As we start to inch even closer to the conclusion of HBO’s Mare of Easttown, the fifth episode was fully loaded with answers to some of the limited series’ lingering questions. Kate Winslet and the rest of the cast continue doing stellar jobs in making the crime drama such a joy to watch. The episode title “Illusions” may sound contradictory because of some of the big issues being concretely resolved this week. But it’s more apropos than you may think, considering we found out that some people in our favorite Pennsylvania town aren’t really who they appear to be. All of this lead up to the episode’s thrilling final ten minutes, a segment that proved to be both supremely satisfying and utterly tragic. To any peeps who are fresh on the Easttown block, consider this your spoiler warning.
The still-suspended Mare (Winslet, Mildred Pierce) feels helpless being unable to work on both the Erin McMenamin murder case and the recent abduction of Missy Sayers (Sasha Frolova, Red Sparrow). As revealed in the closing moments of last week’s episode, Missy becomes imprisoned with the very much alive Katie Bailey (Caitlin Houlahan, Girls), who’s been missing for over a year. Since she has mostly had to sit on the sidelines, Mare has reluctantly thrown herself into her police-mandated therapy.
Fortunately for her (and for us viewers wanting her to make progress), she seems to be coming to grips with her family’s history of mental illness. Besides her drug-addled son Kevin committing suicide a few years prior, we learn that Mare’s beloved father also killed himself when she was still an early teen. Leave it to the awesome Winslet to once again knock it out of the park in this beginning scene, showing more chinks in her character’s armor while simultaneously taking a big leap forward in her treatment.
While we’ve gotten plenty of glimpses of the strife and dysfunction involved in the Sheehan family, this week’s Easttown focused on Mare’s best friend Lori Ross (Julianne Nicholson, I, Tonya) and her clan. Lori’s troubled young son Ryan is sent home from school for standing up to some kids, albeit violently, who bully his sister Moira. She rightfully assumes her husband John (Joe Tippett, Gray Matters) has continued a pre-existing affair with someone unknown, which the boy confirms. As if that wasn’t enough, John’s shaky brother Billy (Robbie Tann, Preacher) avoids talking about Erin when others ask about her time spent living with him. The two men are cousins of Erin’s unstable and jailed father Kenny, and Mare’s detective senses tingle when Billy abruptly leaves during a beer-drinking hangout. Could one of the Ross brothers be the person responsible for Erin’s death, or perhaps even the mystery father of her baby? Highly possible.
As yours truly mentioned earlier, the episode title “Illusions” has a dual meaning as it pertains to some of the Easttown residents and those on the murder suspect list. As it pertains to the case of Erin, her best friend Jess (Ruby Cruz, Castle Rock) and ex-boyfriend Dylan (Jack Mulhern, The Society) secretly steal and destroy the deceased girl’s journals. The reasoning is unknown, but we have to assume that there must be something incriminating written in there. Deacon Mark Burton (James McArdle, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) also admits to Father Dan Hastings (Neal Huff, Spotlight) that he met up with Erin the night of her murder. The fear of being accused due to his already sketchy reputation was why Burton got rid of her missing bicycle, which she had left behind. Needless to say, the pendulum of possible blame has swung back and forth amongst these parties over the last couple of weeks.
The fifth episode of Easttown also became humorous in how some characters had illusory images. Perhaps the biggest comedic highlight of the series’ run took place at the funeral reception for local paranoid busybody Betty Carroll (the late Phyllis Somerville, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Ridden with guilt, the newly widowed Glen (Patrick McDade, Concrete Cowboy) tactlessly announces his trysts with Mare’s mother Helen (Jean Smart, 24), who reacts with hilarious shock and embarrassment while paying her respects. The comedy veteran Smart is perfectly golden in this scenario, and Winslet proves her match as well. But Mare puts on her own facade when she goes out to dinner with her young partner Colin Zabel (Evan Peters, WandaVision). Merely feigning interest in order to procure inside info on the cases leaves the smitten Zabel disheartened, as he sees that the determined Mare will frustratingly go about things in the wrong way.
Luckily for the detective duo, Mare gets things settled with her partner at the end of the episode. The penultimate scene by the bridge is probably the best one between Winslet and Peters as their characters get as honest and real with each other as they’ve ever been. This leads to the aforementioned final segment as the pair continue their investigation into the missing girls. Easttown series director Craig Zobel deserves some incredible praise for making the last ten minutes both highly thrilling and intimately tense. Early reviews stated how the climax mirrored that of The Silence of the Lambs, and this reviewer definitely felt those same kinds of vibes. I’d put this last sequence up against the best of recent crime movies and television of the genre, and Zobel and showrunner Brad Inglesby should be proud.
Mare of Easttown Episode 5 ‘Illusions’ did a phenomenal job pressing on the gas pedal before its final straightaway. Questions were answered and yet new doors were opened. Some residents fell down towards the bottom of the suspect list, and while others seem to have more heat on them as the conclusion draws near. Winslet’s protagonist bared her soul, and a huge, well-placed laugh provided a break from some of the present doom and gloom. But the coup de grace, not to beat a dead horse, was that exciting and suspenseful last segment, which unfortunately yielded some tragic results. We’ll see the fallout from all of it next week, fellow viewers.
Mare of Easttown Episode 5, ‘Illusions’ is now streaming on HBO MAX.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miQqyfO66uw&t=3s
