Mare of Easttown: Enter Number Two
May 3, 2021 7:12 PM - Season 1, Episode 3 - Subscribe
As Mare and Colin parse new physical evidence, phone records lead to an unlikely suspect. After lashing out at Helen about a possible custody fight over Drew, Mare receives some unprompted advice from Richard on how to move forward with Carrie. Later, Kenny and Mare face the consequences of their misguided attempts to protect their families.
I think Deacon Mark is covering for Father Dan.
posted by schoolgirl report at 7:37 PM on May 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by schoolgirl report at 7:37 PM on May 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
Evan Peters acts a convincing drunk, I think. Not an easy feat!
Ugh, Mare. So many bad decisions this episode. I really thought she'd decided against planting the drugs at the end of that near scene. Sigh.
I'm going to need more of Jean Smart playing fruit ninja and flirting with her daughter's dates if everyone else is going to keep making such bad choices.
posted by the primroses were over at 7:45 PM on May 3, 2021 [5 favorites]
Ugh, Mare. So many bad decisions this episode. I really thought she'd decided against planting the drugs at the end of that near scene. Sigh.
I'm going to need more of Jean Smart playing fruit ninja and flirting with her daughter's dates if everyone else is going to keep making such bad choices.
posted by the primroses were over at 7:45 PM on May 3, 2021 [5 favorites]
Am I misremembering or wasn't Zabel brought in to work the Katie Bailey cold case? I mean, I know everybody's busy with a fresh homicide but you would think it would come up.
posted by bcwinters at 7:51 PM on May 3, 2021
posted by bcwinters at 7:51 PM on May 3, 2021
Agreed re Peters. I thought he did an excellent sloppy drunk as well — though I was confused why he would celebrate his high school reunion there. Isn’t the whole point that his not from there / doesn’t know anyone?
posted by AwkwardPause at 11:21 PM on May 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by AwkwardPause at 11:21 PM on May 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yes, I thought the 'high school reunion' was odd too. I also think Deacon Mark is a red herring and I'm fully expecting the DNA results to exclude him, Frank and Dylan as the baby's father.
Mare's desperation not to lose her grandson is palpable, and resulted in that terrible decision that's now backfired on her so badly. Kate Winslet is great in this, her best performance since Mildred Pierce. She plays women who feel they've been dealt a bad hand very well.
posted by essexjan at 6:28 AM on May 4, 2021 [2 favorites]
Mare's desperation not to lose her grandson is palpable, and resulted in that terrible decision that's now backfired on her so badly. Kate Winslet is great in this, her best performance since Mildred Pierce. She plays women who feel they've been dealt a bad hand very well.
posted by essexjan at 6:28 AM on May 4, 2021 [2 favorites]
The outrage I feel when I think about what Mare did was and is so palatable that I have to hand it to Winslet specifically and the show in general, but I am so very, very mad at her.
As for the HS reunion, it did seem weird, but he's still "from the county" so it isn't the biggest stretch. I can imagine my small hometown HS reunion ending up at a local bar not in the town where we were from if it was a better bar.
(This imagines a world where I would attend my small hometown HS reunion, which is about as likely as me planting heroin on somebody.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:57 AM on May 4, 2021 [5 favorites]
As for the HS reunion, it did seem weird, but he's still "from the county" so it isn't the biggest stretch. I can imagine my small hometown HS reunion ending up at a local bar not in the town where we were from if it was a better bar.
(This imagines a world where I would attend my small hometown HS reunion, which is about as likely as me planting heroin on somebody.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:57 AM on May 4, 2021 [5 favorites]
I meant to rewind the scene last night and just remembered that I didn't do it: who was in the security camera footage that Mare checked and deleted? Seemed like it was someone she knew, and the fact that she deleted the scene was covering for that person.
posted by emelenjr at 9:07 AM on May 4, 2021
posted by emelenjr at 9:07 AM on May 4, 2021
I’m not sure, but I feel it was the weird kid (they guy getting the face paint at the fair and whom the elderly lady suspected).
posted by AwkwardPause at 9:15 AM on May 4, 2021
posted by AwkwardPause at 9:15 AM on May 4, 2021
It was definitely the weird neighbor kid. My read on that was that Mare did not want to deal with the vandalism so deleted the actionable evidence - I guess narratively, covering up evidence as a step towards planting evidence along the Bad Cop Path that Mare is currently walking.
