''Mary Kills People'' is a Canadian

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series starring

Caroline Dhavernas Caroline Dhavernas (; born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She is best known in the United States for her collaborations with Bryan Fuller. She played Jaye Tyler in the Fox comedy-drama series '' Wonderfalls'', and Alana Bloom in the NBC ps ...

. It premiered on

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

on January 25, 2017. On June 5, 2017, the series was renewed for a second season, which was scheduled to premiere on Global's

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

platforms on January 1 before premiering on television on January 3, 2018. On 4 June 2018 the series was renewed for a third and final season by Global.

Premise

Dr. Mary Harris works at the emergency department of the Eden General Hospital and has a side business as an

end of life End-of-life may refer to: * End-of-life (product), a term used with respect to terminating the sale or support of goods and services * End-of-life care End-of-life care (EoLC) refers to health care provided in the time leading up to a person's dea ...

counselor—she and her partner Des provide

assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...

. Their lives get complicated when the police start investigating them.

Cast

as Mary Harris * Jay Ryan as Detective Ben Wesley, who is investigating Mary and goes undercover briefly as terminally ill patient Joel Collins * Richard Short as Desmond "Des" Bennett, Mary's business partner *

Lyriq Bent Lyriq Bent (born January 3, 1979) is a Jamaican-Canadian actor. He is known for his roles in the ''Saw'' films, the television series '' Rookie Blue'', and '' The Book of Negroes''. Bent portrays Jamie Overstreet in the Netflix series ''She's G ...

as Detective Frank Gaines, who is working the case with Ben *

Greg Bryk Gregory Michael Bryk (born 19 August 1972) is a Canadian film and television actor. He has appeared in numerous films and television series and is best known for his reoccurring roles in ''ReGenesis'' (2004–2008), '' XIII: The Series'' (2 ...

as Grady Burgess, Des's former drug dealer who provided him and Mary with

pentobarbital Pentobarbital (previously known as pentobarbitone in Britain and Australia) is a short-acting barbiturate typically used as a sedative, a preanesthetic, and to control convulsions in emergencies. It can also be used for short-term treatment of i ...

(season 1) *

Sebastien Roberts Sebastien Roberts is a French-Canadian actor of television and film, working in both French and English projects since 2000. Early life, education, and career He was born Sébastien Robert in Montreal. Robert's family moved from Montreal to ...

as Kevin, Mary's ex-husband * Abigail Winter as Jessica "Jess", Mary's teenage daughter *

Charlotte Sullivan Charlotte Sullivan is a Canadian actress. Career Sullivan began acting professionally as a child. Her first on-screen role was an extra in a Liza Minnelli music video. She has had starring roles in the film ''Harriet the Spy'' (1996) and the ...

as Nicole Mitchell, Mary's sister * Grace Lynn Kung as Annie Chung, a nurse at Eden General who refers patients to Mary and Des * Jess Salgueiro as Larissa, Des's girlfriend * Katie Douglas as Naomi Malik, Jess's friend * Alexandra Castillo as Louise Malick, a lawyer who is Naomi's mother and Kevin's girlfriend *

Joel Thomas Hynes Joel Thomas Hynes (born September 29, 1976) is a Canadian writer, actor and director known for his irreverent, oftentimes dark and uproarious characters and a raw, unflinching vision of modern underground Canada. Career His 2017 novel '' We'll ...

as Sidney "Sid" Thomas-Haye (season 1) * Lola Flanery as Cambie, Mary's younger daughter *

Terra Hazelton Terra Hazelton is a Canadian jazz musician, broadcaster and actress. Raised in Calgary, Hazelton began studying theatre with the Loose Moose Theatre Company as a teenager. She later moved to Toronto to pursue opportunities in theatre, discovering ...

as Rhonda McCartney, a nurse at Eden General *

Matt Gordon Matt Gordon (born 1969) is a Canadian actor, perhaps best known for playing Doc in the sports sitcom '' Rent-a-Goalie'', and for his portrayal of Officer Oliver Shaw in the drama series ''Rookie Blue ''Rookie Blue'' is a Canadian police d ...

as Dennis Taylor *

Rachelle Lefevre Rachelle Marie Lefèvre (, ; born February 1, 1979) is a Canadian actress. She has starred in the television series ''Big Wolf on Campus'' and had recurring roles in '' What About Brian'', ''Boston Legal'', and ''Swingtown''. She played the vamp ...

as Olivia Bloom, Grady's sister (season 2) * Rachael Ancheril as Lucy Oliviera (season 3) * Elizabeth Saunders as Nurse Francis (season 3) *

Laura de Carteret Laura de Carteret is a Canadian actress from St. Catharines, Ontario. She is most noted for her recurring role as Janet in the television series ''Seed'', for which she was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Se ...

as Dr. Ingress

Production

The series, which was to comprise six episodes, was commissioned by TV network

on January 28, 2016. Production began in summer 2016, and the first episode aired January 25, 2017. In the United States, the series was picked up by Lifetime on October 13, 2016. ''Mary Kills People'' premiered in the US on Lifetime on April 23, 2017. As of January 23, 2017, there were talks to produce a second season according to

Metro News Metro International is a Swedish global media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the ''Metro'' newspapers. Metro International's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent since launch of the first news ...

and Caroline Dhavernas. On June 5, 2017, the series was renewed for a six-episode followup season. Production occurred over summer 2017 in Toronto. Lifetime announced their pickup of the second season in the United States on July 28, 2017; it premiered on March 12, 2018. On December 3, 2018, it was announced that Lifetime would not air the final season. The series concluded production at the end of the third season.

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

Season 2 (2018)

Season 3 (2019)

Reception

Critical response

The first season has received a score of 66 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, indicating generally favourable reviews, based on eight reviews, and a rating of 100% on review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on eleven reviews for an average rating of 7.5/10, the site's critical consensus stating: "''Mary Kills People'' is more than its unique premise, with a layered lead performance and consistently entertaining narrative keeping the show's dark comedy grounded in relatable reality." The second season also received 100% based on five reviews, for an average rating of 9.4/10. John Doyle of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' called the first episode of the show "remarkably assured, droll and adult. It’s very smart and utterly intriguing." He praises Mary Harris as "one of the most compelling, original female characters in years" and Caroline Dhavernas as "exceptional" in her portrayal: "Perhaps the best thing about it is the crazy sparkle in Mary’s eyes. There is something anarchic bubbling inside her." ''Variety'''s Maureen Ryan said the show "pulls off a melding of tones — comedic, dramatic, and philosophical — that seems next to impossible," but criticized the first season's romance subplots.

Awards

References

External links

* {{Lifetime Shows 2010s Canadian drama television series 2010s Canadian medical television series Global Television Network original programming Television series by Entertainment One Television series by Corus Entertainment 2017 Canadian television series debuts Lifetime (TV network) original programming Television episodes about euthanasia 2019 Canadian television series endings