Summary

• Mare of Easttown's potential second season is still up in the air, but the new Apple TV+ show Lady in the Lake offers a promising alternative.
• Lady in the Lake shares striking similarities with Mare of Easttown, from murder mysteries to intense lead characters' motivations.
• While Lady in the Lake may not have matched Mare of Easttown's critical acclaim, it serves as a reminder that fresh stories are valuable.

Three years after HBO limited series starring Kate Winslet as detective Marianne "Mare" Sheehan, who is tasked with investigating the murder of a young mother while also grappling with her own family issues on the side. Mare of Easttown received four Emmy wins, including for Best Lead Actress, ing Actress, and ing Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series.

Though Mare of Easttown was planned to be a limited series, there have subsequently been talks of a potential second season for the crime show. Last month, HBO executive sca Orsi noted that they were in "early discussions" of a second season that would look at Mare and the other characters years after the conclusion of the events of the original series. As of now, Mare of Easttown season 2 has not been confirmed, but while the wait for answers on the status continues, an Apple TV+ show may be the perfect material to take its place.

Lady In The Lake Is A Great New Murder Mystery Show To Watch After Mare Of Easttown

Lady In The Lake Shares Similar Themes

Lady in the Lake may be the show that can fill in the void left by Mare of Easttown. Based on the novel of the same name, Lady in the Lake is a mystery story set in the 1960s, when an aspiring reporter looks into the murder of a Black bartender and a young, Jewish girl. The series stars Natalie Portman in the lead role of Maddie Schwartz, with a ing cast that includes Moses Ingram, Y'lan Noel, Brett Gelman, Bryon Bowers, and Noah Jupe. It aired its first two episodes on July 19 and will continue through August 23.

Lady in the Lake and Mare of Easttown share a number of similarities in of plot and character details. For one, exploring the deaths of young women comes with similar themes of whose murders are the most cared about in a community. The settings of the two stories are also similar, as they are both set on the East Coast, in small town communities. How these murders rattle — or go under-addressed — in the small communities that surround Maddie and Mare become central background to the arcs of each story.

The protagonists of the two series also share some characteristics. Both possess an extreme ion for what they do, with Maddie leaving her role as a homemaker to pursue her ion for journalism, and Mare doing whatever it takes to solve the crime, even if she faces temporary suspensions along the way. It is the intense motivation of Mare that made Mare of Easttown so compelling, and it is something reflected in the Lady in the Lake book that will hopefully continue to translate well to the show as it continues its run on Apple TV+.

How Lady In The Lake's Reviews Compare To Mare Of Easttown

Lady In The Lake Can't Match Mare of Easttown's Acclaim

In addition to its Emmy wins, Mare of Easttown's reviews showed nearly universal acclaim for the series. The series boasts a 95% on the critic aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Critics felt that the limited series was a captivating take on the thriller genre, and lauded the performance of Winslet. Audiences also loved Mare of Easttown, giving the series a 94% approval rating.

Right now, Lady in the Lake has not achieved nearly the same level of critical success as Mare of Easttown. While its critics' score is positive at a 72%, audiences have not taken as kindly to Lady in the Lake, giving it a 51% approval rating thus far. With Lady in the Lake early on in its run, this Rotten Tomatoes score is still subject to change, but does not start the Portman-led project off on as good of a footing as Mare of Easttown.

These scores are subject to change as the show is currently airing.

Lady In The Lake Is A Big Reminder That Mare Of Easttown Season 2 Doesn't Need To Happen

Networks Should Devote More Energy To New Stories

Even with Lady in the Lake's mixed reviews, the show is a testament to the unnecessary nature of Mare of Easttown season 2. New shows like the Apple TV+ series can provide original mysteries to excite an audience that are more intriguing than rehashing existing works. Mare of Easttown completed its story in the first season, so while it could be intriguing to look at Mare's life after the events of season 1, the series works perfectly well in its current form.

Lady in the Lake, on the other hand, can keep audiences guessing as they are faced with a new set of murders. HBO has already shown their ability to make engaging new limited series since Mare of Easttown, including last year's splendid Love and Death. Rather than Mare of Easttown season 2, it would be best for HBO to follow in Apple TV+'s footsteps and devote more resources to new stories for limited series.