S01.E07: Sacrament

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SEASON FINALE!

Quote

Mare's investigation takes a series of devastating turns, while her friends and family members process the fallout as she attempts to finally find her own way forward.

Promo:

Original air date: 5/30/21

Edited May 31, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[paigow]

DVR Alert:

TV Guide lists runtime as 70 minutes

[paigow]

HBO Description

When her investigation takes a series of devastating turns, Mare's friends and family members process the fallout as she attempts to finally find her own way forward.

[dbklmt]

 

 

[HollyG]

Oh no. I didn't see that coming. 

Edited May 31, 2021 by HollyG

[Pike Ludwell]

HBO Max outage in my area. First time ever I haven't been able to log on.  Probably because so many signing on to see Mare -- they can't handle it.

[duddley]

1 minute ago, Pike Ludwell said:

HBO Max outage in my area. First time ever I haven't been able to log on.  Probably because so many signing on to see Mare -- they can't handle it.

We are out too (Massachusetts)

[bosawks]

I had the exact same face as the chief when John blathered on about his “connection” with Erin.

[LoveLeigh]

Underwhelming for me. 

[econ07]

Lot's of strong actors here.  Man, that woman who played Lori was top notch.

[BC4ME]

Maybe we all got too worked up about this. I mean, it was good, but all the speculation ended up spoiling it for me.

[Penman61]

Wait: Who moved Erin's dead body from the park, stripped it, and laid it out at the creek?

[HollyG]

18 hours ago, Penman61 said:

Wait: Who moved Erin's dead body from the park, stripped it, and laid it out at the creek?

John & Billy. Ryan came home after he killed Erin and told his dad what had happened. Then John called Billy to come help him move Erin's body and stage her death at a different location. 

Edited May 31, 2021 by HollyG

[SeanC]

Uh, are they really going to raise DJ as a brother alongside the person who killed his mother?

I mean, Ryan is so young that he's not an irredeemable criminal by any means, but that's still setting DJ up for a pretty rough time once he gets old enough to process the details of this case, which is obviously going to happen at some point.

[bosawks]

How is it possible that I hate John more than if he’d been the actual killer?

[ShadowHunter]

While John was trash I had this feeling he wasn't the killer. Ryan being the killer was a surprise but not a huge shock.  I still don't like Dylan and him saving money for D.J. was nice but he still sucked lol.

The finale did feel like it was dragging on at some parts but only because they were trying to wrap everything up. I do feel they wrapped up all they could. Mare was in a better place with members of her family now. She had custody of Drew. Guy Pearce was literally a love interest and nothing else lol. Richard didn't really do anything lol. 

This was a good watch and while not perfect I am glad I watched this. For me them killing off Evan Peters will always be a strike against the show lol.

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2021 by ShadowHunter

[JeanJean]

So why did Dylan threaten Jess with a gun?

I cried during the arresting of Ryan section. 

[ShadowHunter]

7 minutes ago, BC4ME said:

Maybe we all got too worked up about this. I mean, it was good, but all the speculation ended up spoiling it for me.

I tried to stay away from speculation. I remember quite a few people were convinced Zabel planted the drugs on Carrie even though it made no sense lol. It's fun to speculate but people definitely overspeculate at times.

[DoubleUTeeEff]

Well, damn. I really didn't think it was going to end up being Ryan. I knew it wasn't over when Frank mentioned that John's demeanor (laughing and singing) when he was driving them home didn't make sense. They finally tied Mr. Carroll to the whole thing as well.

It did make sense that John finally took the blame for it and Lori lied to Mare about it, since it was their son. However, John is the biggest asshole for manipulating Billy into taking the blame and then planning to murder him. Why not just take the blame from the beginning, John? Also, he's an asshole for having a sexual "relationship" with a 15 or 16 year old girl. And for not just agreeing to pay for the surgery. 

Billy helped John cover up the crime and John still planned to set him up! I feel kind of bad for Billy. He should have just gone to the police to start.

I guess Lori didn't get in trouble for obstruction of justice?

And what the heck was the whole thing between Frank and Faye breaking up and getting back together?

Glad Siobhan got the heck out of dodge.

Edited May 31, 2021 by DoubleUTeeEff
missed a word

[BC4ME]

2 minutes ago, JeanJean said:

So why did Dylan threaten Jess with a gun?

I cried during the arresting of Ryan section. 

Yeah, that whole Dylan/diary thing ended up being a plot hole.

[Dessert]

This ending was so ridiculous it actually made me angry. Absolutely preposterous. Just my opinion. Zabel died in vain.

