All the cool kids are on TV these days, which means that all the A-listers (like Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant) are all over your HBO. Well, Kate Winslet has been there and done that (in 2011’s Mildred Pierce), and she’s back with the premium cable channel again to star in Mare of Easttown. Kate portrays a small-town detective (and ex-high school basketball goddess) who’s naturally ignoring the crumbling of her own inner self while burying herself in the town’s murder cases. The color palette of this show is as dreary as they come, although it doesn’t seem that this show is going for the gritty vibe.
Instead, Kate’s simply a detective with a messy inner life. The show’s heavy on the HBO talent, given that it’s directed by Craig Zobel (The Leftovers and Westworld), and the incredible cast includes Jean Smart (following up on Watchmen) and Julianne Nicholson (from The Outsider). We’ll probably see some Emmy nominations coming for this show, which is written by Brad Ingelsby (The Way Back), who hails from Pennsylvania, close to where the series is set. Via the synopsis, the limited series performs “an exploration into the dark side of a close community and an authentic examination of how family and past tragedies can define our present.”
Mare of Eastwood premieres on April 18.