So the COVID crisis of 2020 continued into 2021 but there were some TV highlights to keep me going!
One of the very best was Mare of Eastown on HBO. A seven part series that was ostensibly a murder mystery – cop Mare (Kate Winslet) investigates the murder of a young woman – but was so much richers than that. Winslet played the down to earth and supr-relatable Mare, someone who has had a pretty tough time in life but whose inherent honesty and integrity make her a great cop but also a flawed one. The show’s setting, the fantastic cast (Jean Smart and one of my favourites, Julieann Nicholson, Evan Peters better than ever before) but most of all, the storytelling and the sense of place. Episode 5 was better than most big screen thrillers!
This show was about ordinay, non-glamorous people – Winslet was a producer and with her recent movie, the dour Ammonite, has been quite miserable on screen recently! However, whereas I found Ammonite chilly and unengaging, Mare was given 7 episodes to reveal her depths, her warmth and her all round awesomeness! A heart-breaker of a show for several reasons, but brilliant.
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