking about Flo’s upcoming tests to become a doctor. Flo’s worried she may not handle living patients as well as she does the corpses in the morgue, but Frankie reassures her. They come across a guy who’s preparing to jump off a railway bridge and try to talk him down. He says someone’s been trying to ruin his business (and his life) and Frankie convinces him she can find out who it is. Frankie and Flo drag the guy off the bridge, but he says he’s reserving his gratitude until after they find out who’s wrecking his life. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 3, Episode 6”

Things Better Left Dead – Director: Ruba Nadda/Writer: Cal Coons

This one starts with Frankie bringing some guy back to her office at night. It looks like they’re about to bang right there on the steps, but there’s blood on the floor and their passionate moment is shattered when Frankie sees Trudy’s lifeless body on the floor. Yeah, apparently Trudy’s dead. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 3, Episode 5”

A Brother in Arms – Director: Mina Shum/Writer: Karen Hill, Ley Lukins

This one starts with Frankie and Trudy hanging out at Wendy Quon’s new speakeasy. They notice a newspaper headline about a local Chinese factory worker (Li Chang) who’s been sentenced to hang for murdering his boss and Wendy speculates that it’s racism more than facts that got him convicted. Flo comes in and complains about her new morgue assistant, Bart, who’s blessed with neither brains nor looks. When Frankie and Trudy return to the office, they notice a light and go inside to find a guy making himself at home. He claims to be Jack Drake, Frankie’s brother. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 3, Episode 4”

School Ties, School Lies – Director: Ruba Nadda/Writer: Jennifer Kassabian

This one starts with Flo giving a talk to a class at Briarlane Girls’ School. She shows them some preserved bodily organs and lets them know that medicine isn’t an easy profession for women, but urges them to stick with it if that’s what they love. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 3, Episode 3”

Counterpunch – Director: Mina Shum/Writers: John Callaghan, Keri Ferencz

This one starts with a woman (Sarah) looking for her husband (Joe), an amateur fighter who came home acting all weird the night before, sweating and hallucinating before taking off. Sarah wants Frankie and Trudy to check the back alley gym where Joe works out, in case he’s dead or something. On the way, they pass a huckster selling Walcott’s Wonder Elixir and a pharmacist trying to peddle more traditional medicine. When they get to the gym, Sarah is too scared to go in, so Frankie and Trudy head inside to look for Joe. He’s not there, but they do find some bottles of Walcott’s Wonder Elixir. On the way out, they’re stopped by a guy with a rifle. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 3, Episode 2”

No Friends Like Old Friends – Director: Ruba Nadda/Writer: Carol Hay

This one starts with Frankie in London, having a motorcycle race with her old friend Louise Barton, with whom she served as a dispatch rider in the Signal Corps. They reminisce about the War before heading back to Louise’s place. She doesn’t seem to be enjoying married life too much (and her husband James is kind of a dick to Frankie). Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 3, Episode 1”

Well, that’s another season of Frankie Drake finished and I’m still really liking the show. The 1920s setting is great and I love how they bring in real historical characters to interact with Frankie and the gang. This season gave us a bit more insight into the characters, although we still haven’t learned exactly what happened to Frankie during the War. I hope they get to that eventually.

The main development for Frankie is the “will-they-won’t they” thing between her and Detective Greyson. The whole trope of people arguing and then falling for each other is a bit of a cliché, but maybe they can make it work. Frankie’s real nemesis seems to be Bessie Starkman, but they’re actually more alike than they’d care to admit, so I hope we see more of that interaction. Trudy’s still a great character, and the only one who can keep Frankie in line when she gets headstrong. I’d like to see more of Trudy’s family, especially her mom. Mary is still my favourite, so I hope she gets to take the spotlight in a few episodes. Flo is probably the one we know least about, but maybe they’ll delve more into her life in Season 3. My first review of the third season will be up next Wednesday and I hope everyone will check it out.

Now You See Her – Director: Ruba Nadda/Writer: James Hurst

This one starts at a magic show, with the warm-up act (Ben Sellers) and his lovely assistant (Winnie Hudson) doing several tricks that wow the audience. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 2, Episode 10”

Dealer’s Choice – Director: Ruba Nadda/Writer: John Callaghan

This one starts with a young guy (Sean Murphy) hiring Frankie and Trudy to find his stolen silver pocket watch. The watch obviously means a lot to Sean, as he gives them a fifty dollar advance and promises another fifty when they find it. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 2, Episode 9”

Diamonds Are a Gal’s Best Friend – Director: Peter Stebbings/Writer: Carol Hay

This one starts with Frankie and Trudy out in the country, investigating a stolen horse. The farmer (Sommers) complains about the missing horse then casually mentions his daughter Camille has disappeared too. Camille only goes into town (with the horse) twice a week to deliver produce, but today’s not her day to go. Sommers claims Camille is an innocent, god-fearing girl, but Trudy finds some booze and a trashy romance novel hidden in the barn. They find a man’s shoeprints, a Turkish cigarette butt, and a torn scrap of Camille’s dress. They wonder if she ran off with a lover, or if she was running from someone else. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 2, Episode 8”