[Norma Desmond]

As soon as it was obvious John's story had holes, I knew he was covering for either Ryan or Lori.

So, is John a free man now?

Mare had to do what was right, even if it meant arresting her best friend's son. As Lor said "you had John". But it was pretty great that the duty of being a cop and arresting the true killer were more important to her than protecting Lori for the sake of their friendship.  Hope Ryan isn't charged as an adult (all things seem to indicate he won't).

And it ends with Mare starting the healing process.

 

All in all, it was pretty fantastic. Less about the crime and more about the lives of Mare and the Easttown folks.

 

Hope there's a seson 2.

Edited May 31, 2021 by Norma Desmond

[HollyG]

5 minutes ago, JeanJean said:

So why did Dylan threaten Jess with a gun?

I cried during the arresting of Ryan section. 

Not sure why Dylan threatened Jess, other than he's a bit of a psycho. We also didn't find out who was running the prostitution site/ring. I would have sworn it was Dylan.

[luna1122]

I'd seen enough speculation that it was Ryan that I wasn't surprised. John is an irredeemable, horrible POS. Julianne Nicholson did a great job falling apart but I kind of don't like Lori. 

My biggest problem had to do with Dylan: he was portrayed as violent and monstrous and I don't feel any of that was adequately explained. 

And Dylan’s parents just handed over the kid to Lori, who had literally no more biological claim to him than they did? That was bizarre to me. 

Still, despite that, and them killing off the fabulous Evan Peters, this was a really good show. Kate is one of my fave actors, and she did a masterful job, as did Jean Smart. I'm glad we watched 

[HollyG]

1 minute ago, Norma Desmond said:

As soon as it was obvious John's story had holes, I knew he was covering for either Ryan or Lori.

So, is John a free man now?

Mare had to do what was right, even if it meant arresting her best friend's son. As Lor said "you had John". But it ws pretty great that the duty of being a cop and arresting the true killer were more important to her than protecting Lori for the sake of their friendship.  Hope Ryan isn't charged as an adult (all things seem to indicate he won't).

And it ends with Lori starting the healing process.

 

All in all, it was pretty fantastic. Less about the crime and more about the lives of Mare and the Easttown folks.

 

Hope there's a seson 2.

John still had sex with a minor. That would mean jail time, though he probably got less than if he'd killed her.  

[JeanJean]

8 minutes ago, Dessert said:

 Zabel died in vain.

In Pennsyl-VAIN-ia.  😃 (I am so sorry.) 

Maybe in a mystery/thriller the penultimate episode is always more thrilling than the ending. I have to think about that.  In Breaking Bad, the last episode was as thrilling as anything before it, but that wasn't a who-dunnit; it was a how's-he-gonna-do-it?

Edited May 31, 2021 by JeanJean

[cardigirl]

Whoever picked Ryan as the killer, kudos. I kind of wondered about it last week when John said they could never let Mare know and Lori cracked immediately and told her about Billy and where they were. It seemed they were protecting someone then. 
 

Great show. Really enjoyed it! 

[JeanJean]

5 minutes ago, Norma Desmond said:

So, is John a free man now?

My sister and I just talked about that. Her take is John still had sex with a minor, so he's probably still in jail for that.

Edited May 31, 2021 by JeanJean

[luna1122]

Just now, HollyG said:

John still had sex with a minor. That would mean jail time, though he probably got less than if he'd killed her.  

And obstruction of justice, tampering with a corpse, attempted murder of his brother...I'm sure there are plenty of charges to keep him in prison for a good long time. 

[Penman61]

I feel like this final episode had way too many upbeat storyline resolutions for what the previous episodes' storytelling style led us to expect:

• Mare keeps custody of her grandson; Carrie is headed to rehab
• Mare lovingly parts from Guy Pearce, with hopeful promises made for the future
• Jean Smart admits her parenting failures with Mare; is forgiven
• Siobhan gets into and goes to UC Berkeley
• Pastor Maybe-Molester gets his post back; preaches community unity
• Frank and Wife 2 reconcile and marry
• Dylan does a character 180 and decently turns $ over to Lori for his "son"
• Mare and Lori reconcile
• Mare finally ascends into in her Locked Attic of Grief

I have no problem with upbeat resolutions, but the first 6 episodes of this story did not portend all this, imho.

Whither the grit, Easttown?

 

Edited May 31, 2021 by Penman61

[Laurawithcats]

John is pure garbage. He had sex with a child and got her pregnant. He lied by omission about DJ being his. This is the 2nd affair too. He involved his brother and even debated murdering him to cover his tracks. 

