‘Mare of Easttown’: The 6 Most Suspicious Characters So Far
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 1, Episodes 1-3 of Mare of Easttown.]
Kate Winslet shines as a small-town Pennsylvania detective in HBO’s mystery drama Mare of Easttown, but it’s the individuals circling her orbit who are most intriguing.
At the center of the series are two mysteries: the murder of Erin McMenamin (Cailee Spaeny) and the years-long disappearance of the daughter of Mare’s high school pal Dawn Bailey (Enid Graham). Whether these two cases intersect or not is for Mare and her fellow investigator, Detective Colin Zabel (Evan Peters), to uncover.
While the case of Dawn’s missing daughter remains cold, Mare is presently more focused on finding Erin’s murderer who could be closer to home than anyone realizes. Since the show’s debut, several suspects have been identified among Easttown’s citizens, from members of Mare’s and Erin’s own families to other community figures.
(Credit: Michele K. Short/HBO)
We’re rounding up some of the suspicious figures below. Scroll through for why these characters are raising alarm bells, and sound off in the comments below — who do you think did it?
Mare of Easttown, Sundays, 10/9c, HBO
Richard Ryan (Guy Pearce)
The famous author who has taken a liking to Mare may seem innocent enough, but his lack of ties to Easttown may be a red flag worth raising, not to mention his immediate interest in the detective. Could his tactic be to get close to Mare and gain her trust? That said, it’s hard to find how he’d be tied to Erin. Time will tell!
Deacon Mark Burton (James McArdle)
The newest deacon to the local parish revealed some interesting details about his and Erin’s bond during the third episode. He claims that Erin called him on the phone the night she was killed, and that she’d been upset but didn’t offer any additional information beyond that. Most telling, he’s seen tossing Erin’s missing bike into the river, so it’s clear he knows more about her death than he’s letting on. But just how much does he know?
Billy Ross (Robbie Tann) & John Ross (Joe Tippett)
Erin’s father Kenny’s (Patrick Murney) cousins have shown concern over the death of their family member, but there seems to be more secrets in this family that have yet to be uncovered. Whether these secrets have to do with Erin or not, we don’t know. Let’s just say we’ll be keeping a close eye on these two.
Frank Sheehan (David Denman)
While the suspicion meter has been lowered on Mare’s ex-husband, it’s hard to not include him in this list. After all, he did lie about knowing Erin well after it was revealed he’d been buying the high school student baby supplies. The all-around good guy could be just that, but maybe there’s a side of Frank we have yet to see?
Dylan Hinchey (Jack Mulhern)
Similar to Frank, suspicions on Erin’s (maybe) baby daddyDylan are lowering, but there’s definitely enough motive for him to have been involved in Erin’s death. Whether he was pulling the trigger or not, the tension between them before her death was a clear indicator of what could escalate to a deadly conclusion.
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