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Here are a couple of drama/mystery shows currently airing on TV right now to help you with the lockdown.
MARE OF EASTTOWN
hbo.com
When I first heard the words Mare of Easttown, I thought it was about a “Mayor of Easttown”, and had made up in my mind that it’s loosely based on Thomas Hardy’s “Mayor of Casterbridge”… which, in fact, it is not.
“Mare of Easttown” is an American crime drama miniseries starring Kate Winslet as detective Mare “Ladyhawke” Sheehan in a small Philadelphia suburb called Easttown. Mare is a competent detective, but sometime a little hard-headed, and she’s trying to solve a murder of a teenage mother. The police precinct asked another district to send over another detective to help bring “fresh eyes” to the case.
Although the death of the young girl is the topic of the show, many episodes aren’t really about the murder… but rather Mare’s life and how it’s slowly falling apart around her. I suppose the main point of these shows are to showcase all the interesting characters in the world of Easttown.
As for the actual murder mystery, they revealed the killer in the penultimate episode (sort of), and it wasn’t a massive surprise or anything. I was actually more interested in the serial kidnapper storyline, to be honest. However, they quickly wrap up that story in Episode 5… and that was the last we heard of that story.
The finale will be airing tonight (May 30, 2021) on HBO Max. Let’s hope it’s a satisfying ending.
MARE OF EASTTOWN
hbo.com
When I first heard the words Mare of Easttown, I thought it was about a “Mayor of Easttown”, and had made up in my mind that it’s loosely based on Thomas Hardy’s “Mayor of Casterbridge”… which, in fact, it is not.
“Mare of Easttown” is an American crime drama miniseries starring Kate Winslet as detective Mare “Ladyhawke” Sheehan in a small Philadelphia suburb called Easttown. Mare is a competent detective, but sometime a little hard-headed, and she’s trying to solve a murder of a teenage mother. The police precinct asked another district to send over another detective to help bring “fresh eyes” to the case.
Although the death of the young girl is the topic of the show, many episodes aren’t really about the murder… but rather Mare’s life and how it’s slowly falling apart around her. I suppose the main point of these shows are to showcase all the interesting characters in the world of Easttown.
As for the actual murder mystery, they revealed the killer in the penultimate episode (sort of), and it wasn’t a massive surprise or anything. I was actually more interested in the serial kidnapper storyline, to be honest. However, they quickly wrap up that story in Episode 5… and that was the last we heard of that story.
The finale will be airing tonight (May 30, 2021) on HBO Max. Let’s hope it’s a satisfying ending.
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CLARICE
cbs.com
While I’ve enjoyed and intrigued by the early episodes of Clarice, I have to admit that the show is running in circles right now. The show suffers from two major problems: the COVID pandemic, which is causing numerous delays in getting episodes to air in a consistent manner. For example, as of this writing, episode 10 won’t air until June 3 (a three weeks break). The other problem is that the show was co-created by Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman has destroyed the Star Trek franchise, trying to turn the smart Sci-Fi show into a mindless dark and grim action show.
Anyway, the Clarice show is based on the characters from the popular movie (and book) The Silence of the Lambs. We’re following the further development of FBI agent Clarice Starling. As you know, the breakout character from these Harris books is the Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lector, who we first saw in Manhunter, but Silence of the Lambs was the film that really popularized the character. Hannibal would appear in Red Dragon (Manhunter), Hannibal, Hannibal Rising, and the television show that ran three seasons. Personally speaking, I’m tired of following a cannibalistic villain... so I was happy to embrace “Clarice”.
Due to the pandemic, only a few episodes were produced, so we got episodes 1 to 5 on schedule. From what the critics have seen, they hated the show. Maybe it’s because they got the character wrong... and as someone who hasn't read the book, I wouldn’t know it. I do think that perhaps the series could be better if Clarice was out hunting serial killers, rather than trying to investigate a big conspiracy (which is starting to turn out to be more like the X-Files rather than something in the Silence of the Lambs universe).
The series starts off with Clarice coping with Buffalo Bill, and she’s back on active duty to investigate a serial killer (per the FBI director who happens to be the mother of the victim that Clarice saved in the movie). The serial killer turns out to only pretend to be a serial killer. It’s tied to a big corporate company...
Again, I’ll probably continue to see how the show ends. Right now, it’s kind of boring and directionless.
cbs.com
While I’ve enjoyed and intrigued by the early episodes of Clarice, I have to admit that the show is running in circles right now. The show suffers from two major problems: the COVID pandemic, which is causing numerous delays in getting episodes to air in a consistent manner. For example, as of this writing, episode 10 won’t air until June 3 (a three weeks break). The other problem is that the show was co-created by Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman has destroyed the Star Trek franchise, trying to turn the smart Sci-Fi show into a mindless dark and grim action show.
Anyway, the Clarice show is based on the characters from the popular movie (and book) The Silence of the Lambs. We’re following the further development of FBI agent Clarice Starling. As you know, the breakout character from these Harris books is the Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lector, who we first saw in Manhunter, but Silence of the Lambs was the film that really popularized the character. Hannibal would appear in Red Dragon (Manhunter), Hannibal, Hannibal Rising, and the television show that ran three seasons. Personally speaking, I’m tired of following a cannibalistic villain... so I was happy to embrace “Clarice”.
Due to the pandemic, only a few episodes were produced, so we got episodes 1 to 5 on schedule. From what the critics have seen, they hated the show. Maybe it’s because they got the character wrong... and as someone who hasn't read the book, I wouldn’t know it. I do think that perhaps the series could be better if Clarice was out hunting serial killers, rather than trying to investigate a big conspiracy (which is starting to turn out to be more like the X-Files rather than something in the Silence of the Lambs universe).
The series starts off with Clarice coping with Buffalo Bill, and she’s back on active duty to investigate a serial killer (per the FBI director who happens to be the mother of the victim that Clarice saved in the movie). The serial killer turns out to only pretend to be a serial killer. It’s tied to a big corporate company...
Again, I’ll probably continue to see how the show ends. Right now, it’s kind of boring and directionless.
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