REVIEW: "Mare of Easttown"

There’s a genre of female detective crime shows that seem to exist these days- a genre that includes things like Broadchurch, Happy Valley, The Fall (a lot of British shows). Broadchurch in particular was a phenomenon in the UK and an American remake was attempted, to forgettable results (the show was called Gracepoint and briefly aired on Fox- don’t remember it? Neither do I). But with Mare of Easttown, I think we finally did get our American equivalent, even if we had to snare one of Britain’s greatest actresses to do it.

Kate Winslet stars as Mare Sheehan, a detective and lifelong resident of Easttown, PA, home of the “eau’s” and “neau’s” if you’re trying to figure out what kind of accent that is. Her life is a mess- depression runs in her family, her son committed suicide two years earlier and she’s in a custody battle for her grandson with the boy’s addict mother. On top of all that, there’s a murder committed, one in which any number of suspects are introduced as we get to know the Easttown community, Mare’s family members and friends, and the various troubles and crimes running throughout her inner circle. The victim is a teenage girl, the daughter of one of her friends, and there’s been other missing girls following in the wake of this incident, as well as before.

As many crimes shows as there are, you can always make this kind of thriller work if you try hard enough

The “whodunit” is probably one of the most difficult genres to make work as well as one of the most fun to consume. You want people to become absorbed in the mystery, feel like they’re able to solve it, and yet also be surprised and satisfied at the eventual outcome. Broadchurch’s first season mystery was one of the best, because the sordid details implicated almost everyone in the town, and ensnared Olivia Colman’s lead detective on a personal level, with one of the most memorable finales in recent history. Now, Mare creator Brad Inglesby nails the complicated personal dynamics that made Broadchurch so successful, and that’s in developing each character to the point where you know them intimately, know what could have been going on in the town, know the culture and become addicted to finding out what might have happened.

We also have a great cast in Kate Winslet, who can rival Meryl Streep’s talent for dialects, and who embodies this troubled, tired, world weary character in all her faults, but with humor and intelligence and attention to detail that makes this one of the best and most lived in performances of her career. The supporting turns are also stellar, with Julianne Nicholson as Mare’s lifelong best friend, Jean Smart as her mother and Evan Peters as the local county detective sent in to help with the case. Guy Pearce shows up as well to woo Mare out of her isolation, as the show is equally about Mare’s life as much as it is the mystery of the murderer. There are red herrings to boot and constant manipulations of the audience intended to throw you off the track and suspect a different person each episode, but the finale pulls off a genuine shocker that even more surprisingly, manages to make sense in retrospect. There’s an emotional satisfaction to the ending that’s more important than any plot holes you might definitely be able to poke if you tried (why did we never find out what was going on with the boyfriend on the night of the murder exactly? And how did the neighbor notice his gun was missing in so short a time frame?) Well, none of that matters when you get such devastating and rich performances as we get from Winslet and Nicholson in the finale. Mare of Easttown is a fine addition to this genre of television and you won’t regret the time you spent with it.

Grade: A-

Mare of Easttown sticks the landing in ways few mysteries manage