He doesn't get a pass for attempting to take the fall for the murder of Erin. Everything that happened was bc he cheated, again, on his wife and his son found out. His son, who is now fked up for life for trying to save his family. 

 

 

[all fall down]

4 minutes ago, HollyG said:

John still had sex with a minor. That would mean jail time, though he probably got less than if he'd killed her.  

He also moved a body and lied about what really happened. 

 

[Quickbeam]

I really had Lori pegged for the shooter. I did love the scene with the old widower. Kind of broke my heart. 

[Ellaria]

I’m still processing the finale. It was the complete destruction of one extended family because John is a selfish, disturbed SOB.

Cameron Mann’s performance broke my heart. Such a marvelous young actor!

My only point of dissatisfaction with the finale is about Dylan’s role. He is clearly a “troubled teen” but the show never defined the character. Perhaps that’s best left to the viewers.

Every character was a given a measure of closure and the ability to take the next step forward in their life, however painful that would be.

Kate, Jean and Julianne were outstanding in these their roles but that’s no surprise. They are always wonderful!

 

[Dessert]

I prefer my predicted ending where a giant meteor hits the fishing camp. It’s actually more believable.

[marinite]

Poor Mare. I enjoyed Kate Winslet and Jean Smart a lot.

So Lori does not get any jail time  for obstruction or some other offense ? Are her husband and brother-in-law in jail? It’s frustrating to me that these issues weren’t answered.

I hope the turtle is OK.

[BingeyKohan]

I enjoyed this a lot so I’m sorry to quibble at all but in addition to sharing everyone’s confusion about Dylan and the ominous seeming pact the teens had, I also don’t get the locket. The receipt showed Billy bought it but why would he? John bought it but gave Billy’s name at the store? 
 

 

[Norma Desmond]

 

2 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

I enjoyed this a lot so I’m sorry to quibble at all but in addition to sharing everyone’s confusion about Dylan and the ominous seeming pact the teens had, I also don’t get the locket. The receipt showed Billy bought it but why would he? John bought it but gave Billy’s name at the store? 

Wasn't the name in the receipt ROSS? I don't remember seeing the first name (I may be wrong).

Edited May 31, 2021 by Norma Desmond

[buckboard]

We may never know what the point of Dylan destroying Erin's diary was, but it did provide Jess the opportunity to find the incriminating photograph.

Edited May 31, 2021 by buckboard

[Dminches]

29 minutes ago, luna1122 said:

 

And Dylan’s parents just handed over the kid to Lori, who had literally no more biological claim to him than they did? That was bizarre to me. 

 

John is the father so handing the baby over to his biological father’s family (Lori) is not “no biological claim.” 
 

[Ellaria]

4 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

I enjoyed this a lot so I’m sorry to quibble at all but in addition to sharing everyone’s confusion about Dylan and the ominous seeming pact the teens had, I also don’t get the locket. The receipt showed Billy bought it but why would he? John bought it but gave Billy’s name at the store? 
 

 

 

2 minutes ago, Norma Desmond said:

 

Wasn't the name in the receipt ROSS? I don't remember seeing the first name (I may be wrong).

There were two receipts. The one on the left says “Billy Ross.” The one on the right just says “Ross.”

I guess that John bought it using Billy’s name. I imagine that he wanted to avoid any possibility that it could be tracked back to him (a married man). Sigh...maybe  there were other things that he should have been worried about.

[gpgurl50]

I thought Ryan was involved somehow but didn't get the how.  I thought it was weird he pulled a gun on her to protect his family even though she was a literal member of his family.

[Dminches]

I liked the finale nit continued to highlight Mare’s ups and downs. 
 

I could be wrong but I thought Mare deleted all the videos from the Carroll household camera in order to cover for Beth’s brother. That would have been after the night of Erin’s murder. 

edit: it looks like she just deleted that one day although the list of videos looks different. 

Edited May 31, 2021 by Dminches

[raven]

1 hour ago, bosawks said:

I had the exact same face as the chief when John blathered on about his “connection” with Erin.

Yup.   "Hey, I had sex with my underage cousin because of our deep connection".  Slimy, creepy, POS.

I kinda wish they had gone with Ryan is a budding psychopath rather than Ryan was just disturbed and angry.  Or that they had gone with Lori as the shooter.  It kind of felt to me that they were twisting it up just to twist it up there and it doesn't quite work for me.

