Mary Perez from Shetland passed away and her funeral is in the opening scene of the sixth season of the show.
Shetland is a British crime drama series that follows detective Jimmy Perez and his team as he investigates various crimes and mysteries in a small town.
Even though the show is filled with intrigue, loss, and violence, many fans were still shocked when the show jumped right to Mary Perez’s funeral at the beginning of season six.
Why do people continue to watch Shetland?
The British television crime drama series, Shetland, is based on the series of novels by Ann Cleeves and was adapted for film by David Kane.
The series aired in 2013 and up until the seventh season, it followed Douglas Henshall in his role as Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez and his team at the Shetland police station as they solve mysteries in the island town of Shetland, where everyone knows everything about one another.
Shetland mixes the gritty elements of vile crime, substance abuse, and assault with beautiful scenery and heartfelt storylines that deal with family and loss.
This makes for a unique watch that keeps viewers entertained and coming back to see how all of these storylines come together or unravel as the series advances.
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What happened to Mary Perez in Shetland?
The Shetland series has no shortage of anger, hate, vengeance, and murder and viewers are used to seeing these storylines play out on their screens throughout the cases that Jimmy Perez investigates in the show.
However, when the first episode of season six started with Jimmy Perez at his mother, Mary Perez’s funeral, this left many viewers shocked and confused.
Although it is clear that what has happened to Mary Perez since viewers last saw her on Shetland, is that she has passed away, this shock and confusion was mainly caused by the fact that Mary was not a series regular or even a well-known character.
Prior to this, loyal viewers only knew Mary’s character from a brief two-episode appearance in the second season of the show.
Mary Perez made her first appearance on Shetland in the two-part story of “Blue Lightning Part 1” and “Part 2” in season two episode five and six, where Jimmy has to investigate the murder of a scientist in a bird observatory close to the place where Jimmy was born on Fair Isle.
This case prompts a small family reunion between Jimmy and his mother, Mary, who he had not seen in a while at this point.
After Jimmy greeted his mother at the end of this second season, Mary did not physically appear in the show again and the only real storyline that involved Mary was for her funeral in season six.
This has left many fans pondering how she died, why the actress who played Mary Perez, Annie Louise Ross, left the show, and what the significance of this funeral is for Jimmy.
How did Mary Perez die?
It is clear that what happened to Mary Perez is that she passed away somewhere just before the beginning of the sixth season of Shetland. However, what is still unclear is how she died.
During Mary’s funeral in the first episode of season six, the show does not mention or give viewers an idea of Mary Perez’s official cause of death.
But since there is no drama surrounding the funeral proceedings aside from the obvious grief and loss from Jimmy, who is called to another case soon afterward, viewers can assume that Mary’s death is just due to old age and that there is no foul play involved.
Why did Annie Louise Ross leave the show?
In much the same way that Mary Perez was not really discussed much in the show, in real life, neither Annie Louise Ross nor the team behind Shetland has released a statement about why Mary was never featured in the show again after the two episodes in the second season or why Annie Louise Ross left the show.
It seems that the decision for Annie Louise Ross to move on to other successful projects and for the Shetland writing team to focus on other storylines was a mutually beneficial decision.
What was the significance of Mary Perez’s funeral for Jimmy and the storyline?
Besides the obvious grieve that Jimmy faced after his mother’s funeral, viewers are reminded by the eulogy that he delivered that Jimmy also lost his wife shortly before the beginning of the first season of the show and that the loss of those closest to him are a big part of what drives him to be a better man, father, and detective.