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Mare of Easttown

 In this house, we talk a fair amount about "Mare of Easttown." Spoilers ahead. The series wasn't perfect. The weird bits of "comedy" bugged me. A slapstick-y interlude where one young lesbian's ex-girlfriend accidentally witnesses a clandestine hook-up.....felt especially half-baked. And we never learn much about a serial kidnapper's life or motives. Why was this guy locking women to large pipes in a hidden back room? I, at least, would be interested to explore that question.

All that said, I admire "Mare" for giving a female character quite a bit to do and think about--and I especially admire this when the series "Younger" is falling really flat at the same time.

I liked the unpredictable chats between Winslet and Jean Smart; I also liked Smart hiding ice cream in an empty bag of frozen peas. (Over seven seasons, "Younger" doesn't bother to tell us anything about Liza's mother, if Liza has, or ever had, one.) I like that Winslet's character doesn't end up with a dude, and I like her frustration with Evan Peters's great and semi-incompetent "Mr. Sidekick." (That's not actually the person's name.)

I also liked the thorny friendship between Winslet and Julianne Nicholson--which, once again, is so much more interesting and complicated than anything happening between Liza and Kelsey on "Younger" this season.

Finally, I'm haunted by the Siobhan story. We think we're seeing a cute tale about a bright young person's self-actualization--but things suddenly veer off-course when Siobhan becomes consumed by memories of her dead brother. These memories help to torpedo a new, positive thing in Siobhan's life. I really didn't see that coming.

My old teacher Tweeted the other day: "Dare I Mare?" In other words: "Should I watch?"

My answer is yes. And maybe skip "Younger."
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