“I haven’t had that lightbulb moment”

Will there be a second season for Mare of Easttown?

HBO’s Kate Winslet drama was originally conceived as a limited series, but was so popular that writer Brad Ingelsby has been quizzed about more by the Hollywood Reporter.

What are your thoughts about all the calls for a potential second season?

BI: That’s a tough one. It’s something that I’ve chatted with Kate about. I felt very convinced in season one that we had a mystery that was going to be surprising, yet equally emotional, and a character arc that was very carefully constructed. I think the trick with season two is: How can you outdo that? I don’t know that you’ll ever be able to re-create that level of emotion. What does a second season look like? What’s the deserving second chapter that can fulfill that murder-mystery need but also tell the second chapter of Mare’s personal journey? I think there’s enough stories, in terms of mystery, that you’ll be able to create a new one. But it’s the personal journey that scares me a little bit, because we used a lot of the tools in the toolbox in season one. That’s a very long-winded way of saying that I don’t really know if there’s a season two.

It’s got to be a tricky thing to negotiate because, in success and especially in Hollywood, there is always the plea for more.

BI: I haven’t had that lightbulb “Oh, there it is!” moment. It’s a shame too, because I really care about the characters and I would love to write Helen [Jean Smart] and Mare and Siobhan [Angourie Rice] again. That’s the dilemma. If I didn’t care about the characters so much, I would be happy to leave them and never think about them again. I’d love to give them a second life. I just don’t know what it is.

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