'Frankie Drake Mysteries' Season 3 Lets Its Strong, Feminist Ensemble Shine

Canadian drama Frankie Drake Mysteries has a lot in common with several other series that are popular right now. A period-set mystery, the show follows the adventures of the first all-female detective agency in 1920s Toronto. It feels like the Canadian cousin of Australian drama Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, complete with fun outfits, a distinctly feminist flair. But where Miss Fisher only gives us one remarkable woman at the center of the story who rejects the expected gender norms of her times and solves crimes, Frankie Drake provides four.

The story follows not just the titular Frankie Drake (Lauren Lee Smith), a war veteran and talented detective in her own right, but her best friend and partner, Trudy Clarke (Chantal Riley), a Black woman navigating not just the general racism of the 1920s, but her mother's disapproval over her choice of career. They're joined by Mary Shaw (Rebecca Liddiard), a morality officer who dreams of properly joining the police force and following in her famous cop father's footsteps. There's also Flo Chakowitz (Sharron Matthews), a war widow now working as an attendant at the city morgue while putting herself through medical school at night in order to become a pathologist. Each of these women is a trailblazer in her chosen field, and they're all easy to both root for and love.

(Full disclosure: Mary is my absolute favorite, but we'll get to that in a minute.)