Frankie Drake Mysteries Review: Prince in Exile (Season 4 Episode 2)

The actual case this week is fairly lackluster on Frankie Drake Mysteries Season 4 Episode 2,” Prince in Exile,” is kind of deeply silly and borderline ridiculous, but the excellent character moments for several of our faves more than make up for it. 

I mean, there is something to be said an episode that ends with a knock down drag-out brawl at a royal wedding that’s being held at gunpoint, but this show is so good at telling other kinds of stories that whenever it indulges in these very physical girl power moments it can’t help but come off as a little cheesy. 

Part of the problem is that this week’s primary mystery is just not that interesting, and Frankie Drake Mysteries doesn’t do much with the whole Romanian prince who’s run away from his responsibilities and wants to marry an actress named Szofia.

The pieces of this story theoretically should be moving — the supposed playboy prince is willing to give up the woman he loves in order to keep her safe, he’s willing to give up his throne to be with her, Frankie ends up helping him fake his own death so they can start over. But….eh. It’s all a little first world problems. 

One of Frankie Drake Mysteries’  best — and most well-developed — storylines is Mary’s series-long desire to become a real member of the police force, rather than a morality officer that battles little more than women’s hemlines.

This episode is the one of the few times that it seems as though she’s making real progress toward this goal, getting the chance not just to join other officers on what she sees as real police work — crowd control at a local protest, investigating an abandoned car. But in ” Prince in Exile” it feels as though that might not be a good thing.

Though the officers she’s working with seem suddenly keen to allow her to work with them, they also seem to be kind of terrible people, the sort who beat up witnesses and suspects, who conveniently disregard evidence, and who definitely appear to think that the ends justify even the worst of means.

It’s obvious that Mary’s own beliefs — in the duty that comes with policing, in wanting protect those that need help, in honesty — will inevitably put her at odds with the shadier elements within the force, but watching her finally get her due, even a little bit, was so satisfying to watch all the same. 

Frankie Drake Mysteries is always so good at balancing the various relationships between its women — and this episode is a great example of it. From the subtle shift in Mary’s conversations with Flo that run the gamut from excitement over finally being included to dread at realizing that some of the worst elements about the police may be true, to Frankie’s quiet support as Trudy agonizes over whether or not to move to Ottawa with her fiancee Bill, the way these women are just willing to listen to one another is so good.

The best conversation of the week award has to go to Flo and Trudy — a pairing that we don’t see nearly often enough on this show, but who are gold when they together. Flo doesn’t talk a whole lot about her late husband or what their marriage was like, but watching her give advice to her friend as Trudy welled up with emotion was so great. 

The subplot of Trudy’s engagement certainly unraveled a lot more quickly than most of us (read: me) likely expected, given that we only learned she and Bill were planning to marry last week. But the emotional honest of her hesitance is something I really appreciate Frankie Drake Mysteries exploring. 

It’s easy to forget sometimes that this show is set in the 1920s, but for all that it’s about a quartet of exceptional female characters, the regular, everyday women of this time period didn’t have nearly so much choice and agency about their own lives and futures.

The fact that Trudy is in a position to refuse an offer of a good marriage from a kind man is a rare privilege, and one she can only exercise because she has a, let’s face it, fairly unconventional job and a family that’s willing to support her. That doesn’t mean I think Trudy should have married a man she wasn’t sure about, just that we should remember that a lot of women don’t get the chance to do otherwise. 

Stray Thoughts and Observations

• Am I supposed to be shipping Mary and the Communist guy she sort of beat up? Because I am. 
• Speaking of Mary, I just can’t believe the show set up her obsession with the Romanian prince and all the gossip she knew about him so perfectly and then barely had her involved in the case at all!
• SO amazing that Frankie managed to be a perfect fit for the wedding dress of a complete stranger!
• It’s so unfortunate that Frankie’s relationship with that handsome race car driver is so clearly doomed.
• I kind of love the idea that Frankie’s with him because she likes the attention that comes along with his fame, but I don’t know that the show is prepared to go there.

What did you think of this episode of Frankie Drake Mysteries? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Frankie Drake Mysteries airs Saturdays at 7/6c on Ovation.

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