I love that old couple; their bickering gives me life, but I can understand why Mare is less enthused.
I am kind of wondering if the neighbor kid ends up being more sinister, but it could well just be a character beat for Mare.
posted by the primroses were over at 9:34 AM on May 4, 2021
I love that old couple; their bickering gives me life, but I can understand why Mare is less enthused.
I am kind of wondering if the neighbor kid ends up being more sinister, but it could well just be a character beat for Mare.
posted by the primroses were over at 9:34 AM on May 4, 2021
Mare might be planning to use the neighbor kid as her accomplice in some extra-legal maneuvers. Or already has?
posted by umber vowel at 9:52 AM on May 4, 2021
posted by umber vowel at 9:52 AM on May 4, 2021
Or maybe she knows the kid/family and doesn’t think they need more issues?
posted by AwkwardPause at 10:11 AM on May 4, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by AwkwardPause at 10:11 AM on May 4, 2021 [3 favorites]
I guess narratively, covering up evidence as a step towards planting evidence along the Bad Cop Path that Mare is currently walking.
From my perspective, and I didn't realize it until just now, those scenes really helped with the dramatic swing of "oh she's not by the book but she's helping this kid so she's relatively good-hearted so maybe I can watch this show about a cop with a less heavy heart" to "oh no oh no damn it she did THE THING" at the end.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:47 AM on May 4, 2021
From my perspective, and I didn't realize it until just now, those scenes really helped with the dramatic swing of "oh she's not by the book but she's helping this kid so she's relatively good-hearted so maybe I can watch this show about a cop with a less heavy heart" to "oh no oh no damn it she did THE THING" at the end.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:47 AM on May 4, 2021
The plot has taken an interesting turn given the times we live in. We now know that the main character is corrupt and her boss who covers for her is also corrupt. I'll be pretty disappointed if she gets to walk off into the sunset.
posted by night_train at 8:20 AM on May 5, 2021
posted by night_train at 8:20 AM on May 5, 2021
With the evidence erasure, I feel like Mare was just being compassionate. The old woman harasses that kid, and Mare probably also knows his home situation, which is most likely not good. This isn't the first time she's shown being on the side of the people around her - when mr DelRasso threw the milk through her window and Siobhan asked her what that was, she responds "A scared father" and lets him go.
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:28 AM on May 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:28 AM on May 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm not saying it will justify the corruption, but I think there are things we don't know yet about the death of her son. I suspect her motivation for keeping her grandchild's mother away from him hasn't been fully revealed yet.
posted by Stanczyk at 11:49 AM on May 5, 2021
posted by Stanczyk at 11:49 AM on May 5, 2021
For a show that's only got seven episodes, we're spending a lot of time with Siobhan. Is that just because we're getting to see three generations of mothers and daughters?
As an early guess: because She (or maybe her girlfriend) Done It.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:51 PM on May 5, 2021
As an early guess: because She (or maybe her girlfriend) Done It.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:51 PM on May 5, 2021
I would have shrugged off Mare planting evidence in The Before Times as "cops will be cops", but now it's like a kick in the teeth.
Anyway I hope they can subvert the whole chief demands our hero's badge scene in the next episode. If it turns out that chief is only weeks away from retirement, I'm throwing the remote across the room!
posted by monotreme at 7:58 PM on May 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
Anyway I hope they can subvert the whole chief demands our hero's badge scene in the next episode. If it turns out that chief is only weeks away from retirement, I'm throwing the remote across the room!
posted by monotreme at 7:58 PM on May 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
I don't think Siobhan or Becca did anything to Erin, but I do think it's odd that Siobhan wouldn't tell her mother about the incident in the woods the night Erin was murdered. It's been well-established that she's a smart, responsible kid. She would know damn well that information was relevant to her mother's investigation. And she spent a day avoiding her mother's phone calls? It's so strange. Maybe there is something else that she knows, though I don't believe she did anything wrong herself.
