Fathers (Mare of Easttown)

Plot

Mare arrives at the creek and inspects Erin's corpse. She visits Erin's drunk father, Kenny, to inform him of the news; Kenny is devastated and immediately believes Dylan killed Erin because he hated her for keeping the baby. Mare questions Dylan, who provides details but omits Brianna beating her. After a press conference, Mare is introduced to Detective Colin Zabel, appointed to Erin's and Katie's case because he solved a nearby cold case.

Siobhan and Helen take Drew to play with Carrie Layden, his mother and Kevin's wife before his death; Carrie, a recovering addict, reveals she will seek full custody of Drew. After finding a video where Brianna assaults Erin, Mare and Colin arrest her at her family restaurant. Brianna is aggressive and reveals to Colin that Mare's son, Kevin, died by suicide. Mare confronts Siobhan for not mentioning her visit to the party, and Siobhan agrees to testify.

The next day, Mare visits a doctor over Drew's blinking tic; the doctor says it is normal, but Mare expresses concerns to Frank that Drew might have inherited the mental illness that caused Kevin's suicide. Mare and Colin interrogate all partygoers, including Siobhan, but none provide a lead. Mare finally accepts to go out with Richard to a reception in his honor, but on her way out she is harassed by Brianna's father, Tony, who scolds her for arresting her.

The date goes poorly. Dylan leaves for cigarettes and is held at gunpoint by Kenny in his car, who forces him to drive to the turnpike and then to the woods, where Kenny makes him run before shooting him in the back. Mare arrives at a gas station owned by Dawn, finds Tony following her, and they have a tense argument before Dawn asks Tony to leave. Tony later throws a gallon of milk through Mare's window and flees.

Jess Riley, Erin's best friend, confides in her mother that Erin made her promise something; she and her mother visit Lori, telling her that Dylan is not the father of Erin's baby, and Jess believes it was Frank, Erin's former teacher.

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "Fathers" was seen by an estimated 0.735 million household viewers with a 0.10 in the 18–49 demographics, meaning 0.10 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode. This was a 22% increase from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.600 million viewers with a 0.08 in the 18-49 demographics. The episode earned critical acclaim. Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A" grade and wrote that even before the double cliffhanger, the episode finds Mare at a level and pace of storytelling that feels jarring after a pilot that spends most of its energy setting the table, calling it a nifty twist on the contemporary murder-mystery series.

Roxana Hadadi of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and noted a feral quality in how Charlie raged and how Kenny does the same thing, pushing away his cousins, yelling and crying, and threatening Dylan, adding that she tended to agree that Dylan killed Erin. Liz Shannon Miller of Collider wrote that if Mare thinks she has found peace, she does not know how short-lived it will be, because Erin's best friend Jess is ready to spill Erin's big secret that the baby's father is not actually Dylan, and while Jess does not know who the real father is, she suspects Frank, ending on a helluva cliffhanger.

Sean T. Collins of Decider wrote that in terms of artistic quality, Mare of Easttown has its work cut out for it, attempting to balance multiple dead teenagers with enough light material, and that it takes a very special show to get that balance right, but that Kate Winslet is an actor talented enough to carry an entire town and show. Sarah Fields of Telltale TV gave the episode a 4.2 star rating out of 5 and called it an excellent second outing that should make viewers all in if they were not already.