The finale of Mare of Easttown accomplished a rare feat on HBO.
The closing episode of the limited series hit a same-day viewership high, drawing some 3 million viewers in its first 24 hours across all platforms (the initial HBO airing, replays and streaming on HBO Max). HBO says 4 million people watched the finale over the Memorial Day weekend.
The Kate Winslet-led series grew its audience with every episode following its premiere — something only one other HBO series, last fall’s The Undoing, has accomplished.
Parent company WarnerMedia also says that the Mare of Easttown finale is now the most watched episode of any HBO or HBO Max original series in its first 24 hours on the streaming service. The previous highs were held by the finales of The Undoing and The Flight Attendant. (Of course, as with most things streaming, the company did not offer up any audience figures. Nielsen doesn’t currently include HBO Max in its weekly streaming rankings.)
The success of Mare of Easttown has led to speculation about a possible second season, a la Big Little Lies — which was billed as a limited series but returned for a second run. Winslet said she’d “love to play Mare again” in an interview with TVLine, but creator Brad Ingelsby told The Hollywood Reporter he’s not committed to a second season.
“It was written as a limited, and it ends — there’s no more mystery to be solved,” Ingelsby said. “Kate and I, if we could crack a story that we were really proud of and felt like it was a deserving second chapter in Mare’s journey, then maybe. I haven’t cracked that yet; I don’t know what that is, honestly.”