Also really strange: Frank lying to Mare about not knowing Erin. Good grief, how could he possibly have thought that was a good idea? Sure, he and Mare are divorced, but they're on reasonably good terms, and he had to know Mare wouldn't believe he'd behaved inappropriately towards Erin and/or that a DNA test would clear him. Sure, Mare is prickly, but she's not so dysfunctional that her family need be afraid of telling her the truth, especially when they weren't doing anything wrong.
Siobhan was right to take nice, cool DJ girl up on her invitation. Becca's not a bad person (I love her for calling Brianna a fucking bitch while the other teenagers were being circumspect), but she's a stoner, and Siobhan can do better.
Speaking of Brianna.... she's out on bail, and she attends a food and clothing drive... really? She doesn't strike me as the most public-spirited person.
The Hinchleys seem like very decent people. How did they wind up with such a knuckle-dragging troll of a son?
Kenny didn't check to see that Dylan was really dead. Kenny is not smart. Mare and Colin are looking at Kenny or Dylan as a suspect, but I don't think it's either one. Kenny's grief over her death was too real. He was out somewhere that night, but I don't think he had anything to do with Erin's death. I don't see Dylan as the killer either. It's probably the baby's father, whomever that is.
Colin hitting on Mare when he was drunk seemed a stretch.
I'm so not down with the decision to have Mare plant evidence in Drew's mother's car. I mean, come on, she had to know she wouldn't get away with it, and I don't think she would have risked her career -- which she seems to have prioritized over everything else in her life -- that way. I don't see how the chief can cover for her either -- too many people will know.
Anyway, it's all very murky and I don't know where this is headed.
posted by orange swan at 8:18 PM on May 5, 2021 [5 favorites]
Also really strange: Frank lying to Mare about not knowing Erin. Good grief, how could he possibly have thought that was a good idea? Sure, he and Mare are divorced, but they're on reasonably good terms, and he had to know Mare wouldn't believe he'd behaved inappropriately towards Erin and/or that a DNA test would clear him. Sure, Mare is prickly, but she's not so dysfunctional that her family need be afraid of telling her the truth, especially when they weren't doing anything wrong.
Siobhan was right to take nice, cool DJ girl up on her invitation. Becca's not a bad person (I love her for calling Brianna a fucking bitch while the other teenagers were being circumspect), but she's a stoner, and Siobhan can do better.
Speaking of Brianna.... she's out on bail, and she attends a food and clothing drive... really? She doesn't strike me as the most public-spirited person.
The Hinchleys seem like very decent people. How did they wind up with such a knuckle-dragging troll of a son?
Kenny didn't check to see that Dylan was really dead. Kenny is not smart. Mare and Colin are looking at Kenny or Dylan as a suspect, but I don't think it's either one. Kenny's grief over her death was too real. He was out somewhere that night, but I don't think he had anything to do with Erin's death. I don't see Dylan as the killer either. It's probably the baby's father, whomever that is.
Colin hitting on Mare when he was drunk seemed a stretch.
I'm so not down with the decision to have Mare plant evidence in Drew's mother's car. I mean, come on, she had to know she wouldn't get away with it, and I don't think she would have risked her career -- which she seems to have prioritized over everything else in her life -- that way. I don't see how the chief can cover for her either -- too many people will know.
Anyway, it's all very murky and I don't know where this is headed.
posted by orange swan at 8:18 PM on May 5, 2021 [5 favorites]
I've been thinking about certain aspects of this show so much in the intervening days before the next episode, but hardly about the central mystery, which is odd since at least 60% of the media I consume is somehow a "murder mystery"; the idea that it's a genre show where I don't care about the genre is what makes it most fascinating to me right now.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:24 PM on May 7, 2021
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:24 PM on May 7, 2021
Are we absolutely sure that Mare planted that evidence? It doesn’t seem like something she would do, and definitely not in a way that gets easily traced to her. My guess was that the frame ran the opposite way—the ex-DIL made it look like Mare had planted evidence so that Mare would lose her bid for permanent custody of Drew.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:46 PM on May 7, 2021
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:46 PM on May 7, 2021
Are we absolutely sure that Mare planted that evidence?
