More than anything, Mare of Easttown, is about the author, Brad Ingelsby, sharing love for his community w/us. It's a tribe, tucked away, for which time passes by a little bit slower. Since the Potato Famine, Irish have ever populated these strongholds, to now slowly be infiltrated by diverse ethnicities- a good thing. Caring is sharing. He shares his drab, but also colorful turf w/us.

Growing up in NJ, in a town 13 scant minutes out of Philly, I made friends with, & visited w/wonderful people in communities akin to Easttown. In fact, my backdoor neighbor's house looked exactly the same as Frank Sheehan's. Soft, or immature parenting creates too many D. J's.

The shot of the rotund policeman walking was Spooky Familiar. I've seen that body w/different faces, & that face on varied bodies. (In fact, that face is akin to the face of our world renowned hippophile ordure gourmet). I know That Walk. Waddle. Big Yikes!

Take me to Brandywine Park & for cheesesteaks after, or for hoagies & to Valley Forge..... There's dusky septentrional beauty there, where the people are loud-in-your-face edgy & confrontational, but also warm of heart. A study revealed that Philadelphians are the biggest tippers in the nation. N0 5hi+. Yo! What u tryin to say anyway!?! I didn't think so...

Kate Winslet embodies Philly in this series. Her stooped stature alters her appearance drastically. It heralds attention to her superior skill. Mare has the weight of the world on her caving shoulders.

The walk, dress, look, talk, the stoopity droop, it's all authentic. We need to see walls adorned w/ The Sinatra, Pope, Elvis, & grandmas w/plastic slipcovers, now.

Easttown is a western Philly suburb, next to some of the wealthiest local towns& colleges, but remote enough to almost butt up against rural PA. It's been seasoned by both worlds, but mostly by income levels that necessitate a struggle to reach just lower midde class privileges. County Ofr, Colin Zabel, has a name that suspiciously looks Amish. Many worlds collide around there.

All at 1-degree of separation, they'll have a profanity laced screaming session & then brush it off to exchange greetings before departing. R U turned off, or turned on by that chance to have a cleansing catharsis? If you find yourself grouchy about a 15% gratuity being included, you might need sum of that-thar catharses.

Mare, however can't gas up her car w/o running into 2 or 3 people that want to beef w/her. Every case she has finds her confronted by one side or the other, it seems. Someone is always prodding her to do her job better, or telling her to stop harassing them.

Mare must query her ex about a rumor. "Where'd u hear that from?" He asks in shock, "Someone told Lori..." was the response. Frank slowly turns, & there's Lori, sitting in the darkened porch across the yard, looking his way. They're illustrating whisper-down-the-lane style small town rumor mills. Somebody is always lurking around, that might overhear. There's no secrets. Wrong conclusions are surmised, as well.

They lash out at each other, & someone else spreads the news, all in a circular pattern. They're conditioned to expect outrageous behavior from each other, or loser behavior, sadly.

"It's okay, mom, it's just Tony." Mare yells back at the house. Tony's been screaming at her, angry over the way she arrested his daughter. Once Mare gets in the car and leaves, mom lets Tony inside for a visit.

We see Mare arrest a girl while she's in the middle of a shift at the restaurant. The owners flip out at Mare. But there's a line none of them ever cross. It's a bit of a dance. These people might be rolling in the street, trying to 'kill' each other, but if any outsider tries to hurt one of them, fuhgettaboudit.

The overall film craft is excellent. The director is brilliant with the camera, at times feeding off of Kate Winslet's brilliance. There's extended takes, like the one of her talking to a doctor, while looking to the side & fighting tears, though a few sneak through whilst she's talking about her son's medical history& suicide. What superlative do I now use, when I held my breath during that scene? Brilliant, once again? That's the minimum.

The pace is methodical, similar to a police investigation. The creators speak of the show as being gritty. Gritty? Not quite. While the subject matter is very dark, & the palette is grey, there's a surprising underlying sweetness to the series. Affection. That's what it is. The writer loves where he grew up, scars n all. It covers the work like whizz on a cheesesteak.

Guy Pierce is perfectly low key in his role. There's a man who has accepted his life, himself, as is. He no longer struggles w/pride (ego). He exudes a decent& honest serenity. Kate Winslet is superb as the protagonist. But is she? Is she the protagonist, or is the Easttown community the true protagonist? We spend more time getting to know Easttown through Mare's eyes then we spend getting to know Mare, whether by the creators' design, or residual creative energy seeping into their subconsciousness. Mare is the main protagonist... after Easttown.