It does seem odd that DJ would be with Lori; that seemed to happen rather quickly.  I would have preferred he stay with Dylan's parents. Time passes quickly on this show, which I appreciate, but that didn't quite ring true for me.  I know there's only so much time in an episode and they're not going to have long scenes regarding custody but would that really happen?  Also, Dylan threatened Jess just over burning the journals??  I can buy that they burned them to protect her memory and so the baby would stay with his parents but the aftermath - again, why?  Dylan's just a violent asshole?   I did believe he cared about DJ but his characterization was off.

Carrie using again did feel true to me.  She would have been scared after the tub incident and there's too much temptation out in the world. 

I'm glad that Richard was just Richard.  I never thought he was involved in the murder anyway.

Oh and I couldn't start watching until a half hour after it started.  Get your shit together, HBO.

 

15 minutes ago, marinite said:

Are her husband and brother-in-law in jail?

They should both be in jail for covering up Erin's death.  There was a comment that Billy made a full confession and would be out next summer.  I am relieved to know that Billy wasn't sleeping with Erin.  John did pull a gun on Billy so he should remain in jail for that as well.

I did wonder about Lori but I guess a good lawyer could get her probation + needing to be home with the kids.

I don't love the resolution but I did really enjoy the series.  The acting was top notch. 

 

[whiporee]

John sucks for trying to pin it all on Billy, and for screwing Erin and a whiole bunch of stuff, but I can't blame him for trying to take the fall to protect Ryan, especially since what Ryan did was fundamentally his fault. He's actually better than Lori, who was willing to let John go to jail for murder even though she knew the truth. 

I think had anyone but Kate Winslet been involved, this show would have been much more criticized than it has been. Looking back, while it did paint a good portrait of an area and featured some strong accent work, it was very shoddily put together. When you only have seven episodes, throwing in a complete red herring seems like a real waste of time and manipulation of the audience. The second set of girls and Zabel's entire arc was just a waste of time. Even the stuff about Mare's son was a waste, because we as viewers, were never allowed to understand it. Was he bipolar? We he crazy? Just an asshole? What actually happened? Beyond their accents, none of the supporting characters felt developed at all. What was Sibaugn's deal with her old girlfriend? And then what happened to her new one, the one involved with a high school student? Did Dawn's cancer go away when her daughter came back?  Why was Dylan a psychopath last week and giving money away this one? 

I don't really care about the murder, but Erin wasn't giving vibes of someone who was out to destroy John the night she was killed. She wasn't out of control raging -- she was upset and had just gotten beaten up. Just none of it fits, but all that got lost behind Kate's performance. Which was really good, in what turned out to be a story that made no sense at all. 

[aghst]

John as the murder was a little too pat.  But I would have been okay with it if that's where they ended up.

Still if his main crime was having an affair with Erin and trying to cover up the murderer, why was he considering killing Billy or himself over it?  Maybe just to have another little cliffhanger, with Mare coming to the rescue?

BTW, she has one good hand and she kept John from reaching the gun?

In Inside the Episode, Kate Winslett said she loved the script and one reason was that each episode ended with a cliffhanger.  I don't know if that's good writing or just a good way to hook the viewers into keep watching.

They obviously threw a lot of red herrings and potential suspects, Deacon Mark, Dylan, Potts, etc.  Again, maybe that captivates some viewers because it keeps them guessing in a whodunnit.

Or maybe, they were given a spec, to produce an hour an episode of content and maybe at least a half dozen episodes, so they had to load it up with these other possible suspects, as well as the family and community scenes.

The case itself may be simple.  Usually murderers knew the victim and they didn't recover the murder weapon with John Ross so the thing would be to search his family and look for people who would have that specific type of gun.  Who were the former cops living in the town for instance?  As opposed to what they did, which was to have Mare happen to learn that Mr. Carroll was a former cop who owned that specific type of gun.

So it case could have been wrapped up in 3 or 4 episodes but they also layered in these previous cases of the missing young women.

Still despite all these manipulative mise en scene elements -- remember the suspense about Drew drowning or Jesse being abducted by Dylan -- it was engrossing TV.

Temptation would be to do more seasons but how many more serious crimes is this little community likely to have?  It appears the Katie Bailey and Erin McMenamin cases were two of the most notable in Mare's career.

Plus I think they really used up how her personal circumstances affected her work as well as her life in general around the time of these cases.  Can they build up more about how her personal life informs what kind of a cop she is in another season?  The ending scene was closure as she goes up into that attic.  Maybe as the therapist mentioned, she might move to another town.  Or at least to another house, if they were to do another season.

