What I’m Watching: Mare of Easttown (Series Finale)

Mare of Easttown: Season 1, Episode 7 “Sacrament” (B+)

It seemed a bit too easy for everything to get sewn up so neatly early on in this episode, with Mare able to successfully bring John and Billy in after the photo Jess showed Chief Carter confirmed that John was indeed sleeping with Erin and was the true father of her baby. The interconnected nature of this town makes things exponentially more complicated, but it also brought with it positive developments, like an unexpectedly bright future for Katie and a reconciliation between her mother and Mare. Frank and Mare were also in a much better place, able to get along well enough that Mare could attend his second wedding with a date of her own, the affable and no-longer-suspicious Richard. Carrie owned up to the fact that she was back on drugs and wouldn’t be able to take care of Dylan, and the way in which Mare responded to her indicated that, perhaps in the future there might be a chance for them to build a relationship once she managed to get and stay clean. And then, of course, we got the devastating twist that, thanks to a claim Glen made that Mare initially wanted to dismiss, it was Ryan and not his father who actually killed Erin, and Lori knew about it and covered it up. I’m glad that this show didn’t underuse Julianne Nicholson, saving her formidable talent for this final episode, and I do hope that she’ll earn her first-ever Emmy nomination for this performance. Having Deacon Mark deliver a sermon acknowledging people’s likely discomfort with him being reinstated was an emphatic representation of the impossibly complex nature of the characters on this show. Ultimately, I think it was strong, and though it wasn’t my number one limited series of the season, I’ll be happy to see it collect a handful of prizes.

Series grade: B+
Series MVP: Evan Peters as Colin Zabel

What I’m Watching: Mare of Easttown (Penultimate Episode)

Mare of Easttown: Season 1, Episode 6 “Sore Must Be the Storm” (B+)

That opening scene with someone in the hospital was ambiguous just for a second, and Mare’s recovery was confirmed at the same time as Colin’s death. He really was a terrific character, and it doesn’t help that multiple other people remain strong suspects for things other than abducting Katie Bailey. Mare getting slapped by Colin’s mother when she went over there to give her condolences was brutal, but Mare did get a much sincerer and more heartwarming thank you from an emotional Dawn. Even Tony seemed remorseful about the way that he treated Mare, and Brianna retreated from her previous stance to try to help in whatever small way she still could that wasn’t received as all that genuine by law enforcement. Dylan has become an increasingly unsympathetic character, especially in his vicious efforts to track down Jess and ensure that she didn’t continue talking to the police. A distraught Mark is now in custody, but it seems that he’s said as much as he knows. The Ross brothers, on the other hand, have considerably more to hide, and Lori didn’t hold out very long under questioning given what John had just told her about Billy. It’s a simple reveal regarding Billy being the one to kill Erin, but it seems increasingly likely, especially from the Chief frantically telling Mare to stand down and wait for backup, that John is complicit in some way, even if it’s just him being the father of Erin’s baby. One more episode won’t be able to resolve all the mess that can be found in this town, but there’s still plenty to be unpacked and covered.

What I’m Watching: Mare of Easttown

Mare of Easttown: Season 1, Episode 5 “Illusions” (B+)

It’s never a good sign when a character in a dark drama gets a special spotlight and seems like they’re about to change their lives for the better. I like Evan Peters a lot and have greatly enjoyed seeing how he plays Colin and the way in which he interacts with Mare, and it was good to see him start to stand up for himself when Mare didn’t even pretend to want to be on a date with him for any reason other than to be able to work on the case. She didn’t even offer him a bite of her tortellini when he explicitly asked for it! Things got serious fast when they tracked down the man they were looking for and didn’t entirely realize it, and it certainly looks like he took a gunshot straight to the head that doesn’t give him any chance of surviving. That was an extended very tense scene when Mare managed to outrun Wayne and then eventually shoot him with Colin’s gun, and it’s going to be a difficult road back to normal for everyone involved. This episode was packed with other worthwhile content, like Helen’s affair being exposed by Glen after his wife’s death, Helen explaining her motivations for helping Carrie, and Dylan and Brianna comparing their options for the future given recent revelations. Though the main mystery has been solved, there should be plenty more collateral damage and relationships to deal with in the final two episodes of this limited series.