The plotline is about a murder mystery, along w/some disappearances that might be related.

We see how smart Mare is at herding suspects& witnesses to do what she wants, such as using rumors to force a DNA test. She reads people & adds up capabilities& motivations effortlessly, it seems. While the investigation is fascinating, it shares preeminence w/the community, as part of the story. There are several twists in the case, which the best mysteries usually employ.

Officer Zabel must handle all questioning of anybody related to, or close to Mare. As he's so clean-cut, the statements he takes at the police station look like a priest taking confessions. He has winsome appeal. He's also going to learn everything about her. Mare practically hisses if he gets within 3 feet of her as they are first exposed to each other. Watching this odd couple forge a tentative friendship is quite satisfying.

Mare is forced to make an agonizing choice. Her actions were never in question. She's a detective, like her father before her. She'll do her job, even if it kills her. Mare made the right choice for everybody. If that secret had remained hidden, it would have slowly crushed that family, over time. Mare ripped the scab off & bled the toxins, clearing the future path to healing.

Mare has inhaled pain her whole life. Married young, it's left open as to whether she & Frank married due to her pregnancy, but it wouldn't be surprising.

As a detective, she's become as hardbitten as any of them. She's trapped her pain inside her. She's locked it up, in kidnapper, Wayne Potts, fashion, (he is a metaphor for Mare) never intending to let it go.

The family dynamics w/her ex are refreshing. Her ex is her current backdoor neighbor. Everybody loves, LOVES Frank, her ex. Mother, cousin, daughter, grandson, they all hang out together w/him, cheerfully warming each other. While it's lovely& amusing relief, we also see that her ex is on the inside, and she's on the outside of her own family. You can feel it. Around her family, Mare exhales discomfort. They feel it. Mare's family doesn't even ever tell her the truth. They obviously find it too taxing to deal w/her. An example is when everybody around Mare knows that Frank got engaged, but they all kept it from her. Early in the show we see Mare finding out just how many people kept this, & other secrets from her.

Jean Smart, of Designing Women fame, is a gift to all of us as Mare's Manhattan-marinated mother. "At least you have your mother," Ofr Zabel tells Mare, to which she replies: "Oh, we can't stand each other."

Their relationship, in which they frequently exchange barbs, is the primary one of the series.

Here's an example of the way Mare talks to her mom: (Mare is notified that her mom is going to the hospital. She arrives home to find no visible sign of injury.) "Is that it?" She brusquely asks her mom, who apologizes snarkily for not being injured enough to suit Mare.

"I have a date," Mare announces. Mom: "No 5hit+?! In frank shock.

Angourie Rice, as Siobhan, Mare's daughter, though sporting an edgy haircut, is still fresh-faced & as wholesome looking as a peach. She is talented, mature, & kind; a daughter to be proud of. We watch her challenge Mare's parenting, & how Mare abandoned everyone, after the suicide, to suffer her solitary confinement in a grief paneled cell.

Near the show's close, Mom apologizes for being angry most of Mare's life. She breaks down, quite uncharacteristically, & cries. NOW Mare looks really uncomfortable. Screaming cursing fits, very comfortable. Actual true emotions? Terrifying. While it's funny, it also shows a mother daughter cycle of broken emotions as Mare had also abandoned her own daughter to pain.

The 3 generation shots show the 3 stages of Easttown women: Peach (sometimes it's peach bitters), raisin, and Manhattan. Siobhan is in danger of becoming bitter& hardened. Think of Father Hastings asserting that there was nowhere else for him to go, as we see fated recognition spark in Mare's eyes. It's a relief to see Siobhan drive clear across the country to go to college.

At the show's conclusion, we see Mare, her family, & Easttown itself, begin to heal& progress. Out of the darkest night, a new dawn emerges. Despite the painful journey, the show ends w/hope. This is not a depressing show, regardless of the horrors depicted. The ultimate message is about managing hurts & living well w/each other, while elevating our community. Mr. Ingelsby has scripted a trophy that can boost Philadelphians' pride. Represent Philly! Represent, USA.

Quote >Trust me, teenage girls are f.u©k1ng sneaky. (Mare).

>Our job only is to love. (Father Hastings) {Amen}.

IMHO... 🎬9 🤔8 ⚡9 🎭9 🎨8 🌞7 🔚 8.

Suggested Age 15+

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