Mare of Easttown season 2? Kate Winslet 'would absolutely love to,' HBO leaves the door open

As HBO viewers ponder what their lives will look like now without Mare and her e-cigarette, actress Kate Winslet and HBO Chief Casey Bloys are leaving the door open for a possible Mare of Easttown season 2.

Both spoke about the potential in the aftermath of the hit drama's HBO Max-crashing series finale, which aired on Sunday, May 30.

"Brad just did a fantastic job on Mare," Bloys told Variety in praise of series creator and showrunner Brad Ingelsby.

"If Brad felt like he had a story to tell that felt like it would be at the same level," he added. "I think everybody would be open to it. Right now, he doesn't have that story. Who knows? We'll have to wait to see if they come up with something they're dying to tell."

Bloys clarified that there have been "no real conversations about what a season 2 would look like," nor is there a timeline for making that decision. "Usually we take the lead from our creators," he said.

As for Winslet, the Oscar winner told TVLine she "would absolutely love to play Mare again."

"I miss her. I really do," she said. "It's the strangest thing. I feel like I'm in mourning. It was an absolutely wonderful role… There's something very addictive about Mare, because she's so outrageous and lovable and brilliant and real, you know? I loved playing her."

Mare of Easttown followed America's new favorite hoagie-eating detective from small-town Pennsylvania, Mare Sheehan, as she investigated the murder (or rather, "murdur") of a local girl and watches as the town's dark secrets came to light. Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, Guy Pearce, Angourie Rice, and Evan Peters also featured.

HBO is officially calling this a limited series and it will compete as one for the Emmys, but that doesn't automatically negate a second season. Look at Big Little Lies, which became a sensation and involved the unveiling of mysterious events around a death in the community. The cast and crew for that show made similar remarks as Bloys and Winslet about more episodes and then it became a reality.

All we know is the Mare withdrawals are real.

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