Mary Kills People Review: The River Styx (Season 1 Episode 2)

On Mary Kills People Season 1 Episode 2 “The River Styx,” Mary and Des meet obstacle after obstacle in their death delivery business.

“The River Styx” is bookended with two very different death appointments. The first is unbelievably peaceful—a bench-marker of how they all should be.

The second is fraught with problems. It is successful, in the end, but not without causing a dangerous wrench to be thrown into their operation. And that’s on top of the undercover cops investigating them.

All of this makes for a tense, fast-paced episode.

Light moments and bits of backstory are peppered throughout, which balances the tension and moves the story along. The season is only six episodes, and this formula is advantageous. Already in two episodes, we’ve seen a lot character development and plot advancement without it feeling cramped or rushed.

We learn that Mary’s passion for assisted suicide stems from personal history, and Des did something that got his medical license taken away. We also get a deeper look into Joel/Ben’s investigation.

These two background points, along with a dicey meeting between Mary and Des’ dealer, will eventually collide with Ben’s inquest, making the stakes high for everyone involved.

Caroline Dhavernas does a great job of shepherding us through the muck and the mire of Mary’s complicated double life.

You can see the fear in her eyes in extreme situations, but you also see her levelheadedness take over. You can always hear her desire to do the right thing in the undertone of everything she says, so it comes as no surprise that giving up is not an option, despite all the impediments.

Richard Short shows us that Des is more than just the comic relief. He has a tattoo on the inside of his forearm from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “What a piece of work is man.” The prose continues with “In action like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world. The paragon of animals. And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?”

Mary grapples with morality constantly. It is something that is forefront in her mind. Des needs these reminders. The scales in his apartment and the tattoo, and even Mary, serve as warnings not to dismiss the moral code even when he tries to be aloof.

I instantly liked the two of them as a team on Mary Kills People Season 1 Episode 1 “Bloody Mary,” and I enjoy them even more as they get deeper into it.

I see similarities between Mary and Des’ relationship and Jess and Naomi’s relationship, which we get to see a little bit more of on this episode. Jess is the cautious one who weighs consequences, and Naomi needs the reminders. Naomi thrives on risk and danger, while Jess accepts it as an unpleasant side effect.

I like their dynamic, and Abigail Winter and Katie Douglas do a lot with their short scenes. We don’t get much with all that’s going on in the main plot, but what we do get is satisfying.

The pressure being put on Ben regarding the case causes him to act desperately, sending up red flags to Mary. She figures it out, and in a nail-biting scene, she shuts down his progress.

I wonder what it would have been like to figure out Ben along with Mary. The reveal on the last episode played well, but I think it could’ve been interesting to find it out here, too.

This way makes Joel/Ben come off as more of a bad guy, trying to ensnare our heroine. It works, but having us root for Mary and Joel just a little bit longer would’ve have made the betrayal more dramatic.

By the end of the episode the two are adversaries, and this sets up a cat and mouse scenario. (The drug dealer even puts mouse ears on Mary!)

Stray Observations:

• The ominous underwater shots during senior water aerobics gave me Cocoon feels!
• That beach in the beginning is such a gorgeous location.
• Speaking of locations, there is another quirky food joint in this episode—Hutch’s French Fries.
• At Hutch’s, Mary does this little thing with the creamer packets that is super endearing.
• The mother and son scenes were really sincere. Yvonne’s death is a sad one, but also kind of beautiful with the way her son shows his love and loyalty.
• “What’s a near death experience?” “A way of getting attention.”
• “Our first injection. Not quite how I pictured it.”
• “It will be like slipping into a dream at the end of a long day.” That does sound like a good way to go.
• “You don’t get to play God, Mary. None of us do.” “You’ve got the wrong girl.”

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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