I had heard such great things about this mini-series that I believe that my expectations may have been a bit too high. First off, the acting was top-notch! There were so many stellar performances in this, it was really hard to single any one particular individual out, although given that the series focused prominently on Kate Winslet's character, she did just a remarkable job. Julianne Nicholson, Angourie Rice, Jean Smart, Chinasa Ogbuagu, Sosie Bacon, Evan Peters, Enid Graham..the list goes on. All of these actors were really tremendous in this project.

I also have to commend the production for creating a female-centric police drama/murder mystery. It isn't often that we see casting such as this for a show of this type, and not only was it was quite refreshing, but it really gave this series that extra emphasis, when it came to the character-driven drama that was the other half of the storyline. It really worked particularly well in this production.

All of this having been said, what I was not impressed by was the writing, particularly how the pieces of the storyline flowed together, some of the dialogue, the apparent lack of research, and the odd character arcs. The script that Brad Ingelsby wrote came across to me as something less that he'd spent time researching the topics of and more drawing from previous television productions. On more than a few occasions, I found myself realizing that specific bits of dialogue or storyline were quite derivative of other shows. Obviously, stories are rehashed, but this seemed much more like a patchwork of pieces taken from other productions and put into this one storyline.

Due to the derivative nature of the story, some of the dialogue came across as very clichéd and out of place, as in it really didn't fit w/ the storyline. [spoiler]For instance, in the scene at the waterfront after Mare and Zabel’s date, Mare made a comment about she just couldn’t let go of this case, b/c it’s one of those that just “gets inside you, you know?” I thought to myself, “Really? This cold case that you’d moved on from, b/c there were no leads and no evidence, where you didn’t want any outside help, but you weren’t actively working it, either.” This is exactly the type of clichéd statement you’d hear in any generic detective drama, and in this particular case, it literally made no sense in terms of the storyline.[/spoiler]

As for some of the characters, they came across as really incredibly awful human beings. Then, they seemingly and miraculously grew hearts that allowed them to do selfless things that put them in harm’s way? Again, this was something that just didn’t fit w/ the nature of the story, and it threw the characters into disarray, b/c there was really no need for this type of role reversal. [spoiler]Additionally, one of the characters who was portrayed as this small-town girl w/ no prospects, looking for trouble around every corner, we suddenly find out was a strong student w/ collegiate potential?[/spoiler] Some of these character traits and attributes just came out of nowhere and served no purpose in moving the storyline forward.

The last thing about the writing that I didn’t care for was how the pieces around Mare were shifted. It was almost as if she were in a room w/ one door, and everyone else was in a circle that constantly rotated around the outside of the room. Every time Mare opened the door, a new character would be standing before her, and she would interact w/ them before closing the door. She would then reopen it, and new character would be standing there for her to interact w/. It was almost as if many of these individuals were simply pieces of furniture in her life, there as set-dressing, rather than as characters to drive the storyline deeper.

I believe that the one exception to this was Mare’s mother. Her interactions w/ her showed that this script could have been refined in such a way that many of the characters could have been made fuller and richer w/ more meaningful interactions w/ Mare.

The bottom-line for me was, while the cinematography looked fantastic, and it provided a genuine look and feel that really gave this story series credence, there is a big difference in looking spectacular and actually being spectacular. I believe that the director and producers very much went for a _True Detective_ esthetic, but looking like _True Detective_ isn’t the same thing as being _True Detective_.

I was unsure of what to expect of this series. While I have enjoyed a few movies/shows featuring Kate Winslet, I am not a follower of her career or work. However, after watching this series, that will probably change! This is set in a small town in Pennsylvania, where a local detective grew up. Everyone in this working-class town knows everyone, including all their closet-skeletons. It's a who-dun-it with several twist & turns; a few unexpected. None of the characters are clean-cut and "wrapped with bows", just like real working-class people are not. All have their flawed relationships with family, friends, & co-workers. I'm sure folks from Pennsylvania will not agree, but from a person born & raised in the South, the entire cast nailed the Pennsylvania dialect - especially Ms. Winslet. The writer/creator wrote a great story and did an excellent job of bringing it to the screen. But it's the actors that make you believe you are watching real events that took place in real people's lives that caused real pain and suffering, as well as real happiness....sometimes. Every episode left me wanting to know more of the story.

I would highly recommend this series for anyone that enjoys a good police drama that involves personal, background stories of the characters. It is not a "shoot 'em up, macho-police" drama nor is it a really gory, bloody show. It is a highly entertaining, very smart, realistic show - worth every minute of your time.

Kate Winslet will definitely receive Emmy nominations for this show......as she should.

This police detective drama series drew me in and kept me coming back for more, in spite of itself. I say that because this series borrows heavily from one police drama cliche after another. Police detective characters are often obsessed with their cases and take their work home with them: Check. The detectives often totally screw up their homes lives and relationships: Check. The detectives are likely to continue working on their cases if their boss orders them to step back, and they never call in backup help before walking into a dangerous situation: Check and Check.

Still I was totally engaged with the series. Why? Let’s see: the writing is very strong; the ensemble cast performs well most of the time; and for a change, this stereotypical detective is a woman; plus they blend a couple of cases together to give the story complexity and depth. All of these positives covered up a couple of lapses I saw, which I won’t point out here, not wanting to give anything away.

This is the second recent role I have seen Kate Winslet in where she disappears into her character. She was excellent in Ammonite as an unusual archaeologist. No clinging to romantic leads for Winslet; she is now what I would describe as a leading lady/character actor. It ages well.

I recommend Mare of Easttown highly and I hope if they make a second series, they show enough confidence to move beyond the police detective cliches.