Home » Mare of Easttown: Episode 4 “Poor Sisyphus”

Mare of Easttown: Episode 4 “Poor Sisyphus”

by Alexandra Mitchell
3 comments 245 views

Try Max Now
MareOfEasttown_Ep4

Prior to the last episode, I would have said ACAB but not Mare (Kate Winslet). HOWEVER, after planting drugs to try and keep custody of Drew (Izzy King), you’re on my naughty list. Oh Mare, so not cool and not super surprising you had your badge taken. You got lucky with just some counseling, so you best take it seriously. And isn’t that such a nod to how the justice system really operates?  She still hasn’t admitted it to her family and that’s not gonna be an easy conversation.  “What the hell is a family meeting?”  Bless you, Jean Smart. You are a treasure. Not surprisingly, her family thinks what she did was pretty stupid and they aren’t happy. Siobhan (Angourie Rice) admits that she and Becca called it quits. She doesn’t admit that she met someone else, even though Nana Smart asks. Oh dear, that’s coming back to bite someone. But for now, Mare has to go to grief counseling, which is gonna be a sh*t show.

Meanwhile, Dawn (Enid Graham) gets a disturbing phone call claiming Katie (Caitlin Houlahan) is still alive. They want five grand and you gotta wonder if this is real or not because honestly, I could see it going either way. Kidnappers wait long enough until they need funds, give her some basic evidence, and boom get the money from mom. Or someone just needs the cash, knows enough basic information to pass off that Katie is alive, and tries to get paid. Tricky circumstances, and I just ache for Dawn. Cancer, missing daughter, raising a granddaughter alone, I mean the woman needs a break. Speaking of break, Siobhan meets up with her MareOfEasttown_Ep4Pic-300x150new flame and they end up in the basement making out and ends up being where Becca has come to talk to Siobhan about their relationship. Remember when I said it was gonna come back and bite someone? Turns out it is poor Granny Smart just trying to come down the stairs to the basement.  Ouch.

While Mare is on her break, Zabel (Evan Peters) who has no right in the world to look that good all clean-cut, is pressing on Deacon Mark (James McArdle) especially because some suspicious details about his transfer are coming to light. We know at the end of the last episode, that he dumped what looked a lot like Erin’s (Cailee Spaeny) bike into the river. So the priest is super sus, but part of me has a hard time connecting him to these other cases. I mean, two girls who got into drugs and prostitution and one who was a girl who needed money for her son’s surgery…well, yeah okay, of course, she made a website. “Trust me, teenage girls are fucking sneaky.” This line made me laugh so hard, because one, Mare is clearly speaking from experience as she was once a conniving teen girl, but also she has one of her own so she’s certain her daughter isn’t telling her everything. But Mare handles her daughter about the same way she handles therapy, loudly and brashly. Mare, if you gave yourself a chance, I bet things would go okay but I get that it isn’t easy opening up. But for crying out loud, your drug-addicted son with issues at one point attacked you for money for his habit. You can still love him now that he’s gone, but you gotta process that sh*t.  You’re not gonna be happy as a person alone or with the bevy of men trying to hit you up until you do. I recommend sticking with writer guy and not co-detective. Sorry, Zabel. Work and pleasure shouldn’t mix.

MareOfEasttown_Ep4Pic2-245x300Dawn gets the money and prepares to hand it off. She has a little trick up her sleeve. It is very admirable, but I just have to wonder how easy it will be for him/them/whoever to kill her. She is a frail woman on cancer radiation! You shouldn’t be going anywhere alone. But it turns out it’s not the kidnappers, it is a scam, and it’s someone she knows pretty well. She doesn’t come clean to Bethy (Chinasa Ogbuagu) about any of it and I figure it won’t be long until someone finds out. But as for Katie, well she has a new friend.

Ok, so the CJ major and writer in me has got to break down some potentials here. Foremost, I personally don’t think the priest is connected to the other girls.  I think Erin was killed by Deacon Mark after transferring to the parish and getting her pregnant. I think someone else is abducting girls off the escort website and holding them. There is a possibility the two might be partners, but I don’t think so. I could be wrong, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time. Do you think Deacon Mark killed Erin or someone else? Who do you think is abducting these girls? But the biggest question is will you be tuning in Sunday, May 16th at 10 PM EST to see what happens next?

Try Max Now

Related Posts

3 comments

Jef Dinsmore May 15, 2021 - 3:16 pm

Writers title an episode of a work for a reason. I pondered this installments title for example – “Poor Sisyphus.” I’m not quite seeing it. It relates to Greek mythology, the tale of ruler Sisyphus.

He was a manipulator and in fact dodged his intended death not once but twice. That angered Zeus, as the God of Justice and Hades, of the underworld. When he finally met his demise Sisyphus was punished additionally for his troubles. He was to roll a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back to the bottom just as it reached the pinnacle. Sisyphus was to do this for eternity, thus acting upon a pointless and futile effort forever. Even today such acts of futility are known as Sisyphian efforts.

Who in MARE OF EASTTOWN is wasting their time ‘pushing that boulder’? I’m not seeing it or missed something.

Reply
Alexandra Mitchell May 17, 2021 - 5:40 am

I think that Sisyphus is our dear Mare as she continues to fight against a system that churns girls up and spit them out. Mare tried to manipulate that system to punish Drew’s mother because she doesn’t want to give up custody and gets immediately caught out. Frankly, it’s utterly obvious to everyone that she’s the culprit so she already proved she’s low enough to use the CJ system to try and hurt someone, who frankly doesn’t deserve it. Carrie says it best when dropping Drew off when she admits she’s trying her hardest but Mare needs to stop and let her try. Yes, Carrie made mistakes and abused drugs, but that doesn’t mean that she’s a bad mother or would hurt her child. Everything points to the opposite and the fact that she’s trying to get her life together for her child, which Mare seeks to punish because she doesn’t want to give up Drew. She has had little success with Katie Bailey’s case creating an anxious community against her, actively irritated and interfering with her attempting to solve Erin’s case (in re: Brianna’s father, angry groups protesting, additional crimes based on misinformation). Crime against women is the uphill battle Mare continues to fight because for every case of a missing girl she solves or ‘wins’, there’s a dozen more waiting in the woodwork for her to fail and continue rolling the boulder up, up, up the hill only to come rolling back down. For every girl who makes it home, half a dozen don’t.

Reply
Jef Dinsmore May 17, 2021 - 9:39 am

Thanks for all that. However, the acts of saving a life or doing the right thing cannot be seen as ‘futile’ or our civilization just spins.

Reply

Leave a Comment


Adblock Detected

Please support us by disabling your Ad Blocker extension from your browsers for our website.