Mare of Easttown

Mare of Easttown is an American crime drama television miniseries 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 in the title role, who investigates a murder in a small town 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.

The series received critical acclaim for its story, characters, acting, and representation of women. It has also been noted for its cast members speaking in a mostly accurate Philadelphia accent, a dialect seldom heard in mainstream media. Mare of Easttown received sixteen nominations at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards and won four, including Outstanding Lead Actress for Winslet, Outstanding Supporting Actress for Nicholson, and Outstanding Supporting Actor for Peters.

Premise

In the fictional suburb of Easttown, Pennsylvania (not to be confused with the real Easttown, Pennsylvania, which is also a Philadelphia suburb), 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 scored the winning basket in a high school basketball game that won Easttown its first state championship 25 years earlier. She has also been unable to solve the case of another young girl missing 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.