Six of the biggest unanswered questions ahead of the final episode of Mare Of Easttown

Rory Cashin

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So many questions. And only one episode left to answer them all!

There is no denying at this point that Mare Of Easttown isn’t just one of the best shows of 2021, but one of the very best shows we’ve seen in recent years.

If the final episode can stick the landing, then we reckon it will go on to be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Breaking Bad and the first season of True Detective.

But with that final episode still to go, we’ve still got a lot of unanswered questions, including…

What was on that photo??

Damn you, Mare Of Easttown! As cliffhangers go, this was up there with the best. As Mare heads into the woods to confront Billy and John, Chief Carter is given what appears to be a very important, perhaps case-alteringly important piece of evidence. Whatever is on the photo, Carter wants to get Mare on the phone ASAP. Erin’s best friend Jess knew to hold on to it, and knew to hide it from Dylan. Whatever it is, it is bad news for everyone.

Did Billy actually kill Erin?

Yes, his father saw him come home late the night Erin was killed, and he was covered in blood. And yes, we watched him confess to killing Erin to his brother John. But we’re still not 100% sure that Billy actually did it.

We reckon he is the father of Erin’s baby DJ, after they began an incestuous affair during a family holiday. But it feels more likely that Billy got blackout drunk the night of Frank’s engagement party, and maybe stumbled across Erin’s body, and got covered in her blood while drunkenly trying to revive her. As to who the actual perpetrator is, we’ve got our suspects, and so does Stephen King, and that is a man who knows a thing or two about murder and mystery…

MARE OF EASTTOWN: Not convinced that Billy killed Erin. I have a suspect in mind. Tellya next week if I'm right.
Great show. Kate Winslet is killing it.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 25, 2021

What is Dylan hiding?

Dylan seems to have recovered very quickly from that life-threatening gunshot wound, hasn’t he? Didn’t take him long to be able to drive around Easttown, dragging poor Jess out from under a car and threatening to shoot her if she didn’t stop ratting him out to the police. Of course, Jess did the reasonable thing and then went straight to the police with the photo.

But what could it be that he says “ties them all together”? If you’re thinking “maybe they all killed her”, that wouldn’t explain how a photo of the potential group crime scene got into Erin’s hidden diaries. Even Dylan’s girlfriend Brianna has had enough, also going to the police with her confession that she doesn’t actually know where he was the night of Erin’s murder.

It seems unlikely that Dylan is involved in Erin’s murder, but they’ve definitely been up to SOMETHING.

Is Richard really just a lovely, nice, thoughtful guy?

The general rule of thumb in murder mysteries is that if there is a big star playing a seemingly small role, then they’re the killer. That is exactly the case here with Guy Pearce, and since we don’t exactly know where he was the night Erin was killed – since Mare left his place to go back to her own that night – then he could potentially still be a suspect, especially since he’s relatively new in town.

But then he rocked up to her house with a big basket of Mare’s favourite goodies and… well… is he just a genuinely good guy? Someone that Mare definitely deserves to have in her life, but because she perceives her life to be too messy right now, she keeps pushing him away? Be happy with Richard! You deserve this happiness, Mare! (Unless he does turn out to be the killer, in which case she was right to trust her gut.)

Will Carrie want to keep Drew?

We were practically right off the edge of our seat during the scene when Carrie fell asleep at the side of the bath, while her young son Drew seemingly slipped in the overflowing water. She woke up to his floating body, but it was a fake-out, as he was only trying to hold his breath. But between this, and the nights when he gets too upset to stay and wants to go back to his grandmother Mare, will Carrie actually want to keep him?

We’re hoping that Siobhan potentially moving out to go off to college, maybe some axes can be buried, and Mare will allow Carrie to move in with her and her mother Helen, so they can all help raise Drew. But that could be some very wishful thinking, because as Easttown has proven, there aren’t too many happy endings in this town.

How many awards are Kate Winslet and Jean Smart going to win because of this show?

Actually, we know the answer to this one: All of them. All of the awards. Let’s skip any Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards and just give Kate and Jean two awards each, from all of the ceremonies.