Discussions are underway for a potential Mare of Easttown season 2. Created by The Way Back's Brad Ingelsby with direction from American Gods' Craig Zobel, Mare of Easttown is the latest mystery-driven limited series on HBO after Sharp Objects and The Undoing. The show stars the magnificent Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar winner Kate Winslet as the titular detective who investigates the murder of a young mother in her Philadelphian town, at the same time, grappling with the traumas from her own past.
Right from the start, Mare of Easttown proved to be a massive success for HBO. For one, critics praised the story and Winslet's performance, and on the ratings side too, the show became the only one in HBO's telecast history besides The Undoing to witness viewership growth every consecutive week. The finale, in fact, also earned the distinction of becoming HBO Max's most-watched episode ever, with the demand for streaming being so high that it led the service's servers to crash on the day of airing. The show's impact has also continued well beyond its finale. Recently Mare of Easttown was nominated in 16 categories at the 2021 Emmys, and out of them, it managed to win four awards. Now, the success has encouraged the makers to reconsider the future of the miniseries.
Recently, during a virtual backstage conversation with Deadline, Winslet confirmed that a Mare of Easttown season 2 is being discussed. Nothing has been set to stone as of yet, but there is definitely some talk about continuing the show considering how Mare of Easttown's Emmys performance surpassed all expectations. The actress stated that there isn't much she can say right now, although she would be able to open up a bit more once there is an idea for the script and the story. Read what she said below.
"There have been conversations about it, of course, because the success of the show really did surprise us all. Conversations are happening, but I think until scripts are in place that we can really respond to, and know what a full story of a Season 2 might be and where Mare goes."
Mare of Easttown marks the second Emmy win for Winslet as the Best Actress in a Limited Series category. The actress, who previously won the award for her work on HBO's Mildred Pierce, has always been interested in returning to her role as Mare if given the opportunity. However earlier, the series creators were decidedly skeptical about producing another season. Ingelsby and Zobel had originally intended for Mare of Easttown to be a one-off, but after observing the overwhelmingly positive reception to their show, they began contemplating a potential second season. Still, even at that time, they said that Mare of Easttown season 2 would only happen if they come up with a good story, although now it appears that they are more proactively working toward another iteration.
While the creators of The Queen's Gambit ruled out a follow-up, the situation for Mare of Easttown is definitely more optimistic. True, season 1 was quite self-contained, but given the procedural nature of the show, there is always a possibility of revisiting the story in some form. Winslet truly delivered her career-best performance in Mare of Easttown, hence it would be a shame not to have her back in the character, especially, when she is so keen on reprising her role. Additionally, Ingelsby and Zobel are creative geniuses, who are well-aware of all the questions they left unanswered in the original show. So as long as they remain committed to making a faithful, quality second season, fans can count on another intriguing murder mystery to head their way.
Source: Deadline