As the fourth episode begins, Helen (Jean Smart) asks Mare (Kate Winslet) about working that night. Mare says she should be home so Helen begins making plans for dinner. Eventually, Mare heads outside for a smoke. She gives her cigarettes to Lori Ross (Julianne Nicholson) and tells her not to give her another. They discuss the possibility of lying to Mare’s family and pretending to go to work every day. Mare explains the Chief is making her see a grief therapist as part of her suspension. Lori believes it might be a good thing to step away since Mare’s family is worried about her. She says Mare is pushing everyone away but she won’t Mare push her away. Detective Colin Zabel (Evan Peters) arrives at work and finds that Detective Hauser (Ned Eisenberg) is there.

Chief Carter (John Douglas Thompson) tells him to shut the door before learning about Mare stepping away and him taking over. Hauser is there to assist him. They quickly find that the DNA results are back and Frank Sheehan isn’t the baby’s father. The Chief informs Colin that Dylan isn’t the father either. At the hospital, Dylan Hinchey (Jack Mulhern) asks his parents why they’re treating the baby like that. He reminds them that the baby isn’t theirs before getting upset and telling them to get him out of there. Meanwhile, Dawn Bailey (Enid Graham) tries to convince Kenzie to eat her vegetables but she says she doesn’t like broccoli. They talk about her mother’s love of broccoli before Dawn gets a call from a mysterious stranger asking about her daughter.

The caller claims he is calling because Katie is ready to come home. Dawn asks him to put Katie on the phone but the mysterious caller wants five thousand dollars. Dawn admits she doesn’t have that kind of money before the caller says he’ll be in touch. Seconds later, Mare tells Siobhan (Angourie Rice) that they’re having a family meeting. She gets rid of Drew by giving him an iPad and telling him to go play a game in his room. During the family meeting, Mare tells her mother and daughter about stealing two bags of heroin from the evidence closet and planting them in Carrie’s car. She explains why she did it and what she was hoping would happen as a result. Siobhan and Helen learn about her suspension and Helen says her actions were stupid.

Helen doesn’t hold back on her daughter and says they could lose Drew forever if Carrie knew. As for Siobhan, she thinks Helen summed it up pretty well and she reveals she split with Becca earlier today. She claims she hadn’t met anyone else though. Next, Mare visits Dr. Gayle Graham (Eisa Davis) and tells her she’ll be there on time every time. Mare tells Graham she doesn’t want her to get discouraged before they get into all of this. She explains herself and says it worked for a colleague who is now working at Valley Forge but it has never worked for her. The session begins while Colin confronts Deacon Mark Burton (James McArdle) and asks if he has been avoiding him. Colin wants to know more about the sexual misconduct complaint filed by the parents of a 14-year-old girl.

Mark says he has been instructed not to speak about that case. He goes on to say that the archdiocese investigated the incident and believed nothing happened. Colin warns him he better get his story straight because everyone will likely find out about the case. Mare hangs out with Richard Ryan (Guy Pearce) who admits he might not be a good writer. He says he has grown to like teaching before their conversation turns to Mare’s car crash discussion with Carrie. Richard asks Mare if she ever gives herself a break or takes time for herself. He wonders if anyone ever does anything for her since she is carrying a lot of heavy stuff. He invites her out on Saturday which is his birthday. She agrees to go with him. Dawn counts money behind the register at the convenience store.

She visits a friend and tells her about the mysterious caller and needing $5,000. Beth encourages her to tell Mare since it is likely a scam, but she can’t because Mare isn’t working now. Dawn tries to blame herself for Mare’s problems but Beth doesn’t think that is true. Freddie (Dominique Johnson) walks in seconds later and coughs a bit. When he walks away, Beth tells Dawn he has been living in the basement and he overdosed on Friday. She admits the whole thing is ruining her marriage. Freddie is her brother and she knows he isn’t out there when he is with her. Carrie Layden (Sosie Bacon) takes Drew home for their first sleepover.

