SPOILERS for Mare of Easttown.
Mare of Easttown became one of those rare watercooler miniseries and it felt like everyone was watching and everyone had a theory about it. The series was not based on a book or a real-life incident, which was part of the joy of watching – there were no busybodies on social media telling people “this is what happened in the book” or “this is what happens next.” Everyone experienced it together, one episode at a time, for seven weeks and that was seriously fun.
So, following Mare and Colin Zabel’s discovery of the girls in that dude’s attic, we were left with the core mystery of the series: who murdered teen mom Erin McMenamin and why? Over the last two episodes, we learned that it was a family thing in the worst possible way. We learned the father of her son was John Ross, who is sort of like her cousin/uncle (technically a cousin, but more like an uncle figure and definitely a familial relation). John Ross confessed to murdering Erin early in the final episode, and the episode just kept going until Mare put the pieces together. It wasn’t John who murdered Erin: he was taking the rap for his 13-year-old son, Ryan. The child murdered his teen-mom cousin for having an affair with his dad. It was… a lot. A lot of pain, a lot of great acting and a lot of WTFery. I was mad at Lori (Julianne Nicholson) for lying to Mare as well.
As it turned out, Guy Pearce’s local-professor-heartthrob was just some guy who had nothing to do with any of the crimes being committed. Putting such a well-known actor in that role was a total mindf–k because no one could believe Guy would take that role unless he was the murderer. Apparently, Guy and Kate Winslet are friends in real life and when they needed an actor to fill that role in the last minute, Winslet called Guy and asked him to do the role as a favor. Apparently, that’s how Julianne Nicholson was cast too – she’s Winslet’s friend as well.
Mare writer Brad Ingelsby gave a lengthy interview to THR about the end of the series and how he came up with this crime and this specific world. When asked if there was a chance the gang could reunite for a second limited series/season, he told THR: “It was written as a limited, and it ends — there’s no more mystery to be solved. Kate and I, if we could crack a story that we were really proud of and felt like it was a deserving second chapter in Mare’s journey, then maybe. I haven’t cracked that yet; I don’t know what that is, honestly. But if there was a world in which we were convinced, this is a continuation of the story that honors the first chapter and does things an audience will appreciate, then maybe. But as of right now, I have no idea what that could be.” Hmmm. Mare of Easttown 2: The Wawa Murders. Bam, write it up.
Photos courtesy of HBO.
There was also a communal freak out when HBO crashed right at the moment the finale was supposed to start. Twitter was hilarious.
Oh man, I was losing my shit, lol! I was able to watch it on my laptop for some reason. Should have checked social media, but I just assumed it was my crappy cable service.
Same! I finally did go on social media and was relieved that I hadn’t just disconnected something.
I really enjoyed this show but it’s really starting to get on my nerves that in every article I’ve read about it, Erin and John’s interaction is being described variously as ‘a relationship’, ‘an affair’, ‘dating’, ‘hooking up’ etc. When it started, she was a 14 year old girl and he was her father’s first cousin, which makes it incestuous statutory rape and child abuse, and John a paedophile, not a compulsive womaniser. And this is something that the show let slide as well, more concerned about who the baby’s father was than anything else.
Wait, I didn’t pick up that she was 14 when it began.
I’m not entirely sure of the timeline, but definitely around that age if it started in 2017 and the show was set in 2020, and based on the age of the baby. And I think she was referred to as being 17 when she died.
Yes, they talked about the family reunion where the rapes began being 3 years prior.
This. This was so gross and weird and John is an ABUSER and they glossed it as him being an adulterer instead.
At the same time a lot of his behavior was seen through Lori’s perspective, and for a time she assumed he had resumed his affair with the same woman again. But yeah, other than Billy’s clear trauma, they didn’t spend enough time on the horror they must have all felt as they processed what John had done.
Okay, wow, this went right over my head, yeah that does change things a lot.
I know that had me SCREAMING at the tv!! And that his wife got the baby! That baby needed to be far away from that family, his brother killed his mother, how do you grow up knowing that and not turn out a mess?
I agree. Other than one sour look that Mare and the chief exchanged when John babbled about his “connection” with Erin, I didn’t think the show did nearly enough to underline that this was an adult man who preyed on a grieving, vulnerable, and underage girl.
