‘Bravo!’: Readers weigh in on the ‘Mare of Easttown’ finale
Respondents to an online survey by The Inquirer seemed satisfied with the conclusion — and the accents.
ADVISORY: This story contains major spoilers for the HBO series Mare of Easttown, which ended its seven-episode run on Sunday.
This weekend’s Mare of Easttown finale may have crashed the HBO Max streaming service for nearly half an hour on Sunday, but by the time the credits finally rolled, fans had the answers they’d been waiting for.
Respondents to an online survey by The Inquirer seemed satisfied with the conclusion, which saw young Ryan Ross (Cameron Mann) confessing to shooting Erin McMenamin (Cailee Spaeny), whose son DJ turned out to be Ryan’s half-brother. Guy Pearce’s Richard Ryan, meanwhile, proved to be just as nice a guy as he always seemed to be. He took Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) to her ex’s wedding and later drove out of Philly, blissfully unaware of how many here had once considered him a murder suspect.
“Ultimately, this was a top-notch ‘whodunit,’ set in our own backyard, which made it fun to watch. What made it appointment viewing, however, were the powerhouse performances, including a career performance by Kate Winslet, the artful writing, and the attention to detail paid by the set designers, costumers — and yes — those Delco voice coaches! Bravo!” wrote Mary Ann Cook, of Conshohocken.
“I was skeptical of Winslet at first. The lady killed it. Helluva good story,” wrote Paul Mercurio, of Lafayette Hill.
“It was great and suspenseful. Delco was portrayed realistically. And [it] made me homesick, since I live in and watched from Arizona,” wrote Marybeth Eaves, a Scottsdale resident who formerly lived in Paoli.
“The finale was emotional and really showed Mare’s humanity towards her best friend, in the midst of dealing with her own family tragedy,” wrote Susan Luongo, of Cherry Hill.
Some other takeaways from responses to our highly unscientific survey:
Most people were surprised by the mystery’s conclusion. Some 65% agreed with the statement, “I thought it was someone else, but this way makes sense, too,” while 19% checked off, “I called it weeks ago,” and 12% were “way off. I feel like a smacked ass.” (Only a very few “still think they have the wrong person.”)
Kate Winslet, Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, and Evan Peters all received high marks for their Delco accents, with the majority of respondents choosing “I’m sure I went to school with this person.” (In fairness, Drew’s turtle Kevin, did better than expected in this category, though a slight majority concluded, correctly, that we were kidding.)
Asked who police detective Mare Sheehan should be keeping her eye on for future crimes, more than half the respondents pointed a finger at Dylan Hinchey (Jack Mulhern), whose impression of a murder suspect was remarkably convincing, even in a show that was teeming with red herrings.
Most viewers were reasonably stoical in the face of an emotional 97 minutes, with 47% conceding no more than “I think I may have had something in my eye a couple of times.” Some 38% agreed, “I save my tears for viewers who’ve never been inside a Wawa.” Only a few succumbed to “ugly crying.”