She shows him the projector she got for his stars and tells him she is happy he is here. They hug and go for the pizza moments later. Mare stays at home and watches social media videos of Erin (Cailee Spaeny). Erin talks about her feelings and being a mother while Mare jots down notes. We see a flashback of Carrie and Kevin taking Mare’s purse and searching through it for drug money. Mare busts in the door before Kevin puts her in the corner and tells her he hates her. Carrie arrives with Drew who can’t sleep because he misses his turtle. Mare checks on him and sends him up to bed before Carrie says she knows it was Mare. Mare pretends she doesn’t know what she is talking about but Carrie tells her to stop because she is working hard to get her life together.

Dylan calls for his mother as DJ cries in a crib nearby. Dylan gets out of the bed and grabs a pillow. He puts the pillow in the crib and comforts the baby. His mother watches from outside of the room. Then, we’re introduced to a girl who talks about her trip to Disney World and realizing there are places that never get cold. Someone drives her in a work van before pulling over and turning off the vehicle. The girl uncovers her breast and asks the man if it is the first time he has done this before he begins choking her. Mare watches a new report about Missy Sager (Sasha Frolova) who hasn’t been seen for several days. The news reporter talks about the tip line they’ve set up for Missy and Katie. Helen wonders if it is a serial killer since there are three girls missing or dead now but Mare doesn’t want to hear it. Mare decides to go out and do her job so her mother tells her to get the popcorn out of the microwave first.

Judy Zabel (Deborah Hedwall) tells Colin about running into Susan Foster at the hardware store. She read the article about him and her oldest daughter who lives in Easttown now. They talk about the other missing girl Katie Bailey. She talks about how people are up in arms as to how the police handled the case. Colin says it was a hard case and Mare is a good detective. She says they’re lucky to have him before they begin praying. Mare shows up outside at Colin’s place and tells him she saw the news. She is invited inside and introduced to Judy. They grab a beer, sit down, and begin looking at the evidence. Missy was enrolled in the nursing program at Kutztown University. During her freshman year, an old lady runs a stop sign, hits her, and she fractures her hip.

After that, she begins using Oxycontin and eventually morphine. Her phone was turned off around 2:23 AM on Friday and her social media accounts have gone dark. Mare looks at pictures of Missy from an escort website. Colin explains that Hauser doesn’t think the cases are related. He suggests Missy and Katie might be, but he doesn’t think Erin’s case is related. As for Colin, he thinks their lifestyles are too different since Katie and Missy were drug abusers. Both were prostitutes with Sidedoor accounts and there is no evidence to suggest Erin was involved in prostitution. Mare wonders if she got involved because she needed money for her son’s ear surgery. The ENT office confirmed that she had scheduled it and canceled twice. Mare says a young girl wouldn’t open a Sidedoor account with pictures like this on her own computer with a dad like Kenny.

She says teenage girls are sneaky. Colin asks if she wants to tell him the real reason she was put on leave and she says maybe later. Later, they visit Jess Riley (Ruby Cruz) and ask why Erin would lie about Dylan being the baby’s dad. Jess explains Erin liked the fact that Dylan’s parents were nice to her. She also says Erin wanted Dylan to pay for her son’s ear surgery, but he kept saying he didn’t have money. Jess claims she didn’t say how she’d pay for it. Mare tells her she is only helping Erin’s killer by keeping silent. Jess relents and admits Erin told her how she intended to pay for the surgery. They’re shown Erin’s Sidedoor page in which she used the name Jasmine.

Jess agreed to help her make an account since she didn’t want to make one at home since her dad would find out. Erin claimed she would only do it for a while until she got enough money for the surgery. However, she never did it and told Jess she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Jess gives them the username and password to the account. Mare has to go back inside to get her phone so Colin waits on her. She returns to Jess and asks if she knows where Erin kept her journals. Jess says there is a dresser in the corner of her room and she kept them in between the two bottom drawers. Mare tells Colin to get a search warrant for Sidedoor to get every username that messaged Erin’s account.

Colin asks her what she is doing Saturday night because a buddy of his just opened a restaurant. He admits he is only asking her on a date if the answer is yes. Seconds later, Father Dan Hastings (Neal Huff) tells Mark that a reporter from the Tribune just called and asked about the circumstances of his transfer from St. Michael’s. Dan says he told them everything he knew and that he spoke to the archdiocese at length before agreeing to the transfer. Mark is warned that people are going to find out but he doesn’t know what Dan wants him to say. Siobhan hangs out with Anne (Kiah McKirnan) and they watch her documentary together. Siobhan says it is her attempt to try to figure out why Kevin did it but it isn’t going well right now. Anne encourages her to live for herself and not everyone else. Siobhan says she is making progress since she always wanted to date an older woman.