And I really don’t want a second season of MoE; the first season felt like a complete story, and I can’t imagine a future season matching up to this one. I’ll miss it a lot, though. All the performances were amazing, and I really hope this is Evan Peters’s ticket out of endless American Horror Story seasons.
I feel like the series wrapped up nicely so I don’t see an absolute need for another. But she is a detective so surely there could be other local cases in that world we have come to know for us to enjoy. Just saying.
Winslet just knocked it out of the park with her performance. She really inhabited that character, so much that I was startled to hear her British accent in the little interview they had at the end of the series. Lots of great performances. I enjoyed Jean Smart so much I started watching Hacks last night, I am liking it so far.
Yeah, same here, loved the performances. I love Jean Smart so much.
Kate, Jean, and all the performances were great.
I thought it was a very well done piece, and should be left to stand as is. I’m sure it’s tempting, with the success of it, but I’d be just fine if this were it.
The way all the characters were fleshed out, why not have a second season.
The people in this town is all kinds of messed up and honestly, very realistic. Carol had nothing but the gossip on peeps and they can take it from there.
This just might be Kate’s best work. Period.
This woman is good at her job.
I agree that it might be her best work. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. This series was so much more than just a crime story, so many layers to it.
I enjoyed the show, but no: I hope there is no season 2.
@Eleonor – I agree! HBO does a good job with these “limited series” and we don’t need another season. S1 of Big Little Lies was very good and S2 was just meh cause they had to get some sort of story.
So far I’m the only person I know that wasn’t crazy about this show. I love murder mysteries usually (I loved Broadchurch so mucch which IMO is a far superior show). Mare’s character inhabited every single trope I’ve ever seen about a female detective, in fact there was a great humorous Twitter thread I found of someone who started it with “Every single female detective/cop as written by a man: I’m Toughy McLady, I am the only (or youngest or both) woman in my department. I push myself too hard.” The show was written by a man and to me it was super obvious. I realize it was also a show about trauma and grief and how you deal with it. But there were so many characters and so many side plots that had nothing to do with the central mysteries (since there ended up being two cases solved) or Mare’s issues dealing with the loss of her son. It just felt very crowded, like the show wasn’t sure what characters and what stories it wanted you to focus on.
Like the whole story with the elderly couple who were dealing with a Peeping Tom: they could have been cut entirely. The only reason they were there was to justify where Ryan got the murder weapon. And the two girls that got kidnapped–in the end, the guy was just some sketchy local unknown bar owner we had never been introduced to. I just felt that was a whole wasted plot point and poor Katie Bailey’s story was kind of swept under the rug and faded into the background when initially they kept bringing it up for the first few episodes.
Also this may seem so minor but I was VERY displeased about who ended up with custody of baby DJ. How are they going to explain to this kid when he grows up that his half-brother offed his mom because his father had an affair with his underage cousin?? Was the only one actually concerned for the emotional well-being of this baby? I was practically groaning when John asked Lori to take custody of his love child and the fact that Lori accepted. It also shouldn’t be up to John to decide custody given he committed statutory rape. If he couldn’t stay with Dylan’s parents, the best outcome was to give that baby up for adoption so he could be raised by a loving family.
I was convinced that Lori was the murderer based on that conversation where John asked her to raise the baby. I thought that was the only way she would do it – as payment for him taking the fall for her.
Agree on DJ.
My heart broke for Dylan’s parents. Eight months later and they were still struggling with not having that kid at home.
I cried for them in that church scene.
That wanted that baby and in a way would have been better off with them instead of Lori, who, let’s me real can turn bitter in a heartbeat just because.
Amelie – X1000000! I really did like the mood, the settings, and the characters, but it was like the final season of GoT, just not taking the time necessary to really tell the story. Katie was missing for a year and they found her with minimal effort based on interviewing one possible witness who should have been interviewed a year earlier? And the Erin mystery, it irritates me that it wasn’t solved through detective work. The entire mystery unfolded through Erin’s best friend deciding to tell them something new (or just discovering something new). The detectives eliminated a few red herrings but a teen girl solved the entire mystery and got no credit. (well, okay the twist with John’s son was just a random interaction with her neighbor, but again it was just a fortunate coincidence, not detective work).
Amazing work.
Also love to hate Guy Pearce’s slimy character with Kate Winslet as Mildred Pierce. They are so good together.
I think I said this in a story from memorial day, but Julianne Nicholson is a champion crier, everyone was good but I feel like every scene with her in the final episode (especially) was just incredible.