HBO and HBO Max’s director of content, Casey Bloys, says Mare of Easttown Season 2 will be produced if the creator wants a sequel. After The Undoing, Big Little Lies, and Sharp Objects, Mare of Easttown was created by The Way Back writer Brad Ingelsby and is another success in HBO’s lineup of miniseries, broadcast on HBO MAX.
Will There Be a Mare of Easttown Season 2?
The intense, character-driven series first aired in April, marking the return of actress Kate Winslet, in her important television role since the 2011 series, Mildred Pierce. In the series, Kate Winslet plays the titular detective, tasked with investigating the murder of a young mother in her hometown of Philadelphia. But his difficulties do not end there, since his other case concerning the disappearance of a young girl is still ongoing, and his daughter-in-law is also fighting for custody of Mare’s grandson.
Mare of Easttown was a big hit for HBO. The series was not only a critical success, starring Kate Winslet in her best performance, but it also broke audience records, consistently attracting many viewers for the pay channel and its streaming service. Besides The Undoing, Mare of Easttown is the only series in HBO history to have seen an increase in the audience every week in a row. On the streaming scene as well, the series has been a huge success.
In fact, it attracted so many subscribers on HBO Max (‘Succession Season 3, The Righteous Gemstones Season 2‘) that the platform’s servers crashed just before the series finale aired. And when the last episode arrived on the service, it took an important step, that of the most-watched episode for an original series during the first 24 hours of its broadcast. This has logically led many people to wonder if HBO is not considering turning the miniseries into a complete series, but according to the head of the channel, this decision does not really have to do with the performances of Mare of Easttown.
Casey Bloys, head of content at HBO and HBO Max, told Deadline that he didn’t know if Mare of Easttown would return for a second season (Mare of Easttown Season 2). He stated that the decision was not his, but that the series would only continue if Brad Ingelsby had a good idea and expressed an interest in telling another story. Casey Bloys stated that, unlike seasonal content scripted on networks like ABC (Big Sky), miniseries like Mare of Easttown are not renewed because they have achieved good results. Rather, it is the creative team of the series that launches the idea of continuing the series, if they feel that there is room for another great story.
“People tend to think that these decisions are like ABC’s in the 70s – ‘We need more Mare, we need more Mare!'” It’s a decision of Brad [Ingelsby] and Kate [Winslet]. I count on them to come to us and say, “We think there’s more, that’s what it is.” It is not inevitable if something works well. It starts with the creative team. I am never the driving force behind it.
As for the stars of Mare of Easttown, Winslet has already expressed interest in returning to reprise his lead role. Other stars, such as Angourie Rice, were skeptical about the continuation of the series, however, as they felt that Mare of Easttown was a very self-contained series that featured everything it had to tell in a single season. Ingelsby and director Craig Zobel also agreed with Rice. They have always intended to make Mare of Easttown a unique series, but now, with the success of the series, they do not rule out taking it back if a good idea comes to them.
Mare of Easttown Season 2 Release Date
Since Mare of Easttown ended, there have been several heated debates within the fan base about whether to continue the series for new seasons (Mare of Easttown Season 2). Some believe that the series needs Mare of Easttown Season 2 to be able to end Mare’s mourning and romance with Richard, but others believe that dragging out the story would diminish the quality of the series, leading him into the same disappointments as the second and third seasons of Big Little Lies and True Detective respectively.
Of course, it would be a shame not to see Winslet return to the role of Mare once again, but, at least, it’s better as well as having him again for an unsatisfactory and half-hearted story. To sum up, Brad Ingelsby’s creative vision has worked wonders for Mare of Easttown so far. He knows the series well, so his ideas can be trusted when it comes to the future of the series. So until Brad Ingelsby is sure he has a good idea for another iteration, fans shouldn’t have any hopes for Mare of Easttown Season 2.
HBO (‘Sharp Objects Season 2‘) has not yet confirmed whether Mare of Easttown will be returning for season two, so it’s hard to say when we could expect a second series to land on our screens. Since HBO Max’s Boss, Casey Bloys, says Mare of Easttown Season 2 will only take place if creator Brad Ingelsby wants a sequel. So, there is a possibility for season 2, Production on the first season began in autumn 2019, however was shut down in April 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic had begun to spread across the US. Filming resumed in early September and reportedly wrapped a month later.
If we estimate that production on the series took eight months and take account of series writing time, the earliest we could see Mare of Easttown season two would be Summer 2022 – without allowing for potential pandemic-related delays.
