Haven’t Watched Mare of Easttown? Here Are 6 Reasons Why You Should

If Katie’s podcast interview with Kate Winslet wasn’t enough inspiration to watch Mare of Easttown, I’m going to make a quick suggestion: WATCH IT NOW. The show follows Mare, a detective in her hometown of Easttown, PA, as she tries to solve two mysteries: the first is a year-old case of a missing teen girl, and the second is of another teen girl who’s found dead in a nearby creek. I won’t tell you anything more about the Mare of Easttown plot—I’m simply here to offer compelling reasons to watch the show this weekend (or sooner). Think of it this way: If you don’t, some schmuck will give away the ending while you wonder, Why didn’t I listen to that KCM article?  

As SNL so wonderfully pointed out, it’s “An Extremely Pennsylvania Crime Show”

Part of the reason why I got entranced by Mare from episode one is because as someone who isn’t from Philly, anytime a character started talking, I nearly spit out my soup. The Philly accent (which Winslet nails, obviously) isn’t one we hear often on TV, and to the untrained ear can be a bit…jarring. But once you get used to it, you’ll find yourself kickin’ up your heels to watch the next episode of Mare with a Wawa hoagie and a tall glass of wurter.   

Kate Winslet refused to be photoshopped

I recently watched Those Who Wish Me Dead (also on HBO Max) starring Angelina Jolie, and my eyes rolled back in my head so many times during that movie I was worried about ocular damage. In it, Angelina — who has a face sculpted by angels and the perfect, luscious mane of a woman who has taken biotin supplements every day since birth — is supposed to be a grizzled firefighter who parachutes into wildfires. Might you possibly get some scars, or at the very least a singed eyebrow in a job like that? Yet Angelina looks like she’s come straight from an Yves Saint Laurent shoot to the forest. She looks positively dewy, but there is simply NO DEW in the middle of a blaze! There’s only so much disbelief I can suspend.

Winslet, on the other hand, goes full (well, maybe not FULL) Charlize Theron in Monster, with perpetually greasy hair,  roots down to her ears, and a constant look of exhaustion. In short, EXACTLY like you’d expect an overworked detective and full-time mother/ grandmother to look. Winslet recently told the New York Times that when the director told her he’d edit out “a bulgy bit of belly” from a sex scene, she responded, “don’t you dare!” Nobody puts Kate Winslet’s bulgy belly in a corner, and I couldn’t be more in love with her for it. 

Jean Smart is a national treasure

Let’s take a moment to talk about Jean Smart. First of all, if you’re not watching Hacks, please stop reading this and go watch it immediately. How can she simultaneously play Helen, a frail-but-stubborn and sassy great grandmother in Mare while also playing Deborah Vance, a sexy-as-hell comedy superstar in Hacks? Is she a witch? A beautiful, perfect witch whose talent is too complex for this world? I don’t know. But I do know that in a show as occasionally dark as Mare of Easttown, Helen’s character offers some laugh-out-loud comedic relief that I didn’t even know was possible in a murder drama. 

Lori is the best character MAYBE EVER?

Lori, played by Julianne Nicholson, whose friends (yes, including me) call her Lor, is Mare’s ride or die. Like everyone in Easttown, Lor has had her fair share of heartache, but she’s always there with a cold Rolling Rock and some solid advice whenever Mare is feeling down. Like Mare, Lor is way too good for Easttown, but stays because the town needs her. (Noble, and I respect it.) In fact, the women in Easttown generally hold the town together. With the exception of some mean teens (even meaner than regular teens, I swear), almost all of the women in the show support one another, have strong moral compasses, and aren’t afraid to admit when they’re wrong, goddess-among-women Jean Smart included.

Evan Peters is swoon-worthy

In Mare, Peters (who we loved in all things American Horror Story)  plays detective Colin Zabel, the earnest, babyfaced wunderkind detective sent to help Mare solve a murder. At first, Mare is hesitant to let Zabel into her inner circle — he’s just a kid! But he slowly-but-surely breaks down her defenses. One of the best plot points (which I feel like I can share without it being a spoiler, so CALM DOWN) is that Zabel, played by arguably one of Hollywood’s hottest leading men, ends up developing a raging crush on Mare, who’s at least ten years older than him and couldn’t be less interested. Confidence is key, ladies and gentlemen. 

You won’t see the end coming from 10 miles away

If someone tries to tell you they guessed the ending of Mare of Easttown in advance I promise you they’re lying. Apparently about a quarter of Easttown is populated by Red Herrings, because by the second-to-last episode, you’ll have been absolutely positive that every character you’ve encountered is definitely the murderer, no question. When you find out what actually happened… just strap in for a serious emotional roller coaster. 

Written by Emily Pinto