Mare was shown during this very episode (around the 47 minute mark) wearing rubber gloves, letting herself into the locked evidence room, taking the drug packets from an evidence box, putting them in her coat pocket, and sneaking back out of the evidence room.
posted by bcwinters at 2:33 PM on May 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
Mare was shown during this very episode (around the 47 minute mark) wearing rubber gloves, letting herself into the locked evidence room, taking the drug packets from an evidence box, putting them in her coat pocket, and sneaking back out of the evidence room.
posted by bcwinters at 2:33 PM on May 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
The drug packets also had a special stamp on them that the chief recognized from a prior drug bust, and then he checked the evidence room record to find the number of packets had been recently changed. It was definitely Mare planting evidence.
I keep thinking about what a horrible thing that was to do. Carrie's a schizophrenic and a drug addict struggling to recover, her boyfriend's dead of suicide, and she wants her son back. Yes, it'll be disruptive for Drew and she's probably not equipped to deal with the issues Drew may have, but she is his mother and she's doing the best she can to get her life back on track and to make a home for him. The Sheehans should have made the best of it and tried to support her, so that either she could succeed, or they could be on the scene to make sure Drew was cared for if she failed.
Instead Mare cold-bloodedly tried to set her up to go to prison for years.
posted by orange swan at 3:43 PM on May 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
I keep thinking about what a horrible thing that was to do. Carrie's a schizophrenic and a drug addict struggling to recover, her boyfriend's dead of suicide, and she wants her son back. Yes, it'll be disruptive for Drew and she's probably not equipped to deal with the issues Drew may have, but she is his mother and she's doing the best she can to get her life back on track and to make a home for him. The Sheehans should have made the best of it and tried to support her, so that either she could succeed, or they could be on the scene to make sure Drew was cared for if she failed.
Instead Mare cold-bloodedly tried to set her up to go to prison for years.
posted by orange swan at 3:43 PM on May 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
Also, I can't see Mare reacting the way she did if she didn't plant the evidence. This is not a woman who won't stand up for herself.
I expect there to be more reveals in the coming episodes to shift how we see some of Mare's actions, but I think having her turn out to be innocent of this particular act would feel like a cheap out.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:03 PM on May 8, 2021
I expect there to be more reveals in the coming episodes to shift how we see some of Mare's actions, but I think having her turn out to be innocent of this particular act would feel like a cheap out.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:03 PM on May 8, 2021
If you’re not an SNL watcher, you might enjoy the trailer for Murdur Durdur.
posted by gladly at 10:52 AM on May 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by gladly at 10:52 AM on May 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
Is there anything triggering in here w/r/t sexual assault?
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 11:02 AM on May 10, 2021
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 11:02 AM on May 10, 2021
If you’re not an SNL watcher, you might enjoy the trailer for Murdur Durdur.
Funny, but the pronunciation of "Conshohocken" was way off! Con-SHA HAAA KEn
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 11:09 AM on May 10, 2021
Funny, but the pronunciation of "Conshohocken" was way off! Con-SHA HAAA KEn
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 11:09 AM on May 10, 2021
Is there anything triggering in here w/r/t sexual assault?
Oh, yes.
posted by AwkwardPause at 3:25 PM on May 10, 2021
Oh, yes.
posted by AwkwardPause at 3:25 PM on May 10, 2021
At 1:51 in the "Murdur Durdur" sketch, the bulletin board at the police station has a photo of Tina Fey on it.
posted by orange swan at 5:31 AM on May 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by orange swan at 5:31 AM on May 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Zabel’s drunk scene was really impressive! It’s really hard to convincingly portray a sloppy drunk person without being comedic or tragic. Most people are some split of amusing and annoying at that level of inebriation, and Evan Peters really covers both bases.
posted by skewed at 9:57 AM on February 28, 2022
posted by skewed at 9:57 AM on February 28, 2022
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Oh, Mare. Maybe "oh, writers" too. A cop who plants evidence? Rehabbing Mare from that is going to be tough. At least Zabel's slightly drunken overture seemed totally shut down.
For a show that's only got seven episodes, we're spending a lot of time with Siobhan. Is that just because we're getting to see three generations of mothers and daughters?
Piecing together was Mare and Zabel learned, it sounds like Deacon Mark got the call from Erin and picked her and her bike up at Sharp's Woods. And then we don't know how or why she was in "Brandywine Park" with her murderer. I still think the Deacon fathered Erin's baby, but I have to assume he's a red herring this far from the end.
posted by gladly at 7:26 PM on May 3, 2021