Kate Winslet Gave A Promising Update About A Possible Mare Of Easttown Season 2

HBO is the queen of unexpected hits. When Game of Thrones premiered in 2011, no one expected a little show about dragons to become the show of the decade. When Chernobyl arrived the same week as its final season, no one thought an odd historical piece on a nuclear meltdown would be more significant than the GoT finale. And when Mare of Easttown premiered in the spring of 2021, no one realized it would be everyone’s new favorite detective show. So, what’s happening with Mare of Easttown Season 2? Things are starting to look promising for a return to eastern Pennsylvania.

Mare of Easttown was initially planned to run just for a seven-episode set. The show, which was billed as a limited series from the jump, was one of those single-story miniseries HBO has been famous for since it launched in the 1970s. Like Watchmen or Chernobyl, it was a star-studded cast, the kind that isn’t expected to be interested in multiple seasons of TV. However, the series, led by Academy Award-winner Kate Winslet, was a massive hit, and its finale caused the HBO Max app to crash, the first time an HBO app had hit the overload mark since the Game of Thrones finale.

With that kind of interest, it’s not surprising HBO execs would reconsider the show’s limited series status. It’s not the first time the network has converted a limited-run show into a multiple-season drama. Big Little Lies famously did the same thing, after all. Plus, fans also have good reason to get their hopes up. Here’s why:

Mare Of Easttown Season 2 Potential Plot

The big reason fans are keeping their hopes up for a Season 2 is Winslet. As an executive producer and the show’s titular lead, there’s no second season without her. And she has made it clear she is down for more Mare. Since the show’s finale, Winslet has said repeatedly in interviews her experience making the show was a delight and, perhaps more importantly, she fell head over ears for her character. She wants to come back and explore Mare further.

The problem, of course, is the plot. Series creator Brad Inglesby, who wrote Season 1’s mystery, said he didn’t have another story ready right away to keep Mare going. And without a hook as solid as the first one, making another was setting themselves up to fail.

But in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Winslet gave a promising update: Inglesby has been brainstorming, and the results have been some "really cool ideas" for the next case.

Mare Of Easttown Season 2 Cast

As for who will be back, Winslet is the obvious and most necessary character to keep the show going. But fans will also be hoping to see a return of her family, most importantly Jean Smart, whose turn as Mare’s mother Helen is part of the ongoing Smartaissance on HBO. Other characters from Mare’s world which fans would hope to see again: Angourie Rice as Siobhan, Mare’s ultra-smart and ultra-put-together daughter, David Denman as Frank Sheehan, Mare’s kind but dull ex-husband, and Julianne Nicholson as Lori Ross. Lori, whose family was ripped apart in Season 1, would both offer continuity back to the first season’s case as well as continue the best friendship in Mare’s life.

Fans also would hope to see Guy Pearce as Richard Ryan, the man Mare winds up with by series’ end and who was somewhat underused in the first season. If the show comes back, fans will almost certainly want the series expand on their relationship and see where it goes.

Mare Of Easttown Season 2 Release Date

As Season 2 is not yet greenlit, there’s no actual release date to be had. But with Winslet pushing to get another season, HBO may announce it before the end of the year, which would put a new season on track for 2023.

Mare of Easttown is streaming on HBO Max.