Helen tries to eat ice cream but gets stopped when Becca arrives looking for Siobhan. Helen agrees to let her in for a second. Becca cries and talks about losing Siobhan. Helen asks her to wait in the basement before returning to her ice cream. When Anne drops Siobhan off, Siobhan tells her she had a great time and Anne says she did too. They make out briefly before Siobhan invites her inside. They do but Siobhan doesn’t realize Becca is hanging out on the couch. She soon finds out what is going on and screams. Helen gets knocked down when Becca tries to escape the house. Siobhan tells Anne to call an ambulance. When Mare returns home, she tries to convince Eddie to get her mother off of the stretcher. She agrees to ride in the ambulance with her mother.

Mare is quickly introduced to Siobhan’s new friend before getting into the ambulance with her mother. Seconds later, Dawn gets a mysterious call again and the caller says Katie’s daughter’s middle name is Grace. He tells her about the tattoo. When Dawn says she believes him, he tells her to get five thousand dollars by tomorrow night. He says he’ll give her instructions later and threatens to return Katie’s bones if she goes to the police. The following day, Mare visits Erin’s house and searches her room for the journals. She checks where Jess said and finds a few papers as well as a necklace with “5-29-17” engraved on it. Dawn handles the money at work and considers taking it to repay the caller. Johnny watches a news report about the missing girls.

They tell their son they’ll pick him up to be safe. Mare checks on her mother and asks her to watch Drew this weekend because she has a date. Dawn has a gun and puts the store’s money in her purse. Beth arrives to babysit Kenzie and Dawn leaves. She gets a call and is immediately told to get on the turnpike. Then, she is told to take State Road 903 exit. She follows the man’s instructions and is told she will find Katie in the basement of a house. Dawn goes inside and looks around the dark house with a flashlight. As she searches the house, a figure appears behind her and approaches slowly. He grabs her purse and runs for it. He finds the gun and fake money in her bag. She looks through the window and sees Freddie out there. He apologizes before running away.

Mare vapes and looks at the necklace. Dawn returns home and Beth immediately checks on her. Dawn makes up an excuse about taking a spill outside of the store and the radiation making her dizzy all the time. Beth offers to take her to the hospital but Dawn says no. Then, Beth asks about the mysterious caller and Dawn pretends she called police and they said it was likely a scammer too. We see a struggle outside of Bennie’s Tavern. Missy is dragged inside and locked in a room with a mattress on the floor. Katie talks to her and tells her that nobody can hear her in here before introducing herself.

 

Mare Of Easttown Review

I’ve read countless reviews complaining about this show being bleak and depressing, but I really don’t get that. I typically enjoy deep shows that are slightly depressing and emotional. I really don’t get that vibe from Mare of Easttown. Nevertheless, my interest in the show has basically dropped to the bottom of the barrel at this point.

The biggest problem I see is that the show isn’t focusing on the investigation at all. The first episode was decent since we learned more about Erin, her struggles in life, and her demise. It wasn’t much, but we built a quick relationship with Erin and I think most wanted to see Mare get justice for the slain mother. Since that episode, we haven’t touched on the investigation much at all.

Instead, the writers have decided to focus on many silly topics instead of the investigation which should be the heart and soul of the show. It is becoming a mishmash of silliness and irrelevance. Why are we focusing so much on Siobhan and her love life? What was the point of introducing us to Detective Hauser since he quickly disappeared?

We don’t need Mare getting suspended and going to therapy. We don’t need Helen getting a door bashed in her face. I am not sure we need Colin and Richard being so desperate to date Mare unless one of them is the killer. There is just too much going on. A lot of it is silly and a lot more is irrelevant to the investigation. Drop the unrealistic storylines and focus on the investigation into the three missing girls. We only have a few episodes left so we need to carve a path to answers pretty soon.

If that doesn’t happen, a lot of people will complain that Mare of Easttown was nothing more than a waste of time. The episode had a few good grabbing moments but I was overwhelmed with stuff that likely didn’t and won’t matter. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Future and past recaps of Mare of Easttown can be found on Reel Mockery here.