As her life crumbles around her, a small-town Pennsylvania detective Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) investigates a local murder in an already-haunted town.Mare of Easttownexplores the dark side of a close community and provides an authentic examination of how family and past tragedies can define our present.The hit series was acclaimedby critics who lauded its story, characters, acting, and representation of women.
It garnered 16 nominations at this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards and won four, including Outstanding Lead Actress for Winslet, Supporting Actor for Evan Peters (who we may recognize fromWandaVision) and Supporting Actress for Julianne Nicholson (also in HBO’sThe Outsider).
A second installment of the detective series is an ongoing conversation, but its creator worries that they “used a lot of the tools in the toolbox in season one.” Here’s a closer look at how the critically acclaimed first installment ended - and is there potential for an entirely new storyline?
2Solving The Erin McMenamin Mystery
First, let’s revisit how the original mystery came to a close. The finale effectively tied up all of its moving pieces without going off the rails, despite all its countless fake-outs throughout the first six episodes. Episode 7 revealed that Erin’s uncle (played by Joe Tippett) fathered Erin’s baby after having an affair with her and that John’s teen son (Cameron Mann) killed Erin while trying to scare the young mother into staying away from his father.
Even Katie, who had gone missing for over a year until Mare rescued her earlier on, moves into a new home in the finale and has her own happy ending. The two big mysteries at the heart of the thriller - Katie’s disappearance and Erin’s murder - are solved, and Mare ends the episode by finally visiting the attic where her son died by suicide. It’s a fitting ending for a show that was arguably far more interested in exploring grief than solving the mystery.
1Looking At The Franchise’s Potential Future
Keeping in mind that argument - that the show perhaps succeeded more when exploring Mare’s grief versus cracking the case - we remain hopeful that revisiting the titular character’s emotional journey could spawn additional content for a second installment. Before the finale even aired, however, creator Brad Ingelsby toldEsquire, “It’s very much a closed story. I think you’ve seen that now, the story ends. I think all the loose ends get tied up. I hope so at least.” He later toldTVLine, “We gave Mare such a personal arc where she had to confront this loss in her life, and we would have to construct another emotional arc that was able to compete with [that].”
When asked about the possibility of a second installment after her Emmy win back in September, Winslet toldE! News, “I honestly don’t have a clear answer. I mean, there have been conversations about it, of course, because the success of the show really did surprise us all. And then somehow it became this cultural moment, this zeitgeist moment that captured people’s attention in a really remarkable way.”
Another hit HBO series,Big Little Lies, similarly launched as just a miniseries but then moved forward with a follow-up season after all the buzz and Academy recognition. CouldMare of Easttownfollow in its footsteps with a second installment? Nothing has been confirmed just yet.
“It was written as a limited, and it ends - there’s no more mystery to be solved. Kate [Winsletl] 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,” Ingelsby toldThe Hollywood Reporterback in May. “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.”
Although nothing is official at this point in time, Winslet is certainly thinking about Mare’s next steps. “But I think until scripts are in place that we can really respond to and know what a full story of a season two might be, and also where Mare goes,” she also toldE! News. And when asked by TVLine about the prospect of a second season, Winslet said she “would absolutely love to play Mare again. I miss her. I really do. It’s the strangest thing. I feel like I’m in mourning. It was an absolutely wonderful role…There’s something very addictive about Mare, because she’s so outrageous and lovable and brilliant and real, you know? I loved playing her.”
Director Craig Zobel admitted back in May that he’s interested in continuing the story in another season as well. “I think that if enough fans are excited about it, I certainly am fascinated by Mare Sheehan, and it would be good if we could see her more,” he toldInsiderat the time. On the other hand, Zobel said he likes “there being kind of an end to a story,” arguing that the show might work best if it remains a miniseries.
Stay tuned for any confirmeddetails on a potential follow-upseason for our favorite vape-smoking, Hoagie-munching detective.
