Coroner is no stranger to repressed trauma, but Coroner Season 2 Episode 4 brought things to a whole new level.
Repression has been at the center of the show since we first saw that black dog on Coroner Season 1 Episode 1. Usually, it’s just Jenny repressing things. In recent episodes, we’ve seen a bit from Liam too. No wonder those two found each other.
Repressed memories are often associated with traumatic events that were deeply distressing or disturbing. Jenny repressed killing her sister because she didn’t want to deal with how it made her feel.
Kelly: I have a waitressing gig but it’s only two nights a week. I would work every night if it meant not being alone with myself.
Jenny: Grief is a monster.
Kelly: And I run from monsters.
Some emotions, particularly those associated with trauma, can just be too overwhelming to cope with. Sometimes, people just need to forget.
Mr. Carruthers couldn’t cope with the loss of his wife. Maybe he blamed himself, or maybe he just didn’t want to live in a world without her.
Either way, he couldn’t let himself accept her death, the same way he couldn’t let himself accept his son Damon’s sexuality or HIV diagnosis.
When the truth came out, when Mr. Carruthers finally accepted his wife was gone, he didn’t have the strength to keep going. Who says you can’t die from a broken heart?
McAvoy: You said there’s nothing textbook about his psychosis.
Jenny: He wants to take his son home to her.
McAvoy: Then he’s going home.
The interesting thing was, for all that Jenny did to encourage him to accept the truth about his wife, she seemed unwilling to accept his death.
She tried to revive him when he was clearly gone. Even Damon, who was having a hard time letting go, said that his father couldn’t hear him anymore.
There seems to be a common thread through the characters on Coroner Season 2. There’s an inability to let go. In Mr. Carruthers’s case, this led to a complete disconnect with reality. There’s a tragedy in that.
True, the man was a murderer, but he was also a victim.
McAvoy: Imagine being so in love with someone, so connected, you couldn’t see the truth?
Jenny: Devotional delusions.
McAvoy: Maybe all devotion’s delusional.
We like to think people who snap and do something violent have some preexisting conditions. Gordon lashed out at his barber because he has dementia.
Then again, sometimes circumstances are just too difficult for a perfectly normal individual to cope with. We don’t like to think about it, but any of us could snap. The mind is complicated, and life likes to keep throwing those curveballs.
What happened to Liam’s buddy, Mal, was a curveball he wasn’t expecting, and Liam doesn’t seem to be coping so well. He’s not as in touch with his emotions and traumas as one would hope.
Jenny said Liam called and told her Mal was fine, but was I the only one who thought she was making that up to reassure Ross?
Kelly: Kingston, Ontario? Your boyfriend lives in Kingston, Ontario and you haven’t visited him?
Ross: Yes, but, I currently live in a tent and have no job so I’m trying to get it together a little bit there.
Ross, meanwhile, is really living in that tent. Because he’s living in the tent, he saw his mom sleepwalking. Now he’s going into protective mode. On the one hand, responsibilities like that should not fall on a kid. On the other, Jenny really needs the help.
Ross isn’t as much a kid anymore anyhow. He’s college-age, living in a tent, and working a job. He’s a man by many cultures’ standards.
As they get older, children sometimes have to take care of their parents, even if they don’t want to. Jenny has to take care of her father because he has dementia.
It’s one of the many burdens she’s carrying, and while she would never blame Gordon, it’s a lot to deal with, especially with him wanting to move in with her.
Kelly: I like your family.
Jenny: They seem to really like you too. Especially my dad. Are you sure about this?
Kelly: Dealing with your family, it helps me to forget.
Enter Kelly Hart. As a Burden of Truth fan, I was so happy to see Nicola Correia-Damude on my screen. She was introduced on Coroner Season 2 Episode 1, and I fully expected that to be it, but I’m glad she’s back. It looks like she’ll be sticking around too.
She bonded quickly with Jenny, Ross, and especially Gordon. Home care will hopefully be good for him, though I wonder a little if she has any real experience dealing with dementia.
Correia-Damude has great chemistry with the Coopers, especially Jenny. For a minute, in that last scene, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a new ship on the horizon. Bye-bye, Liam.
But no, given that Jenny accidentally called Kelly, Katie, I don’t think that’s the relationship the writers are going for.
Ross: Okay, last time you woke up in the fridge?
Liam: Yeah. The fridge, the garden, and the road.
Ross: You were digging on the road?
Jenny: No. I wasn’t digging the road, I was just on the road.
Liam: Yeah, while you were asleep.
Jenny: Okay. I’m not exactly sure why I’m sleepwalking. Right? But maybe it’s just because I’m stressed. Or because we’re renovating. Or just because I need a nap.
Katie’s ghost popped up quite a bit this episode. Apparently, Jenny used to sleepwalk after killing Katie. Now she’s sleepwalking again. The implications? There’s something else Jenny’s repressing, maybe something recent. What was she digging for?
Whatever she’s buried, it’s going to come up, just like the truth about Mrs. Carruthers did. Hopefully, it will be just as good as, or better than, the reveal about the black dog.
As for her referring to Kelly with her dead sister’s name, that could mean a few things. Katie has been on her mind a lot lately. Maybe what she’s repressing, once again, ties back to her sister.
However, maybe, just maybe, there’s another reason.
Jenny: Muliple people die in a fire, and they’re building condos already.
McAvoy: That’s Toronto.
It wasn’t just Jenny that bonded with Kelly, it was also Gordon. He took to her very easily. So maybe there’s a certain family resemblance. Maybe, at some point in future episodes, we’ll discover that Kelly is actually related to Jenny.
Oh, I don’t think she’s Katie, back from the dead to wreak her vengeance. Katie’s dead and buried. But a long lost relative would not be the craziest thing to happen on Coroner.
Plus, as nice as it would be for Kelly simply to be a new friend for the family, it’s more fun if it’s more complicated.
So, what do you think Fanatics? Is Mal okay? What’s Jenny’s newest Trauma? And what’s the deal with Kelly?
Let us know in the comments, and remember, you can watch Coroner online right here via TV Fanatic.
Leora W is a staff writer for TV Fanatic..