It’s what’s best for him, though still sad. This show is a master class in the little things.

In a particularly deft touch, Dawn’s hair is regrowing, wordlessly suggesting that her cancer is in remission. do up her brother Freddie’s house so Katie can live there with her daughter. This easily could have been missed by a lesser show, but Ingelsby has an unrelenting eye for detail. Still, it would obviously be 100% absolutely acceptable for Lori to never even look in Mare Sheehan’s direction ever again. Can you imagine Ryan bearing the burden of Erin’s murder and his father’s suicide? Though it may have spared Ryan from going to juvenile prison, it’s probably best that John didn’t successfully kill himself in the finale’s opening sequence. We already saw him act out violently at school.

And honestly, I’m not sure Ryan was handling the guilt and secrecy. I’m of the belief that Mare didn’t have much of a choice here. Why not just let John take the fall for her son’s sake? When he turns the gun on himself, it’s not to avoid punishment for his crimes, but to do everything he possibly can to save Ryan. John isn’t sacrificing his brother for himself, but for his young son. It’s a scene that’s much more interesting to revisit after we learn that Ryan killed Erin. Ultimately, John can’t pull the trigger and decides to kill himself instead, but Billy stops him. Even if he wanted to, Billy might not be able to withstand Mare’s questioning. And back up: Why does John take Billy fishing instead of taking him to the precinct to confess?Īt the point they head out to the fishing cabin, Billy is already looking unsteady and John can’t be sure he’ll take the rap for Ryan. Their adolescent hearts were in the right place. She teamed up with Dylan, because he thought it would break his parents’ hearts to lose their grandson. She was afraid the cops might find out the real identity of DJ’s father and knew her friend wouldn’t want DJ removed from the Hincheys’ care. HBO If they had nothing to do with it, why did Jess and Dylan act so shady?īurning Erin’s journals was Jess’s idea. Turns out that DJ doesn’t stand for Dylan Junior. She was already dating Dylan Hinchey, so they let him believe he was the father. When Erin got pregnant, John wanted her to get an abortion, but she refused. They started hanging out at the family reunion. Who is DJ’s father?ĭJ’s father is John Ross and, according to him, it was a real - not “just sex” - relationship between him and his teenage niece. We knew God had a purpose for the narrative space taken up by the Carrolls. John calls Billy and they drive her out to Sharps Woods. Ryan drags Erin’s body into the woods, returns the gun, and calls his dad for help. A series of adults had to let them down in so many ways for them to even end up on the edge of this accident. Ryan panicked and shot her again, this time in the face.

He only wanted to scare Erin with it, but she tried to wrestle the gun from him and it accidentally went off, clipping her finger. Carroll’s shed, where he knew the old man kept his gun. On his way to the park, Ryan stopped by Mr. She, of course, was expecting to see John. Upset to learn the relationship was ongoing, Ryan intercepted a text message and arranged to meet Erin at Brandywine Park. He’d known about John and Erin’s affair, but agreed to lie to his mother if John cut it off. The night he killed her, Ryan witnessed John take an angry phone call and decided to snoop in his dad’s text messages.

Ryan Ross, Lori and John’s young son, murdered Erin McMenamin. We’ve cycled through suspects that left us feeling cold, including most of the men Erin should have been able to trust, but the identity of her killer is even more upsetting than anyone the show’s named so far. Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby delivers tragedy and pathos, answers we saw coming and some that most of us did not. What follows is a series ender that wraps up tidy as a Christmas present. Instead of letting this all explode into an ugly firefight, Mare reaches the Rosses just in time. The mood is combustible and there’s a building sense that this won’t end without shots fired.īut then, well, no shots are fired. Billy is fishing while his brother John stares him down. The rush of the nearby river is menacing but not as menacing as the score - a single violin competing with the splash of the waterfall. The final episode of Mare of Easttown picks up precisely where last week’s left off: the Chief can’t get a hold of Mare as she strikes out to confront Billy Ross about murdering Erin McMenamin. Spoilers ahead for the Mare of Easttown Season 1 finale.

Mare of easttown season 1 episode 1