Frankie Drake Mysteries - General Discussion

[marina to]

Sad news. The cast announced over Instagram that the show has not been renewed. 😞

[Trey]

I am very sorry to hear that.  The show has gotten better each season.

Any reason known for the cancellation?

[marina to]

They didn't say. I'm guessing either ratings or they are having problems selling the show internationally.

[statsgirl]

That sucks.  It's a fun way to spend an hour and I really appreciate a show led by a female cast. A diverse female cast.

[marina to]

Hope this link works. Here's the announcement.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CL2GWVwMz0L/

[Trey]

I am still sad about the cancellation so found it hard to enjoy the episode.  There is now no need to wonder if Mary will quit her job to become a dancer. I felt badly that she no longer loved her job. I loved seeing Mary dance. 

I also felt sympathy for Frankie, especially when she was talking to Alessandro about her war experience and his experience with the Spanish flu.

Another timely episode.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Trey

[Grundoon59]

I will truly miss this show - I was a latecomer to it but it paired nicely with Murdoch Mysteries (which I also admit to being slow to get around to) and it fits my reading preferences for "cozy" and historical mysteries, not too much blood and guts, a good story and enjoyable characters to follow.  I also appreciated the female friendships shown.  It helped me get through the past year and I will always remember it fondly. 

It is a shame we won't find out more about the characters - I was particularly interested in Flo's progress toward a medical degree and Mary's quest to be a "real" police officer.  But I am grateful for what we had and will watch for other projects that the actresses have in future - it was also fun to see other Canadian actors and actresses pop in - for many years I was lucky enough to have been a regular visitor the both the Stratford and Niagara-on-the-Lake theater festivals and saw a few familiar faces from time to time.  

[Pingaponga]

Wait, this was the series finale? I'm guessing they didn't know this when they filmed it, because that was quite the cliffhanger.

[Trey]

Yes, this was the end of the series. 

It wouldn't have made a bad series finale if it hadn't been for that shot at the end.

 

[Grundoon59]

I agree with you Trey - the shot was a terrible ending for the series.  I think it would have been a good season finale - left us wondering until next season but yikes for that to be the final moment of the whole thing.   I did like everyone having their moments in the episode and I did like seeing Geraint Wyn Davies - he is another of the actors I was lucky enough to have seen on stage many times who popped up in the show.   

As I said in my last post, I will miss this show and will always wonder what paths the characters might have traveled but I am grateful for the episodes we have and glad I joined in on the journey.  

[marina to]

I hated the finale! Where's the light-hearted show I fell in love with? Where's the girls sunning at the beach? Instead, we get an angst fest, with Flo the only person with a somewhat happy ending. I still don't get the point of Sebastian. I also really hate the trope the Ned storyline represents.

When it finished, my roommate and I sat there in stone silence feeling utterly disappointed. If this is the route it was going to go, I'm glad it got cancelled before my love for it was utterly ruined.

Edited March 13, 2021 by marina to

[Pingaponga]

I really liked this season. We saw character development, and I really liked that. But the ending...even if it were just a season finale, it really wasn't of the tone of show itself.

[LisaM]

I'm in the US so I have not seen Season 4 yet. I've been doing a re-watch of Seasons 1 -3 and am really going to miss this show. It's been fun to see how Mary and Flo started working with Drake Detectives -- and to see the beginning of the Mary/Flo friendship. I also love seeing how Mildred has come to admire and appreciate Trudy's detecting skills. 

[marina to]

On 3/13/2021 at 3:21 PM, Pingaponga said:

I really liked this season. We saw character development, and I really liked that. But the ending...even if it were just a season finale, it really wasn't of the tone of show itself.

So much this! If this was where they were going, I'm glad it's ending where it did.

[LisaM]

In the US, Season 4 has dropped on Amazon and on PBS.org 

[buckboard]

On 9/5/2021 at 3:41 PM, LisaM said:

In the US, Season 4 has dropped on Amazon and on PBS.org 

In the U.S., it's also on Ovation.

We enjoyed the first episode ("Scavenger Hunt") of season 4, as the gals tramped around the woods.  The latest boyfriend of Frankie's mother looked familiar and we finally figured out why.  Checking on IMDB.com, we saw that he was the mayor on Republic of Doyle.

Edited October 6, 2021 by buckboard

[Fireball]

Watched Life on the Line last weekend and I want Frankie's blue pajamas! 

[andromeda331]

Sorry to hear the series was canceled. It was such a fun series. I wanted it to continue and see Mary become a cop and Flo become a doctor. Season four had a lot of fun episodes.