What I’m Watching: Mare of Easttown

Mare of Easttown: Season 1, Episode 4 “Poor Sisyphus” (B)

This show is turning into something different than it’s been so far, proving with its last few scenes that it’s intent on being a dark, haunting thriller and not just a grim, moody drama. Dawn not calling Mare to report the fact that someone had called her to say that Katie was alive and could be sent home if she brought money turned out to be inconsequential because it was just Freddie trying to score some cash for himself. But then the final scene revealed that Katie was in fact alive and being held by some menacing captor who has now taken another girl. Mare being suspended doesn’t help matters, and of course she was only honest with her family about why that was. Colin was ready to come to her defense to his mother even before she showed up at the door, and him asking her out but only if the answer was yes was an intriguing twist to the lighter side of this show. It’s just a shame that Richard already asked her about the same night, even if she hasn’t officially made up her mind yet. The flashbacks Mare had to when Kevin was trying to steal from her and threatening her were disturbing, and they explain why she so despises Carrie, who broke down in tears at the idea of Mare working so hard to ruin her life. I’m not sure what Siobhan’s new relationship has to do with anything, but Becca being in the house while they were about to have sex and then knocking Helen over when she ran out caused quite the panic. While Mark is definitely hiding the nature of both his transfer and his relationship with Erin, I don’t think he’s actually responsible for her death, but we’ll see.

Take Three: Mare of Easttown

Mare of Easttown: Season 1, Episode 3 “Enter Number Two” (B+)

This episode only further intensified the drama on this show and the interconnectivity of everything, bringing Frank into things in a way that did not sit well with anyone. Showing up to his house while they were in the middle of playing Trivial Pursuit was her first mistake, and then she decided to bring it up in front of everyone when he wouldn’t walk outside and only begrudgingly took the paternity test because he was so angry and unafraid of the results. Mare also had a big blowout with her mom after she told her great-grandson that he might have to go live with his mom, and then all of a sudden things were fine between them again, even though Helen was a bit too friendly with Richard when he showed up at the door. At least that relationship is relatively positive, but Mare is about to spiral out of control now that she’s had to give in her badge given her very obvious and unsuccessful effort to frame Carrie so that she wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Colin was entertainingly drunk at the bar, opening up more in a way that he doesn’t when he’s intimidated by the admittedly scary Mare, and it will be interesting to see whether he continues to consult her now that she’s technically off the case. Kenny confessing to a murder didn’t mean much since his alleged victim survived, though he’s going to have a tough time both physically and emotionally given the likelihood of his not being his child’s father. It’s intriguing to see some of Siobhan’s personal life with her documentary and her new date, and I’m not sure Mare would be happy to learn about either of those developments. Marc is clearly suspicious, and seeing him throw Erin’s bike off a bridge doesn’t cement his guilt, but it confirms that he was involved in some way that he shouldn’t have been.

Round Two: Mare of Easttown

Mare of Easttown: Season 1, Episode 2 “Fathers” (B+)

This episode matched the grim nature of the opening hour while giving us considerably more insight into all of the characters. This is such a small town and community that it’s hard to believe things could be happening without anyone knowing. That scene where Dylan went into the gas station where Dawn was working before Mare later came in and was threatened by Tony encapsulated it all, even topping Siobhan showing up on the video when Colin asked earlier in the episode. I wouldn’t have thought of Evan Peters, an excellent actor from “American Animals,” “WandaVision,” “Pose,” “American Horror Story,” and much more, to play this relatively normal part, but it’s good to see him as someone who respects Mare and her relationship with others in the town but definitely, as Siobhan warned him, has expectations that are far too high of what Mare is willing to give. It was strange to see her get all dressed up and go meet Richard at his event in the middle of all this, and he didn’t do a great job of acknowledging her while she was busy spitting out the food and hiding it in the gaps in the couch. Kenny took irreversible action when he found out about his daughter’s death, and now it seems that Dylan wasn’t even his grandson’s father, putting Mare even more in the middle of all this then she already was. I am intrigued, and the strong character development is helping to compensate for the daunting misery on display here.

Pilot Review: Mare of Easttown

Check out my one-minute take on every new pilot, which is embedded below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.