[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]
Wednesday’s Coroner is a deeply unsettling affair as Ross’s date night with Matteo takes a really wrong turn and he finds himself arrested for murder. Jenny’s fragile stability is further tested until she’s reminded that she’s got a village to back her up.
Matteo convinces Ross to come out and unwind at a house party/rave and he gets a little too loose courtesy of Ecstasy, which both serves him ill and later, well, when he’s found beside a body with literal blood on his hands.
Since he’s 19, he goes straight into the system in a terrifying succession of indignities while Jenny is unaware, working the homicide at the other end of the house.
For reasons that aren’t entirely clear (plot devicey but roll with it), it takes a while for Jenny to learn what happened from Matteo. During that window of time, Ross’s fairly sheltered upbringing as Jenny’s son doesn’t spare him the systemic racism and profiling that come with being mixed race and a murder suspect.
Donovan is dodging his pre-op appointment and preoccupied with that, but when he catches on that Ross is in custody, he takes over the case. Once in the room with him, he cleverly navigates walking on the side of the law while also trying to make Ross focus on being extremely clear in what he says on the record.
Jenny’s forbidden from working the case, but an empathetic River does what she can to help. So does Clark, who gives her one of his old cases to re-examine and keep her busy. [Sidebar: I like this new friendship very much.] It’s a quid pro quo of sorts when he steps up to advise Ross even though he technically can’t represent him. His guidance, along with Donovan’s, proves very helpful when Ross slows down enough to walk himself back through the night in question.
It’s an exceptional, disturbing episode that’s extremely timely. Since we’ve watched Ross for three seasons, and we know his fragilities, it’s worrisome to see him go through this. Ehren Kassam is fantastic, capturing Ross’s terror, determination, defiance, and resolve. I love that he was given the opportunity to play this.
Gloria Kim directs a script by Nathalie Younglai.
Photos Courtesy of CBC.
