Fare thee well, Mare Of Easttown

By Allison Shoemaker  |  May 30, 2021 | 5:00am
TV Lists Mare of Easttown
Fare thee well, Mare Of Easttown
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Kate Winslet in Mare Of Easttown Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Sunday, May 30. All times are Eastern.

Top picks

Mare Of Easttown (HBO, 10 p.m., series finale): Well, Mare Of Easttown, you’ve been quite a rollercoaster. Here’s Joshua Alston on last week’s “Sore Must Be The Storm,” the penultimate episode of this stellar limited series:

Consequences come hard and fast in Easttown, and the worst-case scenario never feels more than three dramatic beats away. So for as quiet as it is, the final scene packs every bit as much punch as the season’s other deft cliffhangers. Mare is last seen walking with purpose near the Lehigh River, where the Brothers Ross have come for one last fishing trip before Billy reports to turn himself in for the murder of Erin McMenamin. Here’s what we know: Mare is headed to arrest Billy now that the rescue of Katie Bailey has earned her badge back. We know that Mare, true to renegade-cop form, dismissed Chief Carter’s reasonable request that she wait on backup. (Rather than stopping, she actually accelerates after the call.) We know there’s a gun in the tackle box at Billy and John’s fishing trip. We know Chief Carter has possession of a photo that will change Mare’s understanding of the murder. What happens from here is anyone’s guess.

Tonight’s the night that anyone’s guesses might be proven right—but it’s likely to be a finale every bit as gripping as the six episodes that came before. Watch for Joshua’s final recap.

Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., premiere): In one sense, if you’ve ever watched a Bo Burnham comedy special, you know exactly what to expect from Bo Burnham: Inside, the result of the writer/director/comedian’s personal lockdown project. Some of us cleaned fanatically, some took up embroidery, and some binged all of Murder, She Wrote, while Burnham created a penetrating 90-minute snapshot of what it looks like when you’re stuck inside and somehow summon the will to even attempt to be funny. Inside joins Staged and, well, precious few other titles as an effective and accurately surreal encapsulation of life in These Troubled Times, and while Burnham’s acidic, self-aware and occasionally self-loathing streak may be familiar, the precise mode of its expression is something new. Marrying the remarkable filmmaking skill evident in Eighth Grade with his usual sharply comedic pop tunes, Burnham’s special is a visceral experience, at times wrenching, at others shockingly funny. The filmmaking is inherently and marvelously theatrical, the performance almost uncomfortably vulnerable, all carried off with a shrug that seems to say, “Too soon? Yeah, probably, but fuck it.” One quick content warning: Bo Burnham: Inside repeatedly discusses suicide.

Regular coverage

DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow (The CW, 8 p.m.)
Pose (FX, 10 p.m.)
Lucifer (Netflix, streaming now): Binge coverage continues

Wild cards

Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre (History Channel, 8 p.m.): This monstrous and shamefully under-discussed incident has slowly become a more prominent piece of American history over the last several years (thanks, Watchmen). On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the police-backed Tulsa race massacre and the destruction of Black Wall Street, the History Channel becomes the latest to climb over the wall of silence that surrounds the events.

Death And Nightingales (Starz, 9 p.m., miniseries finale): “The show does attempt to cram too much into its three episodes, but the longer runtime gives the actors an opportunity to flesh out their performances. Rhys believably transforms from an alcoholic loner at the start of episode one into someone with a possibly sinister secret; Skelly is grounded and wonderful, especially in their scenes together. Created, written, and directed by Allan Cubitt, Death And Nightingales is intriguing even with its long-winded dialogue.” Read the rest of Saloni Gajjar’s thoughts.

 
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