Easttown Season 2 filly could Happen — But it shouldn't

Easttown Season 2 filly could Happen — But it shouldn't

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Season 1 of "Easttown Horse". Do not read if you have not seen the show yet.

"The Horses of Easttown" was officially a smash hit. The finale was such a huge hit that HBO's Max servers crashed as millions tuned in to find out who really killed Erin McMenamin.

Fans and critics loved it. Kate Winslet's tough-talking, rule-breaking, chain-vapor Pennsylvania detective Mare Sheehan was a likely Emmy winner. No one even disliked the ending. In short, it was an unqualified success.

And there is a growing desire for Rolling Rock to follow in the footsteps of Steak Hoagie with a Season 2 of "Mare in East Town." So, is there any chance of it happening?

It might, and probably will. But it really shouldn't.

While there has been no official announcement yet as to whether or not The Mere of East Town will be revived, the evidence is already piling up.

For starters, HBO has been here before - remember "Big Little Lies"?

"There's no reason to make a season two," director Jean-Marc Vallee said shortly after the HBO miniseries ended. 'That was meant to be a one-off, and it ended in such a way that the audience could imagine what could happen. If we do a season two, we're going to break that beautiful thing and spoil it."

A second season was officially commissioned a few months later.

And if HBO decides it wants a second installment of Mere of East Town, the show's creator, Brad Ingelsby, is willing to discuss it.

"This piece was written as a limited and there are no more mysteries to solve. If Kate and I could craft a story that we're really proud of and feel deserves a second chapter in Mere's journey, we might do that," he told The Hollywood Reporter.

"I don't know what that is yet. But if there is a world where we can be certain that this is a continuation of a story that honors the first chapter and does something that the audience will appreciate, then maybe we will. But at the moment we have no idea what that might be."

Of course, there is no way the show could be revived without Winslet, who played the world-weary protagonist with her authentic DelCo accent and charm. But fortunately for HBO, she will also be in the show.

"I would love to play Maire again," she told TVLine. 'I miss her. I really miss her. I really miss her. I feel like I'm in mourning. She was ridiculously lovely and intelligent and real and ....... I loved playing her."

So let's face it. Fans want it, Winslet wants it, Ingelsby is not against it, and HBO is ...... Well, the heartbreaking final chapter is sure to draw about 3 million viewers across all platforms on Sunday night (May 30) and garner a slew of Emmy nominations; the chances of HBO turning it down are less likely than the chances of Mare's hilarious mother Helen turning down Manhattan.

The only problem is that Mare in East Town was a perfectly accomplished show, and a second season could be a disappointment.

The show's storyline was nearly all but complete by the end of episode 7. It was revealed that Erin's killer was not her father's cousin John Ross or John's brother Billy, but John's young son Ryan. Missy Sager and Katie Bailey were found and released, and Mair shot and killed her kidnapper, Wayne Potts. Both cases were solved.

Similarly, little remained unresolved regarding Mare's earlier tangled family life: her love interest, Richard Ryan, played with a perfectly balanced smile and charm by Guy Pearce, rode off into the sunset. Her daughter Siobhan, with her excellent haircut and taste in music, left as well. Her partner Colin Zabel is dead, her ex-husband Frank is happily married, and her mother... Well, I guess that's okay, because I have an iPad, a fruit ninja, and a Manhattan.

And Mare herself gets her comeuppance at the end of the episode, gaining custody of her grandson Drew and finally climbing the ladder to the attic where her son Kevin hanged himself.

Of course, the writers could dream up a new storyline, and there are plenty of options in that direction, as Winslet has done an excellent job of weaving a rich tapestry around the central character she plays.

New cases, new love interests (or maybe Richard will return), new battles with family and friends. And there are plenty of possibilities, including one with her best friend Lori (a stunning Julianne Nicholson), who emotionally broke down in her arms in the last few minutes.

The more pertinent question, however, is what is the point? Many of the elements that made "Mare in East Town" work were based on the complex connections between Mare's professional and personal life.

The case was deeply tied to her relationships with her best friend, ex-husband, cousin, and daughter. All knew Erin, and all knew the various suspects. Like "Twin Peaks" thirty years earlier, "Meteor in East Town" was not just a story about a murder, but about the impact of murder on a small community.

So surely Mare could be involved in another case, and it could affect her friends and family in the same way.

Instead, why not just leave it at that? Ingelsby will have no shortage of job offers after this, and Winslet never will. They could even team up on a completely different HBO film instead.

[15] Either way, let's hope he leaves us with this skillfully crafted and nicely put together series.

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