Coroner Review: Bobby (Season 3 Episode 1)
The victim Jenny and Donovan seek justice for is as compelling as ever on Coroner Season 3 Episode 1, “Bobby.” Roberta is someone I wish I could have met in real life.
A personal support worker who grows her own weed, bakes brownies with it, and secretly gives them to the elders at the homes she works in is awesome enough.
But Bobby also presumably blackmails her bosses when she gets disciplined for it to out that they are not taking proper safety measures in regard to COVID-19. Plus, she loves bedazzling. She’s a certified badass.
Coroner gives us a visually stunning and impactful introduction to Season 3 and Bobby in the opening sequence before the title drop.
Seeing she and Jenny walk in and out of the rainbow door — Jenny presumably with Bobby’s body at one point — is both heartbreaking and beautiful television. We learn that they could have known each other, which adds fuel to Jenny’s mission.
Per The Televixen, the technique used to show Jenny and Bobby’s paths intersecting (but not) is called an “overlayed tracking” scene. It’s rare because it requires a stronger narrative purpose than most shows have on a regular basis.
The episode is also strengthened by the fact that none of the red herring theories that Jenny and Detective McAvoy investigate are too forced. The police and coroners follow leads all of the time that result in dead ends.
The trick with turning that journey into entertainment as Coroner does is not to give away how long we’ll be traveling down a particular road before we hit the dead end.
“Bobby”‘s only real dead-end is the patient who punches Roberta because he wants to see his relative. But that thread serves a bigger purpose than horrifying us.
Coroner is a show that absolutely cannot ignore the global pandemic. It’s literally about death, not even murder. It’s about solving a cause of death.
How could it ignore the deadliest virus we will likely ever see in our lifetimes?
The rugby guy punching Bobby is an unconventional way to show us the stress of the pandemic on Canadian citizens.
Although the opening sequence makes it clear that Jenny frequents elder care homes to retrieve bodies of people who have died from COVID-19, those cases can’t be the center of the show; there is no mystery to them.
Plus, it’s more meaningful to show us the impact in small ways like the marks on Jenny’s face from her PPE and the fact that this man would dare punch Bobby so hard that a jewel from his rugby ring ends up in her forehead.
The jewel leads everyone to the memorial for Bobby which is where we learn she makes weed brownies, so one could argue that it’s not even a dead end.
Donovan (and Jenny) getting high while on a stake-out is at least a semi-plausible way to do the “main characters accidentally get high” trope that nearly every show attempts at least once. It’s effective because the episode needs a dash of humor and this one doesn’t drag on the whole episode.
Coroner could have gone a little bit further than Donovan doing karaoke and gotten away with it.
I must admit that the weakness of the episode is its most important element — the payoff of discovering the killer and his methods.
Surrvalence footage of at least Bobby’s last day seems like it would be standard evidence to ask for on the first day of investigating. Jenny is observant enough to watch Mitch switch out the hand sanitizer once and then request more footage.
We wouldn’t have an episode of TV if she did that, but the end of the case is anti-climactic nonetheless.
As far as Jenny’s personal issues, I love Liam, but surprisingly do not miss him yet. I do want to know what his letter says and think Coroner will be hard-pressed to find anyone to match Jenny and Liam’s chemistry if he’s gone forever.
I have a feeling they’ll try with Clark, which is all sorts of twisted. If anyone would get romantically involved with the man reopening the inquest into her sister’s death and eyeing her dad as a suspect, it’s Jenny Cooper, though.
I’m surprised Coroner does not address Jenny’s anxiety as it relates to the pandemic yet, but she definitely has enough other stressors coming if the last scene is any indication.
We must applaud any show that can effectively end with someone tripping after she’s received such distressing news and play it purely for laughs.
Autopsy Notes
- I don’t think Allison is not present on this episode or most of the season and that’s so sad. (I peeked at IMDb).
- Cancer is also sad but I also hope Donovan’s cancer storyline is not typical. On TV, those are overdone and rarely realistic.
- This episode is very Jenny-heavy on the personal front. I want to know what Ross is up to.
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What did you think of the Coroner Season 3 premiere? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Coroner airs Thursdays at 8/7c 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.
One thought on “Coroner Review: Bobby (Season 3 Episode 1)”
I want to know what was in Liam’s letter. I also want him back. I was frustrated with this storyline. Where is Liam? Why didn’t they do a cameo of Liam? The rest of the episode wasn’t very entertaining. The getting high on brownies was very predictable. I know that a lot of the problems with the episode were due to COVID restrictions.
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