Doing something great is overrated because then people expect that from you all the time
Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2021.
#3 : Mare Of Easttown
So gripping was this twisty, compelling detective drama that for two months of 2021, Mare-mania took hold. Who killed Erin? Would anyone pay for her poor baby’s ear surgery? And was it OK to use the term Katenaissance to describe Kate Winslet’s finest ever performance? Mare of Easttown could easily have fallen into familiar tortured-cop-investigates-dead-teen territory. Instead, the depth and detail of every character arc and subplot was incredible, with even seemingly minor moments delivering some of the most horrifying TV scenes ever. By the end, as each character’s full tragedy was laid bare, it was a miracle anyone was still standing.
And we come to the first one on the list I've seen - we were slightly late to it, but caught up quickly and pretty much watched the rest of it in real time (which is rare these days). And yeah, basically it is that good. At its heart, it's a good old twisty whodunnit but it's populated with believable characters and locations and extremely well acted. And if that sounds up your street, then believe me it will be - so I don't really need to say anything more.
But, as you can probably guess, I will. As I said, it's well acted by everyone but it's really Kate Winslet's show. It's a very unglamorous performance both in terms of her appearance and her character - Mare is most definitely not a perfect person with a lot of baggage and it's made very clear by some of her actions during the season.
And what was the main complaint from the viewers about the whole thing? Yes - not enough Guy Pearce! Won't someone think of the poor old white man thrown to the sidelines? To be fair to the guy, he was very "there are bigger problems out there" about the whole thing and also modest about any praise he received for the five minutes he was in it. The series also deserves kudos for the use of a Downs Syndrome actor in a very "just another actor" kinda way.
It's all very well filmed as well - some beautiful shots in lovely locations, but most of it takes place in some very unlovely locations and you won't be looking to move to urban Pennysylvania as a result. As is always the way with these things, the story isn't the most believable but if it was all patently obvious then it wouldn't be so enjoyable now, would it? Wikipedia also tells me that the cast won plaudits for the accuracy of the particular regional accent they adopted - no detail was overlooked it appears.
So yeah, it's great - even though I remember whodunnit, I'd be perfectly happy to watch it again because of the performances and the multiple storylines running through it. It's well worth a watch if you haven't seen it.
At time of writing, it's available to stream on Sky - I suspect it'll be there for some time yet.
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