Mare seemed to patch things up with Lori, though how does she just walk into the home there at the end?

But she can't have another case where her closest friends are involved again.  One the one hand, she's not happy that Lori lied to her, obstructed her investigation.  But OTOH, she arrests her best friend's young son.

It would be better if any future cases didn't involve people she knew all her life.

 

[luna1122]

2 minutes ago, Dminches said:

John is the father so handing the baby over to his biological father’s family (Lori) is not “no biological claim.” 
 

I don't know what the law would say, maybe that's absolutely correct. But John isn't there, he's in prison. Lori is no more related to him than Dylan’s parents. At the very least, I'd think there would have been an extended custody case. But apparently the parents just...gave Lori the baby? I just find that hard to believe.

 

The poor kid has a murdered mom, a POS bio dad, a half brother who killed his mom, a grandpa who tried to kill the guy who THOUGHT he was the dad, who is also, incidentally, a psycho. At this point, the poor kid would have a better chance with a brand new family. 

[raven]

2 minutes ago, whiporee said:

The second set of girls and Zabel's entire arc was just a waste of time. Even the stuff about Mare's son was a waste, because we as viewers, were never allowed to understand it. Was he bipolar? We he crazy? Just an asshole? What actually happened?

For me, all of this was part of understanding Mare and her life.   Mare did tell one of the doctors what Kevin's diagnosis was (I don't remember now) but we were given details.  He was using drugs as well, so a bad combination overall leading to his suicide.

We did spend too much time on Siobhan's love life.  Teen drama doesn't interest me. 

I liked Zabel for his interactions with Mare - his less than stellar policing emphasized her own, more driven method.   I don't really care that he died.

Both cases and the possibility of losing Drew brought Mare to therapy, which eventually got her to face her grief over Kevin and open the attic.  All of it helped with her relationship with her mother and hopefully her daughter as well.

Mare's relationships were the point, I think, and not so much the murder.  I liked Mare and I don't mind a messy life so that worked for me.

[Laurawithcats]

And what was up with Dylan not being home, as per his ex gf Brianna (think that's her name) the night of Erin's murder? When Brianna questioned him and he became really angry and told her to go the F home? Where was he and why was he so angry at being questioned? Was that explained? And then Dylan, who's been shot bc Erin's father mistakenly believes him to be her killer turns out to be Mr Nice guy and contributes to DJ's ear surgery? The same Dylan who stood by while Brianna beat the crap out of Erin, the supposed mother of his child? Right...

There are too many still unfinished moving pieces in this show. I loved a lot of the performances but the writing had too much filler and too many holes. 

Edited May 31, 2021 by Laurawithcats
Comma

[Snapdragon]

6 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

I enjoyed this a lot so I’m sorry to quibble at all but in addition to sharing everyone’s confusion about Dylan and the ominous seeming pact the teens had, I also don’t get the locket. The receipt showed Billy bought it but why would he? John bought it but gave Billy’s name at the store? 
 

 

The name on the receipt just said "Ross" so John's the one that bought it but Mare thought it was Billy back when they thought Billy was the one who molested Erin.

I just feel very underwhelmed by the finale.  Having John immediately get arrested in the first five minutes was way too big a tip off that he didn't do it.  Didn't see the Ryan reveal coming though, I thought for sure it was going to be Lori.  Speaking of Lori, pretty sure she'd be up on some charges.  Also, why in the hell is she raising Erin's son?  She has no biological ties to the kid, was married to the man that molested his mom and her son murdered his mom (which she covered up) so no, I don't think she's the best candidate for that job.  Honestly, I kept thinking she was going to harm DJ in some way, especially after Jean Smart gave her speech about taking out her frustrations with her husband out on her kids.  Pretty sure Dylan would have been able to fight for custody since he's on the birth certificate and has a documented history of taking care of DJ.  I could stomach the rest of the finale (as lackluster and drag outey as it was) but that just kinda makes me want to vomit.  That and the fact that no one pointed out to John during his arrest, interrogation or trial that he had molested his cousin!  Why wasn't that addressed when he was going on about he and Erin's "special connection"?  When he was blathering on about that, I literally said aloud, "Yes, I'm sure you had a connection.  You're related, after all."  And why on God's green earth did Jean Smart's character think Frank should be staying in touch with John after all he did?  Ugh, I can take horrible things/people happening on shows but can't stand when the other characters don't react accordingly.  

Final vent, why were either Richard or Siobhan in this?  Richard was dull, Siobhan was annoying and they were both pretty pointless.