HBO’s latest miniseries, Mare of Easttown, started off quiet, but quickly became the prestige cable network’s biggest hit of the year. Following in the footsteps of shows like True Detective, Big Little Lies, and Sharp Objects before it (and similar to other HBO shows like Perry Mason, The Undoing, and The Outsider), Mare told the story of a gritty, dark, single-season murdery mystery—and picked up a massive following along the way. From shocking twists to cliff-hanger mysteries to the stunning conclusion, Mare did this show pretty damn perfect.
And after that, it’s fair to wonder one simple question: when will we get more? Which….is a tricky question. When you’re a performer the caliber of Kate Winslet (who plays the titular small town detective, Mare), you’re not typically going to sign on for a TV show more than one season at a time. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson didn’t for True Detective, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon (initially) didn’t for Big Little Lies, and the list goes on.
But Mare has become such a big hit that it’s fair to ask the question of whether or not Winslet and company could be convinced to come back for more (the show was planned as a limited series).
And the answer, as of now at least, is a resounding we don’t know.
Will there be a Season 2 of Mare of Easttown?
At this time it still remains to be seen. The show was pitched, conceived, and produced as a limited series—meaning one and done—but it has become such a hit (reviews have been universally great and HBO Max crashed as soon as the finale episode became available to stream) that it would be hard to imagine HBO not signing off on another season if Winslet and the rest of the team were up for it.
Showrunner Brad Inglesby isn’t totally shutting the idea down. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he confirmed again that the show was written with the purpose of telling this story and this story only—but that may only be for now. “It was written as a limited, and it ends—there’s no more mystery to be solved,” he said. “Kate and I, if we could crack a story that we were really proud of and felt like it was a deserving second chapter in Mare’s journey, then maybe. I haven’t cracked that yet; I don’t know what that is, honestly.”
Winslet, who was not only the star of Mare but also an executive producer as well, is obviously a busy and in-demand performer. But if she’s interested in another Season, it sounds like the showrunner could be as well. Remember, too, that HBO is famously willing to reverse course on that ‘limited series’ label; Big Little Lies was such a big hit that despite initial plans to be a one-and-done, it was back only two years later with a Season 2 (and Season 3 has now been hinted at as well).
Inglesby seems intrigued by the idea of another Mare of Easttown season. But the ending is so fresh, perhaps, that he just doesn’t know where to go from here. “If there was a world in which we were convinced, this is a continuation of the story that honors the first chapter and does things an audience will appreciate, then maybe,” he said.
Maybe the show needs to go to a new setting. Maybe it takes on a Mare of ____ format for the future. Maybe it goes completely off the reservation. Or maybe there’s just another small town mystery that takes Kate Winslet back to Wawa a few times a week. We’re on board—and we’re guessing the burgeoning fanbase would be too.
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