On this chapter of The Queerest Things I Watched Last Week, in the dark murder series Mare of Easttown, Siobhan, Mare’s daughter, has a very cute and dramatic queer teen story.
- Mare of Easttown – Season 1 Episodes 1-4 [Live]
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I am a hard core Philadelphian. I’m not a native, but I’ve lived here since 1988 which is the vast majority of my life. And I live IN actual Philadelphia, not the ‘burbs.
I love this city, the good and the bad, with every fiber of my being. Two of our unofficial tag lines are “No one likes us. We don’t care.” and “Leave Philly Alone.”
I’m not saying we’re not friendly people, but if you mess with us we get pissed off. For example, if you say “Bad things happen in Philadelphia” then bad things will happen for YOU in Philadelphia (you’re welcome). We are a simple, yet complicated city who for the most part wants to be left alone. However, when we get a little attention, we act all annoyed and critical, but secretly we love it. Like it. Maybe. Whatever.
Mare of Easttown takes place in a fictionalized version of Easttown, a real town in Chester County (a county West of Philly) they moved to Delaware County for the show. Delaware County (known as Delco) is South of Philly (right past the airport) and known for Hoagie Dip, the birthplace of Wawa and a unique flavor of the Philly accent. I think it’s weird they moved a whole town to a different county, but it’s fun to watch Kate Winslet try to get a Delco accent right. Of course, the greater Philadelphia region is excitedly overanalyzing how right or wrong the show is getting Delco. Wawa, Yuengling lager (which used to be my favorite cheap beer until they came out as Tr*mp supporters), Delco bar culture, dropping local town names, etc. is pretty spot on. The accent is so-so and “PECO gas?” No, that’s not correct.
I could write an entire article on the many feelings Philly area people are having about this show, but you’re here for the queer, right?
Kate Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, a local detective who’s smart, but also a bit of a mess. Her daughter Siobhan (Angourie Rice) is the lead singer of the band “Androgynous” who is dating her bandmate, Becca.
They’re a couple and it’s not a thing. It’s always nice to have queer couples who just exist without a coming-out story or a lot of angst related to being queer. It is a far cry from one of my good friend’s experience of growing up in Delco in the 80s and getting beaten up every day in school for being gay. It’s nice to see how things have changed.
In episode 3, Androgynous does a live show on Haverford’s college radio station. Siobhan has very obvious and cute flirty vibes with Anne the radio DJ.
Meanwhile, Becca, who ate a bunch of edibles, barfs on the couch in the studio. Not a good look. Siobhan is super embarrassed, but Anne is really nice about it.
Later (I guess Becca got it together enough to play) Siobhan goes back to the station because she left her bag. Anne very cutely asks her out on a date.
I went to Temple University and our queer student union would visit Haverford’s queer student union and a friend of mine started dating a girl there. I also saw bands play at Bryn Mawr and The Met is a recently renovated long-time abandoned theater on North Broad Street in Philly. This is very relatable content!
In episode four, Siobhan does the right thing and breaks up with Becca before dating Anne, but she is not 100% honest about it.
Gram is so on to her.
To put the non-queer part of the story in context, Siobhan’s brother Kevin killed himself and Mare is in a battle with his girlfriend Carrie for the custody of her son (Mare’s grandson). They both suffered from addiction issues, but Carrie is trying to be sober and get her life together. Siobhan is making a documentary about her brother and working on it while hanging out with Anne at the studio.
Meanwhile back at Mare’s house, guess who shows up at the front door.
Oh, boy. This can’t end well.
Soon, Anne is driving Siobhan home and my wife and I are like, “Oh, shit!”
As soon as she said, “Let’s go inside.” my wife and I were screaming. It was a perfect moment of messy queer drama.
It’s interesting to have a cute and dramatic queer storyline happening in the middle of a very dark murder drama — I love it!
P.S.
The greater Philadelphia region freaked out over this Mare of Easttown parody. It is very accurate and I’m glad Delco is getting its moment in the spotlight.
This week: The TV gods have decided to put almost every show with queer content on Sunday nights making it very difficult for me to write about it in time for Monday! I will be behind on recapping Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman and Pose. My apologies in advance!
