Season 1 All Episodes Talk

[Hero Detective77]

I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we could discuss the season as a whole with spoilers, especially now that the DVD set is out. Unlike many who watched “Mare of Easttown” when it aired weekly, I binge-watched it more recently via Hulu. I’ll kick off the thread….

Edited October 15, 2021 by Hero Detective77

[Hero Detective77]

Overall, I loved the show, but there were definitely some things that were truly hard/frustrating. The “good” definitely outweighs the bad for me:

 

Things I loved:

 

* The actors - “Mare of Easttown” really had star-quality reinforced by how it cleaned up at the Emmys, deservingly. Kate Winslet, Jean Smart, Evan Peters, and Julianne Nicholson to name a few. I’m a 40-something mom and librarian from Atlanta originally, and I loved seeing Jean Smart from “Designing Women.” She was a scene-stealer in this show!

* Characters over plot - I loved the focus on the characters and who they were over the plot. Not that the mysteries weren’t compelling, but by being so character-driven, it’s a show you can enjoyably revisit despite knowing the “answers” to the mysteries.

* Unafraid of realness and accuracy - The show, and Kate Winslet, weren’t afraid to not be 100% likable or rootable. It impressed, but didn’t surprise, me that Kate Winslet wanted none of the touch ups offered for her sex scene in episode 1 nor any of the promotional material. Jean Smart was the same - she asked for costuming to make her more believable as an older woman/Mare’s mom. No one was glammed up and all of them did what they could with making the difficult Delco accent believable.

* Mare’s counseling - I enjoyed her sessions with her counselor, her decision to keep going even when not mandated, and how it helped her be able to properly grieve her son. I thought the actress who played her counselor was great in her scenes with Mare. Therapy really can help, especially if you do the work.

* Fully fleshed out female characters - Too often, female characters are regulated to just being the love interest, the mom, etc. with little to no agency of their own. Not true at all of this show. The family relationships and friendships between the female characters is so vivid. It was a delightful change.

* The chemistry between Kate Winslet and Evan Peters - I hadn’t ever seen Evan Peters in anything before “Mare” and wow. To hold his own so well with the legendary Kate was impressive. I also really enjoyed their scenes together - both the humor, the admiration, and the realization that they aren’t so different after all:  both were flawed yet supportive of each other. That was especially true when they were finally able to really be truthful with each other by the bridge and in a way they hadn’t been with anyone else. From articles I read, they both added a lot to their characters and, in Evan’s case, really shaped the character who made it to the screen. Which leads me to…

 

What Frustrated Me/Hurt:

 

* While I get what the showrunners were going for, I hated that they killed Colin off. I feel like they could have achieved a very similar arc by putting him in a coma or indicating he’d be paralyzed for life, but revealing at the end that he could and would heal over time. I missed their dynamic greatly, and it would have been a nice turn for Mare to confront her ability to be present in and confront difficult times/emotions unlike how she couldn’t with her son. I think it could have still ended with the attic, and then if they did a season 2, Evan Peters would still be on the show. I felt like Mare and Colin had a real turning point at the bridge, so I wish the ending could have alluded to pursuing that and/or do so in a potential season 2.

* Julianne Nicholson’s (as Lori) pain over her son (“My Ryan!”), seeing him run through the woods, all of it. As a mom, that gutted me. Same with the scene between Mare and Lori at the very end. Also, the power and pain of motherhood:  Helen’s regret regarding Mare, Mare and her daughter’s grief over the suicide, Dawn inability to grieve for Katie, etc. Mare’s flashback to her son stealing from her and recounting the day of his suicide was heartbreaking. 

* Mare drinking from Colin’s mug, all the police badges with black lines, and Mare sobbing in her mom’s arms in episode 6. Enough said. :(

* The incest/grooming plotline was ick. Also, it’s hard to believe the healthiest place for D.J. to grow up is with Lori and her family given D.J.’s half-brother killed his mom and D.J.’s real dad and uncle helped cover it up plus the whole incestuous relationship. I think he would have been better off being raised by Dylan’s parents. I felt bad for Lori, too, because what a position to be in along with everything else.

* The insinuation that Colin was nothing more than a shitty cop. I disagree. I think Colin was a cop out of his depth because his experience didn’t align with his reputation. Should he have taken credit? Morally, it’s wrong. However, a cop planting drugs on someone seems infinitely worse - morally and legally. I think Colin could have learned a lot from Mare, and she found that his ability to have congenial relationships allowed him to get what was needed when it was needed bad be happier and more hopeful. For anyone who has watched and loved “Homicide: Life on the Streets,” I’m reminded of my favorite pairing:  Frank Pembleton and Tim Bayliss. Frank was the original hero detective, the master of the Box (interrogation room), relentless yet removed, but he was also incorrigible, played by his own rules, and none of the Homicide detectives wanted to partner with him. Tim was the rookie, the “heart” of their partnership, by the book, admired Frank and loyal to a fault, and he made Frank more human. In fact, it was Frank who “froze” when it was shoot or be shot, and Tim was the one who threw himself in front of Frank. It isn’t just rookie cops who freeze up and/or end up in a terrible situation. Tim learned a lot from Frank, and Frank found a devoted friend who loved him, just as he was. 
 

Whew! That was a lot. But hopefully, it’s the start of talking about this incredible show as a whole. And for the things that frustrated me, there’s some great MoE fanfiction at Archive of Our Own.