Mare of Easttown

Mare of Easttown
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Brad Ingelsby
Directed by	Craig Zobel
Written by	Brad Ingelsby
Starring	Kate Winslet Julianne Nicholson Jean Smart Angourie Rice David Denman Neal Huff Guy Pearce Cailee Spaeny John Douglas Thompson Joe Tippett Evan Peters Sosie Bacon James McArdle
Composer(s)	Lele Marchitelli
Number of seasons	1
Number of episodes	7
Production
Executive producer(s)	Paul Lee Mark Roybal Craig Zobel Kate Winslet Brad Inglesby Gavin O'Connor Gordon Gray Ron Schmidt
Producer(s)	Karen Wacker
Running time	58–66 minutes
Production company(s)	Zobot Projects Mayhem Pictures Juggle Productions Low Dweller Productionswiip
Broadcast
Original channel	HBO Max
Original release	April 18 – May 30, 2021

Mare of Easttown is an American crime drama limited series created and written by Brad Ingelsby for HBO. Directed by Craig Zobel, the series premiered on April 18, 2021, and concluded on May 30, 2021, consisting of seven episodes. It stars Kate Winslet as the title character, a detective investigating a murder in a small town right outside Philadelphia. Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, Angourie Rice, Evan Peters, Sosie Bacon, David Denman, Neal Huff, James McArdle, Guy Pearce, Cailee Spaeny, John Douglas Thompson, and Joe Tippett appear in supporting roles.

Premise

In a suburb of Philadelphia, police detective Marianne "Mare" Sheehan investigates the recent murder of a teenage mother while trying to keep her own life from falling apart. Mare is a local hero, having been the star of a high school basketball championship game 25 years earlier. She has also been unable to solve the case of another missing young girl for a year, leading many in the community to doubt her detective skills. Her personal troubles include a divorce, a son lost to suicide, and a custody battle with her son’s formerly heroin-addicted girlfriend over Mare's grandson.

Cast

• Kate Winslet as Marianne "Mare" Sheehan, a detective sergeant in Easttown, Pennsylvania, who is investigating the murder of one young girl and the disappearance of another
• Julianne Nicholson as Lori Ross, Mare's closest friend
• Jean Smart as Helen Fahey, Mare's mother
• Angourie Rice as Siobhan Sheehan, Mare's daughter
• David Denman as Frank Sheehan, Mare's ex-husband
• Neal Huff as Father Dan Hastings, Mare's cousin, a Catholic priest and the pastor of St. Michael's Church
• Guy Pearce as Richard Ryan, an author and creative writing professor
• Cailee Spaeny as Erin McMenamin, a teenage single mother who is treated badly by her ex-boyfriend
• John Douglas Thompson as Chief Carter, Mare's boss at the police department
• Joe Tippett as John Ross, Lori's husband and cousin of Erin's father Kenny
• Evan Peters as Detective Colin Zabel, the county detective called in to assist Mare
• Sosie Bacon as Carrie Layden, the mother of Mare's grandson Drew and ex-girlfriend of Mare's deceased son Kevin
• James McArdle as Deacon Mark Burton, a Catholic deacon reassigned to St. Michael's after sexual misconduct allegations at his previous parish

Supporting

• Kate Arrington as Faye, Frank's fiancée
• Ruby Cruz as Jess Riley, Erin's best friend
• Ned Eisenberg as Detective Hauser, a county detective
• Enid Graham as Dawn Bailey, an Easttown resident whose daughter, Katie, has been missing for over a year
• Deborah Hedwall as Judy Zabel, Colin's mother with whom he lives
• Caitlin Houlahan as Katie Bailey, a girl who went missing from Easttown a year prior
• Cameron Mann as Ryan Ross, Lori and John's son
• Jack Mulhern as Dylan Hinchey, Erin's ex-boyfriend
• Patrick Murney as Kenny McMenamin, Erin's father
• Chinasa Ogbuagu as Beth Hanlon, Freddie's sister and Mare and Dawn's close friend
• Phyllis Somerville as Betty Carroll, an elderly Easttown resident; this was Somerville's final role before her death in 2020
• Robbie Tann as Billy Ross, John's brother, Lori's brother-in-law and Kenny's cousin
• Madeline Weinstein as Becca, Siobhan's stoner girlfriend

