More Mare? Maybe!
While the first and currently only season of Mare of Easttown seemed to be a pretty open and shut case, the door has not been entirely closed to another installment. HBO boss Casey Bloys said it, star Kate Winslet said it, and most importantly, creator and writer Brad Ingelsby is saying that a season two is not an impossibility. The problem is, as it usually is, whether or not there's a story to be told.
In a new interview with TVLine, Ingelsby laid it out on the table.
"If we can crack a story that is as great [as Season 1] and that would do justice to the characters and carry on the story in a way that was organic and yet surprising, I would love to do it," he told the site. "I just don't know what the story is. That's the issue right now."
Bloys gave similar quotes to Variety earlier this month, confirming that "everybody would be open to it" as soon as Ingelsby had a plan for a second season. And Winslet is most definitely on board.
"I would absolutely love to play Mare again," she previously told TVLine. "I miss her. I really do. It's the strangest thing. I feel like I'm in mourning. It was an absolutely wonderful role… There's something very addictive about Mare, because she's so outrageous and lovable and brilliant and real, you know? I loved playing her."
It wouldn't be totally out of the blue to give Mare another murder to solve—she is a detective, after all—but Mare of Easttown isn't just about Mare solving murders. The case in the first season was so wrapped up in her personal life and involved one of her very best friends, and it all connected to Mare's grief over her son's suicide, which she was learning to deal with throughout the series.
Ingelsby told TVLine that there's the possibility that a season two "lightbulb moment" may never come.
"We gave Mare such a personal arc where she had to confront this loss in her life, and we would have to construct another emotional arc that was able to compete with [that]," he explained. "And I'm also acutely aware of the dangers of doing a Season 2 just because you have the [opportunity] to do it. I would only want to do it if we were convinced we had something great."
Before the finale aired, Ingelsby told Esquire that there was never even a conversation about a season two.
"We didn't ever talk about returning...it's very much a closed story," he said. "I think you've seen that now, the story ends. I think all the loose ends get tied up. I hope so at least. But I think if we could ever crack a story that was as emotional and surprising, then I think maybe there's a conversation. I don't have that in my head right now, but I mean, listen, I love Mare. If we could ever give her a great season, I would certainly consider it. I would only do it if I was convinced we could make it great, though. I wouldn't do it just because you have a chance to do it. I would want to make sure that it was as rich and compelling as I hope this season has been."
This is not a new issue for HBO. Big Little Lies became a smash hit when it premiered in 2017, and while it competed at the Emmys in the Limited Series category, HBO soon got author Liane Moriarty to write more story for a second season. They even got Meryl Streep to join the already A-list cast, but there are few who would argue that the second season was even close to as good as the first season.
Sometimes, a limited series can just be a limited series, but we also wouldn't say no to whatever Ingelsby may or may not cook up.
Mare of Easttown aired on HBO.