Fathers
Episode 2 of Mare of Easttown begins with our quaint, small town rocked by the death of one of their own. Mare drives up to examine the scene, where she sees the grisly details first-hand. A jogger came across Erin early in the morning, which happens to be the person who called in the death. Mare examines the body and realizes Erin has been there for a while. To do the amount of damage done to Erin, the culprit would have had to have been face to face. Given the severity of this case, Mare is given a partner – a man by the name of Colin Zabel. Before he arrives, Mare has the detectives do a grid search. They check to see if anything out the ordinary but right now it doesn’t seem so. With Bill and John by her side, Mare heads up to visit Kenny, intent on breaking the bad news to him. When they tell him about Erin, Kenny is genuinely shocked and begins knocking things over, screaming to the heavens. When Kenny calms a little, Mare asks him who could be responsible. According to him, it’s Dylan. The boy resented Erin for having a baby and right now seems the most likely candidate. Kenny also claims to have an alibi for that night; he was at home. Mare interviews Dylan next, who admits that things were tense between him and Erin. He then tells Mare he didn’t say anything to his ex that night. Mare is not so sure. When Brianna calls, Dylan becomes flustered but intentionally avoids answering. Eventually he decides to leave. Back at the station, Mare meets Colin for the first time. She gives him an icy reception, refusing to shake his hand and completely blanking the man. However, they get a ping on a video from the night before – which happens to be the clip of Brianna assaulting Erin. With Siobhan there too, Mare immediately gets to work. She calls her daughter, leaving a message and telling the girl to get in touch asap. Stressed and impatient, Mare eventually succumbs and allows Colin to tag along with her. Together, they head straight to the restaurant Brianna is currently serving as a waitress at. Colin watches in shock as Brianna is grabbed and arrested for assault right in the middle of her shift. Mare takes Brianna to the station and immediately starts grilling her. Brianna keeps calling for a lawyer though, eventually rasping that she’s not surprised Mare’s son killed himself. This statement rattles Mare too, eventually seeing her dive head-first into this case and relentlessly pursue it. Mare checks in on Frank next, who makes a passing comment that Erin’s home life isn’t good. Mare wonders how he knows this but her ex simply shrugs it away, claiming it’s intuition. When Mare returns home, she questions Siobhan over what happened the night with Erin. Apparently she asked the girl if she wanted a ride home. Erin refused and wandered off into the woods alone. Mare is not happy but leaves the girl in peace for now. Next up, Mare arrives at school where she’s encouraged to refer Drew to a neurologist. The doctor also thinks Mare should see someone about what happened to her son. She refuses, and heads back to the station. After the hostilities earlier in the season, Colin and Mare both decide to try again, with another handshake and greeting. The kids from the party are brought in and asked questions about the night. All of them confirm they didn’t hear a gunshot. However, one of the boys does recall Erin’s bike missing. This is definitely important, as the two officers finish over 40 witness statements and start to piece together fragments from that night. Given how tightknit this community is, Tony confronts Mare at her house while she’s about to head out with the Professor. Mare holds her own but it’s clear this investigation could turn ugly. It doesn’t get much better at the book signing either, as Mare wrestles with her own frustrations. Richard entertains a group of ladies and she’s left stuffing food down the sofa. Richard does eventually catch up with her though and apologizes. That evening, Dylan heads out to get some things from the store. When he gets back in his truck though, Kenny happens to be there waiting. With a gun pointed at the boy, he orders Dylan to keep driving. Kenny eventually shoots Dylan in the back. Back home, a sobbing Jess speaks to her Mother, admitting that Erin told her a secret and made her promise not to tell anyone. This sees the pair head over to see Lori. It turns out Dylan isn’t the real Father. According to her, it’s Frank Sheehan.
The Episode Review
Mare of Easttown returns this week with another enthralling chapter in this tale. With the small town rocked over what’s happened to Erin, Mare starts to feel the heat from various residents. Given how intimately she’s known around Easttown, it’s perhaps unsurprising to see her take such a stern and heavy stance toward the different suspects. The reveal that Frank could well be the Father to Erin’s baby is certainly an interesting one and – if true – could actually make him a very viable suspect. Although he did have a party that night, he may well have slipped out. Then again, this isn’t confirmed in any way so we’ll have to wait and see if this holds any weight. Meanwhile, Colin Zabel’s arrival shakes things up at the station, although Mare finally comes around to the idea of working with this man. Their dynamic is a fascinating one thus far and it’ll be interesting to see how that develops over time. For now, Mare of Easttown bows out with another solid episode, leaving the door wide open for where this may go next.