Other

• Rosa Arredondo as Tammy, a former sex worker and friend of Mare's who works as an informant for her
• Debbie Campbell as Katherine Hinchey, Dylan's mother
• Gordon Clapp as Pat Ross, John and Billy’s father
• Eisa Davis as Gayle Graham, Mare's therapist
• Sasha Frolova as Missy Sager, an escort
• Jeremy Gabriel as Steve Hinchey, Dylan's father
• Connie Giordano as Patty Del Rasso, Brianna's mother
• Justin Hurtt-Dunkley as Officer Trammel
• Dominique Johnson as Freddie Hanlon, Beth's opioid-addicted brother
• Izzy King as Drew Sheehan, Mare's grandson, born to her son Kevin and his girlfriend Carrie Layden
• Cody Kostro as Kevin Sheehan, Mare's late son who died by suicide prior to the events of the series
• Jeb Kreager as Wayne Potts, a resident of Easttown
• Katie Kreisler as Trish Riley, Jess' mother
• Mackenzie Lansing as Brianna Del Rasso, Dylan's girlfriend
• Patrick McDade as Glen Carroll, Betty's husband
• Kiah McKirnan as Anne Harris, a DJ at the Haverford College radio show where Siobhan's band performs
• Patsy Meck as Jan Kelly, an employee at the Easttown police station
• Eric T. Miller as Tony Del Rasso, Brianna's father, a restaurant owner
• Kassie Mundhenk as Moira Ross, Lori and John's daughter, who has Down syndrome
• Anthony Norman as Nathan Forde, a member of Siobhan's band
• Drew Scheid as Geoff Gabeheart, one of Siobhan's friends, drummer in Siobhan's band Androgynous
• Sadat Waddy as Sean, Dylan's friend

