Mare of Easttown Review: Sore Must Be the Storm (Season 1 Episode 6)

Erin McMenamin’s murder is solved on Mare of Easttown Season 1 Episode 6, “Sore Must Be the Storm,” or so it seems.

The rather convenient introduction of John and Billy Ross’s dad — who apparently caught Billy washing bloody clothes the night of Erin’s murder — leads Billy to confess to his brother that he killed Erin when she threatened to expose their relationship.

 It all seems to wrap things up pretty neatly, right? 

Well, not exactly. There is still one more episode, and “Sore Must Be the Storm” ends with a new unknown clue from Jess, Mare heading to confront the equally suspicious Ross brothers, and the introduction of a gun that will eventually go off. 

Billy may be the murderer, but we shouldn’t trust the story John tells Lori for one second. It’s not clear whether he’s lying about part of his story or just holding something back, but there is something he isn’t saying, and it’s doubtful it’s about his brother. 

As John even says himself, Mare is already suspicious. He knows the truth about Billy will eventually come out, so whatever he’s trying to protect, it isn’t Billy. If the gun in the tackle box is anything to go by, Billy knows it too. 

Elsewhere on the episode, we learn about the day Kevin died. The tragic flashback reveals it was Siobhan who found him. We see the emotional impact of that finally come to the surface in Siobhan’s drunken night of panicked texting and an emotional outburst at her mom.

The revelation about the day Kevin died is surprising and sad, but it also explains a lot about Siobhan’s relationship with Mare. Her resentment of Mare is understandable if unfair and far more reasonable than most of the things people in Easttown blame Mare for.

What’s particularly interesting about what we learn about Siobhan on “Sore Must Be the Storm,” though, is that it shows how similar mother and daughter are. 

Siobhan keeps her grief at a distance, not really dealing with it directly. Instead, she channels it into external outlets just like Mare. For Mare, it’s as her counselor suggests. She throws herself into her cases and focuses on other people’s grief. 

For Siobhan, it’s her video and her brother’s pain. As much as the video is an effort — even a healthy one — for Siobhan to find closure, she very specifically keeps the focus on his feelings and what he was going through while distancing her own feelings in the role of an investigative documentarian. 

Much like the McMenamin murder case, we still aren’t getting the full story about Kevin. Even though we now know a good deal about how he died, Kevin’s story is still a mystery. There’s more to tell about Kevin and Mare’s grief and only one hour left for the series to do it. 

It’s hard to guess how all of these open threads will come together on the last episode. In some cases, we should prepare to have certain plot points go unresolved or not scrutinize them too closely.

What we can hope for, though, is that the two major storylines of Kevin’s suicide and Erin’s murder that have been building over the course of the series converge — whether that be emotionally, thematically, or narratively — in a satisfying way on the last episode. 

The ultimate success of the entire series depends on how well they stick the landing and pull everything together on the series finale.

Stray Thoughts

• I was relieved that Lori didn’t actually try to keep what John told her from Mare very long and that their relationship remains intact.
• Does Guy Pearce’s Richard have anything to do with the larger story? Is he somehow connected to either Erin’s case or Mare’s past? With only one episode left, it’s not clear what purpose his character serves unless there is a last-minute twist to come. 
• It would have been nice to actually see Dawn and her daughter reunite. Viewers earned that moment of happiness after all the tragedy viewers went through with Dawn’s story. 
• The bathtub scene is so stressful! Carrie needs to get over her anger towards Mare and ask for help. I can’t handle another scene like that. 
• What secret could be so big that Dylan not only threatens Jess but is willing to be the prime suspect in a murder to protect it?
• I don’t know why Mare thought it would be a good idea to visit Colin’s mom. That was never going to end well.

What did you think of this episode of Mare of Easttown? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Mare of Easttown airs Sundays at 10/9c on HBO.

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