Sporting a short crop of fiery red hair and exceptional, elongated curves, Private eye Frankie Drake look as if she stepped out of an Art Deco fashion Billboard. Frankie, as played by Lauren Lee Smith is the kind of gal I'd want on my arm on a luxury liner, but is she fit to get her hands dirty and be a detective? only on a show like this. Frankie will be a blessing for CBC, but she wouldn't survive a second on Cable TV.
Like Murdoch Mysteries, Frankie is a gorgeous period piece which seems unfortunately content to be light weight. It may be too soon to make any major judgments but compared to William Murdoch, and his refined 'afraid to wrinkle his suit' demeanour, Franke has a bit of Pizzaz. The question is whether she is just too photogenic. There were moments between the first two episode where Smith looks as if she is posing for a candid playboy photographer behind the curtain. Frankie as played by Smith is easily a winning formula, but her charm is potentially counter productive to the shows evolving feminist agenda.
The show benefits from an elegant (and not too intrusive) jazzy score that drops you right into the turn of the century. Sets and Costumes are (not surprisingly) quality work, and Frankie will surely be in competition with Murdoch for those Genie awards. But like Murdoch, Frankie looks destined to hover nervously between comedy and drama and will never have the guts to achieve maximum effect in either, expect for the odd scene or two.
Like Murdoch Mysteries, Frankie is a gorgeous period piece which seems unfortunately content to be light weight. It may be too soon to make any major judgments but compared to William Murdoch, and his refined 'afraid to wrinkle his suit' demeanour, Franke has a bit of Pizzaz. The question is whether she is just too photogenic. There were moments between the first two episode where Smith looks as if she is posing for a candid playboy photographer behind the curtain. Frankie as played by Smith is easily a winning formula, but her charm is potentially counter productive to the shows evolving feminist agenda.
The show benefits from an elegant (and not too intrusive) jazzy score that drops you right into the turn of the century. Sets and Costumes are (not surprisingly) quality work, and Frankie will surely be in competition with Murdoch for those Genie awards. But like Murdoch, Frankie looks destined to hover nervously between comedy and drama and will never have the guts to achieve maximum effect in either, expect for the odd scene or two.