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	“Miss Lady Hawk Herself”	Craig Zobel	Brad Ingelsby	April 18, 2021 (2021-04-18)	0.600
In the small community of Easttown, Pennsylvania, Detective Mare Sheehan is ordered to reopen the year-old investigation into the disappearance of young Katie Bailey when the girl's mother, Dawn, complains on the news about the unsolved case. Adding to Mare's frustrations, her ex-husband Frank is remarrying and has invited Mare's whole family—including her mother Helen, teenage daughter Siobhan, and 4-year-old grandson Drew—to his engagement party on the same night Mare and her high school basketball teammates are being honored on the 25th anniversary of their state championship win. At a bar, Mare meets Richard, an author who has recently moved to the area, and they end up having sex. Meanwhile, Erin McMenamin, a teenage single mother who lives with her drunken, abusive father Kenny, argues with her baby's father, Dylan, and his new girlfriend Brianna when they come to get the baby for a weekend visit. Erin is later lured into the woods and beaten by Brianna in front of Dylan and other teenagers. Siobhan sees the fight and rescues Erin, who walks away into the woods alone. The next morning, Erin's dead body, nearly naked and with a large head wound, is found in a local creek.
2	“Fathers”	Craig Zobel	Brad Ingelsby	April 25, 2021 (2021-04-25)	0.735
Mare responds to the call about Erin's body and notifies Kenny, who immediately blames Dylan. Against Mare's wishes, county detective Colin Zabel, known for recently solving a nearby cold case, is brought in to help investigate both Erin's murder and Katie Bailey's disappearance. Under interrogation, Dylan denies killing Erin, but omits important details of their last encounters. Cell phone video of Brianna's attack on Erin surfaces; Mare publicly arrests Brianna for assault at her family's restaurant. Brianna's upset father Tony begins stalking Mare. Mare and Frank worry that Drew might have inherited the mental illness that caused his father, their son Kevin, to take his own life two years previously. Drew's mother Carrie, a recovering addict, seeks full custody of Drew. Mare accepts Richard's invitation to meet him at a reception in his honor, but their date goes poorly. Erin's best friend Jess tells Mare's friend Lori Ross that Erin confided in her that Dylan is not the real father of her baby; Jess thinks Frank, who briefly taught Erin in school, is the real father. A grieving Kenny abducts and shoots Dylan, leaving him for dead.
3	“Enter Number Two”	Craig Zobel	Brad Ingelsby	May 2, 2021 (2021-05-02)	0.918
Kenny confesses to shooting Dylan, who has survived. Frank admits he helped Erin by buying her baby items, but denies any sexual relations or involvement in her murder. Mare gathers DNA samples from Frank and Dylan for paternity testing. The medical examiner reports that Erin's finger is missing from a gunshot and that there is no evidence of rape. The finger is later found in a local park, and Mare then finds a bullet, indicating that Erin was killed there and her body subsequently moved. Erin's phone records reveal that her last call was made after the fight with Brianna to Deacon Mark Burton, who claims that he only provided her with counsel. Mare is romantically pursued by Richard and also propositioned by a drunken Zabel, both of whom share stories of their own difficult divorces and family dysfunction. Unbeknownst to the police, Deacon Mark has Erin's bicycle, which he secretly throws into the river. Desperate to prevent Carrie from gaining custody of Drew, Mare plants heroin from the evidence room in Carrie's car; Chief Carter immediately discovers the truth and puts Mare on administrative leave, ordering her to get grief counseling.
4	“Poor Sisyphus”	Craig Zobel	Brad Ingelsby	May 9, 2021 (2021-05-09)	1.049
Zabel becomes lead investigator on the case when Mare becomes suspended; however, she continues to investigate on her own. Paternity tests show that neither Frank nor Dylan fathered Erin's baby. Another girl, Missy Sager, goes missing. While searching Erin's dresser for clues, Mare finds a heart-shaped necklace engraved with a date. Zabel learns that Deacon Mark was transferred from his previous parish after allegations of inappropriate behavior with an underaged girl. Carrie gets Drew for the night, but begrudgingly returns him to Mare when he becomes homesick. Mare remembers Kevin and Carrie violently abusing her and robbing her for drug money. Siobhan struggles with her own feelings about Kevin and her family. She ends her relationship with Becca and begins a new relationship with Anne, who she met through a gig her band did. Richard and Zabel both ask Mare for a date on the same night. Dawn Bailey receives a call claiming that her daughter Katie is alive and demanding $5,000 for her return. When she goes to meet the caller, she finds out the culprit was Freddie Hanlon. Missy Sager is imprisoned in a soundproof room in the attic of a tavern, and finds Katie Bailey alive and being held captive there.
5	“Illusions”	Craig Zobel	Brad Ingelsby	May 16, 2021 (2021-05-16)	1.064
Mare learns that Erin stayed with Billy Ross, her father's cousin, for a couple of months following the death of her mother. Brianna grows suspicious of Dylan, who was absent from their bed for some time on the night of Erin's death. Dylan and his friend meet with Jess to burn Erin's hidden journals, but Jess secretly keeps a photograph from one of them. Mare goes on a date with Zabel, but it sours when she continuously brings up the case. Later, Mare and Zabel interview a girl who narrowly escaped kidnapping by a man in a blue van. Zabel admits to Mare that he did not really solve the case that made his career, but instead relied on files obtained from a private investigator. Using a partial license plate number provided by the girl, Mare and Zabel track down the kidnapper, Wayne Potts. Katie and Missy bang on a pipe to alert Mare and Zabel to their presence in Potts' attic, causing Potts to shoot Zabel in the head and wound Mare in the arm. An unarmed Mare flees through the house, eventually retrieving Zabel's gun and killing Potts as backup arrives.
6	“Sore Must Be the Storm”	Craig Zobel	Brad Ingelsby	May 23, 2021 (2021-05-23)	1.210
Katie and Missy return home, but Potts had an alibi the night of Erin's murder. With Zabel dead, Chief Carter lifts Mare's suspension and puts her back in charge of Erin's murder investigation. Brianna tells Mare about Dylan's unexplained absence the night of the murder, and Dylan invokes his right to a lawyer. Mare learns that Erin attended a Ross family reunion at a lake, on the date engraved on her heart-shaped pendant, and that Erin and her father, Kenny, stayed in the same cabin as Billy. Pop Ross tells his son John that Billy came home covered in blood the night of Erin's murder. John talks to Billy, who tearfully states that he killed Erin. John tells his wife Lori, adding that Billy and Erin had an incestuous relationship that began at the reunion and that Billy fathered Erin's child. John and Billy go on a last fishing trip together; their tackle box contains a gun. Despite John telling Lori to keep it a secret, Lori tells Mare about Billy. Mare calls Chief Carter to let him know she is driving to the fishing spot to arrest Billy for Erin's murder. Jess comes to the police station with her mother to give Chief Carter the photograph she took from Erin's journal. Upon viewing the photo, Chief Carter orders his men to get Mare on the phone.
7	“Sacrament”	Craig Zobel	Brad Ingelsby	May 30, 2021 (2021-05-30)	1.520
The photo shows Erin in bed next to a sleeping John. Jess tells Chief Carter that she and Dylan burned the journals to hide any compromising information and to keep Erin's baby in the care of Dylan's parents. At the fishing spot, John points the gun at Billy intending to kill him and let him take the fall for Erin's murder, but Mare arrives just in time to subdue John. John confesses that he himself had the relationship with Erin and fathered her child, and that Erin called him away from Frank's engagement party to meet her at the park, where she threatened to shoot herself. John says he accidentally shot her while struggling for the gun, and that he and Billy moved her body to the woods to draw suspicion towards the other kids who were there that night. John admits he convinced Lori to lie and tell Mare that Billy killed Erin. John asks Lori to raise his and Erin's son. John and Billy go to jail, but Billy is let out on bail and Deacon Mark is released. Carrie, who is using drugs again, returns to rehab and drops her custody case, allowing Drew to remain with Mare. Glen Carroll tells Mare that his vintage handgun of the type identified as firing the fatal bullet recently disappeared from his shed, and was returned with two rounds missing. The only other person with access to the shed was John and Lori's 13-year-old son Ryan. Ryan confesses that he, not John, met Erin at the park, planning to use Glen's gun to scare her into staying away from his family. Ryan killed her after his attempted intimidation became a physical struggle, and his father John and uncle Billy covered it up to protect him. Ryan is sent to juvenile detention, causing Lori to angrily rebuff Mare. Later, Lori and Mare reconcile, and Mare finally brings herself to revisit the attic where Kevin died.

Trivia

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Media Mare of Easttown Characters Episodes