Mary Kills People Review: The Judas Cradle (Season 1 Episode 5)

On Mary Kills People Season 1 Episode 5, “The Judas Cradle,” everyone is out to get Mary, even her nearest and dearest.

I am amazed that Mary is able to keep her cool with all that is thrown at her. She breaks down here and there, but when the tough gets going she keeps her wits about her.

Des’ betrayal hurts. Their relationship was a strong point of the show from the very beginning, so the pain is felt acutely.

Each scene with the two of them is pretty emotional, but especially when Des reveals that he is wearing the wire. Des is crying, Mary is teary, and poor Morgan is like, so, is anyone going to kill me? Major feels through the whole scene.

It builds up with the suspense of whether or not Des is going to go through with it. When Mary sees the wire, she is stricken, but has to play it cool in order to get out without incriminating herself.

In the beginning of the episode, she showed her grace under pressure when she was being questioned by hospital administration. She does have an uncanny knack for deceit, which I think is supposed to make the audience question her morals. I’ve believed in Mary’s principles since Season 1 Episode 1, so really I’m just impressed by her cool-headedness rather than suspicious.

I don’t think she always makes the best decisions, but she’s human, and I don’t expect her to be perfect. I quite like that she is not.

The episode ends with me wondering about some of her decisions, though. She tells Des she can’t trust him, and then goes to Grady to offer a partnership. I am really hoping she has a trick up her sleeve because getting involved with Grady seems super dangerous.

I think she has a plan. When she killed Morgan she called her cell phone that had fallen behind in Grady’s SUV from Morgan’s cell phone. She knows that the police will be able to track down the car because she was told that they were searching the street cams from the day Sid escaped. And she knows they will check Morgan’s phone when his body is found.

Is this a way to frame Grady?

I’m having a hard time believing she would partner with him so quickly, so I hope it is a set up.

I also hope that cutting away from Des before he actually uses means that maybe he didn’t go through with it. Fingers crossed.

Des is such a tragic character. He is so lovable, but so set on self-destruction. Mary seems that way too, though, so maybe that is why they make such a great pair.

They both like to play with fire, and are there for each other when they get burned. That’s why their argument on Mary Kills People Season 1 Episode 3 was so detrimental to their relationship and their business.

As if Mary isn’t going through enough, her daughter decides to blame all her troubles on her.

Jess is a great character, too. She is pure and innocent, and believes that being honest is the answer to all problems. A lot of the time that is true, but Mary lives and works in these moral gray areas. Jess needs to learn that things are a bit more complicated.

Abigail Winter plays young Jess very well. I feel for her, and even understand why she lashes out her mom. This character can easily slip into bratty teenager territory—especially when the show has you rooting for Mary—but Winter exudes emotion, and a confusion of those emotions, that makes you want to root for Jess, as well.

There are many characters that I am rooting for on Mary Kills People, but there are some that I am not. The direction the show is taking the Ben character is losing steam. I can’t tell if he feels for Mary or not.

I understand the need to keep things mysterious, but him not showing too much emotion about it one way or the other is making his role a little uninteresting. It might be more compelling if we knew that Ben was battling with his own ethics, the loyalty to his job, and his feelings for Mary.

Right now the only thing exciting about him is Mary. Take that out of the equation, and he’s a bit dull. Hopefully, we will see some development with him in the final episode.

Stray Observations:

• This Dr. Dennis guy is so dependent on Mary. I love her sass to him. “You can grow some balls and tell Sonia to pull the plug on her husband, or you can get down on your goddamned knees and pray.”
• “Drugs. The law. It’s all just an attempt to control the chaos.” There is a lot of talk about controlling the chaos. It is something almost all the characters are struggling with.
• “Trust no one, that’s what I say.” Ok, Fox Mulder.
• Steven McCarthy who plays Morgan is fantastic. It is so interesting that his character brings so much comfort to both Des and Mary.
• Frank is getting on my last nerve. He has tunnel vision on this case, and then he pouts when things go wrong.
• “One hundred years from now they’ll say the most common form of torture is refusing to let people die.”

What did you think of this episode of Mary Kills People? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Mary Kills People airs Sundays at 10/9c on Lifetime.

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