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Mare of Easttown became a runaway hit in 2021. The HBO limited series followed Detective Mare Sheehan, played by Kate Winslet, who investigates a brutal murder in her small Pennsylvania town. Over the course of the season, the investigation and Mare’s life begin to unravel. She starts to look at everyone as a suspect.
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The critically-acclaimed series, which is available to watch on HBO Max, won 4 Primetime Emmys, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Kate. After the first season ended, there was even hope for a second season. HollywoodLife has rounded up everything we know about Mare of Easttown season 2.
Kate Winslet as Mare Sheehan. (HBO)
Will There Be A Season 2 Of Mare Of Easttown?
HBO has not announced any plans for Mare of Easttown season 2 as of January 2023. The show was written as a limited series, and the initial story was told in its entirety. Series creator Brad Inglesby didn’t rule out season 2, but he did see the ending of the show as a “closed story.”
He told Esquire, “We didn’t ever talk about returning… it’s very much a closed story. I think you’ve seen that now, the story ends. I think all the loose ends get tied up. I hope so at least. But I think if we could ever crack a story that was as emotional and surprising, then I think maybe there’s a conversation. I don’t have that in my head right now, but I mean, listen, I love Mare. If we could ever give her a great season, I would certainly consider it. I would only do it if I was convinced we could make it great, though. I wouldn’t do it just because you have a chance to do it. I would want to make sure that it was as rich and compelling as I hope this season has been.”
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He also revealed why writing season 2 would be more difficult than you think. “I think the trick with season 2 is: How can you outdo that? I don’t know that you’ll ever be able to re-create that level of emotion,” he said to The Hollywood Reporter. “What does a second season look like? What’s the deserving second chapter that can fulfill that murder-mystery need but also tell the second chapter of Mare’s personal journey? I think there’s enough stories, in terms of mystery, that you’ll be able to create a new one. But it’s the personal journey that scares me a little bit, because we used a lot of the tools in the toolbox in season one. That’s a very long-winded way of saying that I don’t really know if there’s a season 2.”
Kate Winslet with Evan Peters in ‘Mare of Easttown.’ (HBO)
Brad acknowledged that he would “love” to write Helen, Mare, and Siobhan again. “That’s the dilemma. If I didn’t care about the characters so much, I would be happy to leave them and never think about them again. I’d love to give them a second life. I just don’t know what it is,” he continued.
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What Has Kate Winslet Said About Mare Of Easttown Season 2?
There’s no Mare of Easttown without Kate Winslet. If she wouldn’t agree to come back, then there’s no point.
In September 2021, after Mare of Easttown’s incredible run, Kate was asked about a possible second season. “I honestly don’t have a clear answer,” Kate told E! News. “I mean, there have been conversations about it, of course, because the success of the show really did surprise us all. And then somehow it became this cultural moment, this zeitgeist moment that captured people’s attention in a really remarkable way.”
She added, “So, honestly we’ll see. I truly don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The Oscar winner hasn’t turned down the idea of Mare of Easttown season 2 since then, but she has the same concerns as the show’s creator.
“I have heard the rumors but no decision has been made,” Kate said on The Graham Norton Show in December 2022, according to Digital Spy. It hasn’t been ruled out and there’s been no discussions at the moment. I also think, ‘How would you top that?’”
Kate doubled down on how “no decision has been made” during her appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “All I can say is no decision has been made. Honestly, it really hasn’t.”
She continued, “How would that evolve? Those are questions none of us can answer right now. The question is, do you quit while you’re ahead? Do you hold your head high and say, ‘Look at what we did, I’m so proud of that,’ and just walk away? Or do we go for it again?”
Kate Winslet in ‘Mare of Easttown.’ (HBO)
The mom of the three also pointed out that playing the troubled Mare wasn’t the easiest role for her. “It was a lot for me to play that character,” she said. “I’m not going to lie. Coming out the other side was frighteningly hard. It made me realize, ‘Oh my god, if I go to work now, it really hurts,’ and I have to look after myself. I have a family. I can’t just do that.”
While we wait for more definitive news about Mare of Easttown season 2, Kate will be returning to HBO but just not as Mare Sheehan. Kate is set to star and executive producer the limited series Trust, based on the Hernan Diaz novel.
The new show will follow a wealthy financier who reads a novel based on his own life and doesn’t approve of his and his wife’s portrayal. He asks a secretary to ghostwrite his memoir. Over the course of writing, the secretary grows uncomfortably aware that he is rewriting history and his wife’s place in it, according to Variety.
How Did Mare Of Easttown Season 1 End?
Mare of Easttown was full of shocking twists — RIP Colin Zabel — but saved the most jaw-dropping reveal for the finale. Mare of Easttown ended with Mare Sheehan finding out who really killed Erin McMenamin, the mystery that had plagued her small Pennsylvania town. While John Ross confessed to killing Erin, he was not the true culprit. The murderer was actually John and Lori’s son Ryan, who didn’t want Erin to break up his family. John was sleeping with Erin, his cousin’s teen daughter, and was the father of Erin’s son D.J.
Joe Tippett as John Ross. (HBO)
Lori began taking care of D.J. after the reveal and finally got him the ear surgery he needed. Deacon Mark was released after being arrested on suspicion of being involved in Erin’s murder.
Mare discovered Ryan killed Erin after doing some follow-up investigating when she began noticing cracks in John’s story. Mr. Carroll told Mare that his gun went missing for a few hours on the day Erin was murdered, so she took a look at his security camera footage. She was shocked to see Ryan go into the shed and take Mr. Carroll’s gun. That’s when she knew Ryan was responsible for Erin’s death.
Mare learned the true story after Ryan was arrested. Ryan was terrified that his parents would get divorced after he found out about John and Erin’s affair. He confronted Erin in the park the night she died. There was a struggle for the gun, and she was shot twice. Ryan told his father what happened, and that’s when John and Billy moved Erin’s body.
Julianne Nicholson and Cameron Mann as Lori and Ryan. (HBO)
Ryan was sent to a juvenile detention facility. Carrie decided to give up her custody case for Mare’s grandson Drew after relapsing. In the final minutes of the finale, Mare went to visit Lori. Lori fell into Mare’s arms and began sobbing over the son she’s now lost. The show ended with Mare finally going into the attic of her house where her son died by suicide, ready to truly confront her grief for the first time.
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