HBO's new deliciously dreary crime series, Mare of Easttown, starring Oscar-winner Kate Winslet as an emotionally weighed-down detective in a blue-collar crevice of Pennsylvania, is a chilling and thrilling piece of Neo-noir.Like famous Dennis Lehane books-turned-movies Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, Mare of Easttown is a mystery that rests on the frustrated, reluctant shoulders of its unhappy characters, who are resentful of their monotonous lives and overwhelming responsibilities. It's superbly made and Winslet is a sluggish, bitter force as Mare Sheehan. Mare is Easttown's former high school basketball star, who now lives in a post-divorce world of ghosts -- both personal and professional. Not everything is spelled out right away in this first episode, "Miss Lady Hawk Herself," but the setup is grand and the ensemble is somewhat of a magnificent misery parade.Mare is a year deep into a missing persons case that's gone absolutely nowhere, and now a new detective from the county is being called in to assist (though he, played by Evan Peters, won't arrive until episode 2). As the episode ends, a whole new case of nightmares opens up for Mare and the town in a way that suggests that the overarching "whodunnit?" stories shouldn't be seen as the absolute focus here. For sure, they're a big element, but the main draw is Mare and the chaos that engulfs her on a daily basis. There will be crimes around her, and they'll (presumedly) be solved by the end of this limited series, but the primary arc we're following is Mare -- her family, her grief, and how (it sure seems like) everyone in her area code resents her for different reasons.With a rogue's gallery of suspects contained in a capable cast featuring the severely dressed-down Jean Smart, Guy Pearce, David Denman, Neal Huff, James McArdle, and more, Mare of Easttown gives us a formidable look inside the town's inner drama. It's the kind of show that hits you with big broad beats, but also sort of winks at the smaller moments, letting you know that you should be paying attention to everything said and shown because it'll probably come back in some shape or form. Guy Pearce plays an out-of-towner who takes an immediate liking to Winslet's Mare, despite her best efforts to shun him and most everyone else around her. It'll be interesting to see (perhaps) how he creeps into her life as a romantic interest as the series progresses. She's so reluctant to allow herself any happiness that his adoration is almost immersion therapy. Naturally, we have all the reasons in the world to be suspicious of Pearce's character, but since he's one of the more notable faces in the cast he could just be a Red Herring, and proof that Mare isn't the only one to back away from a potentially good thing. The genre itself, like life, trains us as viewers to do the same.
The other story we follow in this premiere is teen mom Erin, played by Devs' Cailee Spaeny, who's beset on all sides by an abusive dad, a good-for-nothing baby daddy, and a local girl who wants to beat her ass. Erin and Mare's story run side by side, proving that age has nothing to do with characters finding themselves trapped in ruthless ruts. Erin does her best to soar towards her new opportunity while Mare, for all intents and purposes, just envisions nothing but dead-end days.
Written (and created) by The Way Back's Brad Ingelsby, and deftly directed by Craig Zobel (The Leftovers, Westworld), Mare of Easttown uses the first episode to paint a portrait and then nails us with a casket drop at the end. In a sense, the meatiest mystery doesn't kick off until close to the closing credits, but again, the story is all about Mare and the town. It wants to make sure you're invested in the characters before the story starts digging up dirt on all of them.
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April 19, 2021 at 09:03AM
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Mare of Easttown Series Premiere Review: "Miss Lady Hawk Herself" - IGN
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