Mary Kills People

A bit of the fizz and crackle of Season 1 has been replaced--understandably--by a tone that adeptly mixes a slightly harried mood with a somewhat melancholy atmosphere. ... The dying people on this show remain flawed, funny and textured until they take their last breaths.

It combines the dark stuff with a dollop of fizzy champagne. With a fraction of the resources of most American shows but a surfeit of ideas and frisky energy, this Lifetime drama supplies one of the most impressive debuts of the year.

Mary’s troubles overwhelm the drama’s provocative examination of life’s meaning and the sacred nature of physician-assisted death. ... All that said, Mary Kills People is still full of portrayals worth appreciating, led by the engrossing and beguiling Dhavernas.

What ties it together, keeps it in line and most makes it go is Dhavernas.

It’s a serious and stylishly watchable drama, thanks mostly to Dhavernas’s capable performance of a morally ambiguous person with too many dangerous irons in the fire, and Ryan’s portrayal of a hurt-and-handsome lawman struggling to do his job, even though he’s in love with his suspect.

It’s more interested in whether she gets away with [killing people]--the “B” story is about an undercover cop trying to catch the doctor in the act.

Mary's misadventures in the criminal underworld ultimately lack the thrills and moral complexity of better shows like Breaking Bad and Dexter. [17-30 Apr 2017, p.19]