Frankie Drake Mysteries Review: Life is a Cabaret (Season 4 Episode 7)
Though Frankie Drake Mysteries is set in a very specific time period (1920s Toronto) the show is hardly restricted by its setting. Instead, as Frankie Drake Mysteries Season 4 Episode 7, “Life is a Cabaret,” proves again, it’s a series that’s more than willing to tell unexpected stories — both for its genre and the time period in which it is set.
Throughout the show’s four-season run, it’s deliberately chosen to follow an offbeat path — from its central ensemble of complex women to its focus on the sorts of female-focused stories that no other procedural is terribly interested in exploring. “Life is a Cabaret” is just another in a long line of tales focused on marginalized characters, from the immigrants impacted by the 1919 anti-Chinese riots in Halifax to Trudy’s unique experiences as a Black woman in Canada.
“Life is a Cabaret” is primarily set at a venue known as The Flower Shop, a secret club for those — male and female — who like to dress in drag and perform for others. Frankie and friends witness a death outside the venue, and over the course of their investigation, they find themselves drawn into the world of the club and its patrons.
“Life is a Cabaret” is very clearly a Flo episode — a welcome relief given that she’s not had a ton to do this season thus far, and a truly hilarious use of Sharron Matthews’ talents — as she gets tapped to go undercover at the club in order to investigate whether a drag queen is guilty of murder.
The crime in question is witnessed by Frankie and Alessandro during a sportscar makeout sesh — cute! — a man is getting kind of fresh with a lady, she punches him, he collapses and turns out to be dead. But there’s much more than meets the eye going on here.
The dead man didn’t die from a well-timed punch to the face, it looks like he was poisoned. And his lady friend was one of the Flower Shop’s entertainers, whose real name is Roger LeBlanc.
Frankie Drake Mysteries hasn’t done many episodes that deal with LGBT themes, but it tackles the life of Roger and those like him with its trademark thoughtfulness and care.
This isn’t the first time Frankie Drake Mysteries has included a story about an explicitly queer character, but it is the first time the show has tackled an issue as complicated as cross-dressing and underground clubs that helped LGBT people find community in a city — and time — that wasn’t always incredibly friendly or understanding toward them.
In 1920s Toronto, obviously, life as a queer person wasn’t exactly a bed of roses — Robert’s insistence that he’d spend much longer in jail than Flo for his crimes was a very real threat, and that was probably on the happier end of the various possibilities of what might happen to him.
But the show is also forthright about the freedom and fun that places like The Flower Shop offered its patrons, the genuine community that both respects and takes care of its own. Flo’s reason for infiltrating the club may be work-related but the relationships she builds there are genuine ones, and the show’s dedication to research and honesty about the real experience of the LGBT men and women who lived during this time period is admirable.
For example, drag performers during this time period often looked more distinctly masculine because they didn’t have access to a lot of make-up to make themselves appear more feminine, a fact which makes Roger’s looks stand out even more.
Frankie Drake Mysteries — Photo: Ovation TV
The episode’s B-plot teams up Mary and Trudy for a much more run-of-the-mill mystery involving life insurance fraud and a crime family that may or may not have blown up a building. As such things go, it’s fairly blah, and you’re forgiven if you sort of lose the plot about the whole faked death, possible witness protection thing.
But Chantel Riley and Rebecca Liddiard have such lovely chemistry with one another, and we so rarely get to see Trudy and Mary paired off in this way, that it’s easy to forgive the slightly less than thrilling mystery they find themselves part of. It’s always so satisfying when this show breaks up its usual duos and pairs off its leads in irregular ways.
Stray Thoughts and Observations:
- Fun fact: Star Sharron Matthews wrote this episode and the actor who plays Roger — Killjoys Thom Allison — is one of her real-life BFFs.
- I honestly can’t stand the entire concept of “morality officers”, but wow, Mary does the best she can with a truly terrible job.
- It’s always interesting when Frankie Drake Mysteries has an episode in which Frankie takes a back seat to the other women in the ensemble, and I love that this show has the nerve to let the rest of them shine without her.
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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Lacy Baugher
Lacy is a pop culture enthusiast and television critic who loves period dramas, epic fantasy, space adventures, and the female characters everyone says you're supposed to hate. Ninth Doctor enthusiast, Aziraphale girlie, and cat lady, she's a member of the Television Critics Association and Rotten Tomatoes-approved. Find her at LacyMB on all platforms.
2 comments
mary and trudy should work together more often; i could see them having
their own private I business together… Glad Flo had a chance for her own episode.
If anyone knows how to write the writers of this show, let them know we want more episodes a.s.a.p.
mary and trudy should work together more often; i could see them having
their own private I business together… Glad Flo had a chance for her own episode.
If anyone knows how to write the writers of this show, let them know we want more episodes a.s.a.p.
Comments are closed.