I liked the scavenger hunt. That was fun. Mary getting into dancing and Flo singing at the club and looking amazing. I liked her meeting the Falconer. 

I hated that Frankie's dad was alive the whole time. That was as dumb as the long lost brother. 

[wanderingstar]

Discovered this show a couple of weeks ago on the PBS app, and I'm loving it. Already on season 3. Disappointed that the show was canceled, as it was a great cozy mystery and one of the few fronted by an ensemble of women. Still, gonna enjoy all the seasons we got.

ETA: Grace Lynn Kung, who played Wendy Quon on this show, is now in a new series called Wong & Winchester, which looks like a quasi cozy mystery but set in the present day. Hoping we can eventually see it here in the US.

Edited January 22, 2023 by Gillian Rosh

[wanderingstar]

I didn't expect the season 4 finale to end on a cliffhanger. I guess the writers didn't expect the show to be canceled. Oh well. In my head canon, Trudy disarmed that crooked insurance doctor and shot her just to incapacitate her until the police arrive 🙂

Edited February 5, 2023 by Gillian Rosh

[andromeda331]

12 hours ago, Gillian Rosh said:

I didn't expect the season 4 finale to end on a cliffhanger. I guess the writers didn't expect the show to be canceled. Oh well. In my head canon, Trudy disarmed that crooked insurance doctor and shot her just to incapacitate her until the police arrive 🙂

I don't think they did. I'm still shocked they canceled it. It was a good show and I thought it was doing well in the ratings.  I'm sure Trudy would get out of that. She's really good at disarming people.

[andromeda331]

Chantel Riley's in four movies this year part of Hallmark's The Love Club of four friends who are always there for each for love. They made the club in college after they all had terrible New Year's Eve breakups.  Chantel's finds her love in the third movie. Lauren's Dream.

Edited March 16, 2023 by andromeda331

[statsgirl]

On 1/22/2023 at 11:31 AM, Gillian Rosh said:

ETA: Grace Lynn Kung, who played Wendy Quon on this show, is now in a new series called Wong & Winchester, which looks like a quasi cozy mystery but set in the present day. Hoping we can eventually see it here in the US.

Now on Primetimer. Also with Anthony Lemke as a very sleazy ex-partner/squeeze of Wong's.

 

[andromeda331]

I finally figured out why I don't like Frankie as much as the other three women. She has no obstacles or problems to over come. She's done everything, can do it all and does whatever she wants. Even when the rapist in season three tried to smear her by outting her relationship with the black boxer there really was no lingering problems. 

Flo wants to be doctor but she still has to work. In one episode she tries to get her boss to switch her to nights but he won't. She spends it trying to figuring out what to do. She needs her job to live and pay for medical school but can't get the schedule to work. She ends up getting it when her boss is killed. But then she's working nights, classes in the day time and still helping out at Frankie and the rest. 

Mary wants to be a cop like her dad. But it's not allowed so she has to settle for being a morality officer. She keeps trying to prove herself in hopes they'll change their minds. She competes in the race as a man but that doesn't change anything. She is often ignored or her helping other detectives don't go anywhere. Season four she's finally getting accepted by a couple detectives but they turn out to be dirty. She knows if she turns them in that'll be the end of her career. She starts out nervous and not very confident. Over the seasons we see her grow in confidence.

Trudy of course is black. She wants to make things better for herself and for her family. She's willing to put up with a jerk insurance man if it means steady income and business. Frankie doesn't want anything to do with him because he's a jerk. Trudy points out that Frankie has the luxury to turn down any job she doesn't want to do and without any worry about having to pay rent or food. Trudy gets her big achievement buying a house for her and her family. She's had offered of working for civil rights Marcus Garvey but it means moving to New York away from her family and the life she built. Either choice means has an upside and a downside. Same when she decides to leave Drake to work for the insurance company. She loves being a private detective but it's a job that can get her want she wants. But it turns out their breaking the law. 

Frankie has zero problems. She's being in the army, a spy, can shoot a gun, ride a motorcycle, she's had an affair with a married man, is a boxer, dated her boxer trainer who's black, she's dated a race car driver, etc. All with zero problems, zero conflicts and zero consequences. All which is pretty unrealistic but more importantly nothing to root for her. I spent four seasons rooting for Mary to make it as a cop, Flo as a doctor and Trudy to get everything she wants. Mary and Trudy both at the end of season four ran into something big that ruins their chances for it.  They could ignore it and get want they want or not and lose their chances at making their dreams come true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nx74defiant]

I would love a new spinoff featuring any or all of the three. With out Frankie.