Coroner Review: Borders (Season 2 Episode 2)
Coroner Season 2 Episode 2, “Borders,” maximizes the impact of its stories by separating Jenny and Detective McAvoy’s plots.
Domestic violence is at the forefront of our minds again as Donovan tracks down the woman who called in the gunshots related to the apartment building fire on Coroner Season 2 Episode 1, “Fire.”
Too often on procedural shows, serious issues become the “case of the week,” only to be forgotten on the next episode when a new case comes in.
This episode introduces us to Noor Armias, and even though she’s disappeared from Detective McAvoy’s home by the end of the episode, something tells me this is not the last time we’ll be seeing her.
Her mission to help domestic violence victims escape dangerous situations may even be at the forefront of Coroner Season 2. If that’s so, it’s a difficult but important topic for a show to commit to.
Commit is the keyword. Domestic violence is explored on the Season 2 premiere. However, Jenny’s circumstances and state of mind eclipse the cause of the apartment building fire because we’re not sure the topic will come up again.
We can’t bypass the now recurring theme anymore, even though we know more about Noor’s work than we do about Dyanne Tucci, the victim Donovan discovers Noor is helping to disappear.
It’s unclear if or how Jenny will factor into future domestic violence cases, but it’s hopefully not to identify murder victims every time.
That will get emotionally exhausting, even though the issue Jenny is concerned with on “Borders” is equally as devastating and important.
Immigrants from many nations risk their lives to enter safer countries than their homeland, but that doesn’t mean it should be easy to get away with murdering them.
It’s absolutely devastating that Alerio must trust a pilot who so easily decides to murder him to keep from getting caught smuggling a human into Canada.
Sometimes, the circumstances of the deaths on Coroner are contrived for TV. It’s very possible that the truck driver who finds Alerio’s body could have hit him. Or, someone could have tried to bury him in the words, not expecting an animal to dig him up.
Of course, it doesn’t make for the most riveting television, but these are more plausible circumstances and easier to follow than the steps Alerio has to take to try to get to his brother in Canada.
The message behind his death is more important than the theatrical circumstances under which Alerio gets killed.
The message is that immigrants who are innocent of everything except wanting a better life die. They die of dehydration or illness caused by the conditions of detention centers. They die. And we all should care and respect the dead as much as Jenny does.
There is an honor to Jenny’s job that has not been more obvious than it is on this episode.
As awesome as she is, I often find myself wondering if she has to whisper her promise to every victim she encounters.
The answer is yes, she does. The victims she finds matter. So, I can roll my eyes at my screen as much as I need to while she whispers — but she can’t and shouldn’t stop. Jenny goes above and beyond to understand that Roberto takes a big risk coming forward to help identify his brother’s body as an undocumented immigrant.
The world needs more people like Jenny. She helps figure out your brother’s cause of death and then tracks you down to bring you his ashes so you can have as legitimate a sendoff as the law will allow.
Plus, she has a relatively calm reaction for someone who has just found out that her son hasn’t graduated college. Especially for a woman with clinical anxiety.
Her reaction is less important than my relief that Ross’s secret isn’t going to be uncovered in the last minute of the season 2 finale.
Secrets are easy devices nearly every show on TV uses to avoid character growth.
I had been prepared and willing to watch Ross’s charade work for one or two more episodes. It’s a wonderful surprise that he’s horrible at keeping a secret the minute someone so much as threatens to figure him out.
Coroner is also allowing Ross to grow by having him confess to Jenny. He absolutely should have a job and pay rent while finishing high school. He made the choice to stall and should pay the consequences. Hopefully, he seizes the opportunity in front of him and perhaps he’ll confront some of the feelings he’s been avoiding since his father’s death.
This series is doing a great job pacing both Jenny and Ross’s grief stories. It doesn’t just disappear and for once, a fictional world isn’t trying to make it seem so.
This is why we trust Coroner to tell Liam’s PTSD story — but he also needs to start trusting Jenny to help him through it all.
It’s totally understandable that he may not think his sleepwalking girlfriend can handle his issues on top of her own. But there is also a saying that lost souls find each other.
Jenny and Liam should really embrace that fact and hold on to each other tightly.
Autopsy Notes:
- Speaking of Jenny’s sleepwalking — every incident scares the hell out of me because I instantly think it’s a suicide attempt.
- Doesn’t detective McAvoy have a mysterious sex worker (or former sex worker) friend? Whatever happened to her?
- Some scenes — like the scene in the bathtub — are so cinematic and beautiful.
- How long is Liam going to suddenly “sense” that Jenny is sleepwalking and in danger? Eight consecutive episodes with perfect timing is a long stretch.
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What did you think of this episode of Coroner? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Coroner airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
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Esme Mazzeo
Esme Mazzeo is a lifestyle and entertainment journalist from Long Island. When she's not writing for work, she's writing for fun, or searching for something to satisfy her sweet tooth. She thinks rainy days are the best kind of days. Certified night owl.