{"id":140200,"date":"2021-06-03T18:12:04","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T22:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=140200"},"modified":"2022-05-02T12:01:52","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T16:01:52","slug":"on-mare-of-easttown-finale-richard-of-bates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2021\/06\/03\/on-mare-of-easttown-finale-richard-of-bates\/","title":{"rendered":"On the finale of HBO&#8217;s &#8216;Mare of Easttown&#8217;: Richard of Bates?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Spoiler alert for HBO\u2019s <em>Mare of Easttown<\/em>, which concluded May 30 with a twist-laiden finale, Mare Sheehan\u2019s (Kate Winslet) writer boyfriend Richard Ryan (Guy Pearce) is departing gloomy Easttown, allegedly to spend the next academic year at none other than Bates College. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s only a year\u2019s contract,\u201d Richard tells Mare as he\u2019s loading up his Jaguar to leave Pennsylvania for Maine.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNever even heard of Bates College,\u201d she responds.<em> <\/em>A detective on the Easttown police force, Mare is skeptical by trade and possibly, by constitution. \u201cBet you\u2019re making it up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/guy-pearce-kate-winslet-2-900x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-140205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/guy-pearce-kate-winslet-2-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/guy-pearce-kate-winslet-2-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/guy-pearce-kate-winslet-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/guy-pearce-kate-winslet-2.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption>In this still from <em>Mare of Easttown<\/em>, author Richard Ryan (played by Guy Pearce) and Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) take a stroll on the campus of the fictional Pennsylvania college where he&#8217;s working when they meet. <em>Photo courtesy of HBO<\/em>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Twitter lit up immediately, with everything from jokes about how Lewiston compares to Easttown (\u201cHe better finish that second book!\u201d quipped one tweeter) to a comment from a prospective parent who said they were planning on bringing their daughter for a tour in a few weeks (\u201cMaybe we\u2019ll run into Richard signing books\u201d). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">That&#39;s cold, Mare. Cold. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BatesCollege?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@BatesCollege<\/a> deserves better. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/We9TNAQRRY\">pic.twitter.com\/We9TNAQRRY<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Michael Rocque (@HitchMagee) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HitchMagee\/status\/1399193424402825217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Some definitely took it as an insult. \u201cThat\u2019s some Swarthmore shade right there,\u201d tweeted Columbia Journalism School professor Emily Bell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a spirited defense from Associate Professor of Sociology Michael Rocque: \u201cThat\u2019s cold, Mare. Cold. @BatesCollege deserves better\u201d Rocque tweeted. Andrew Mountcastle, assistant professor of biology, weighed in with a suggestion that a future season (one isn\u2019t scheduled&#8230;yet) might focus on the murder of a convertible Jaguar (Richard\u2019s ride) by the Maine winter.\u00a0 <br><br>By Monday morning, even Bates decided to join in on the fun, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BatesCollege\/status\/1399388494556975110?s=20&amp;t=SwC9Pxsk4zm_0LmXSl8ygg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">with a tweet<\/a> clearing the air as to whether Bates exists and where Mare can find it, that has now been seen more than 45,000 times. Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stephpridg\/status\/1399407701814386690?s=21\">Stephanie Pridgeon noted<\/a> that she&#8217;d beaten Mare to figuring out who the murderer was. Carolyn Ryan &#8217;86, deputy editor of <em>The New York Times<\/em>, was one of many who retweeted the official Bates account, adding a wry note: &#8220;Great school. Wonderful alums.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/carolynryan\/status\/1399389710867480580\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the show&#8217;s red herrings and loose ends had been explained away, but a mystery remains as to whether the creator and writer of the show, Brad Ingelsby, a Villanova graduate, considers sending novelist Richard to Bates an insult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A request to HBO for an explanation of the Bates reference led only to a polite no, Ingelsby was not available for comment. He\u2019s busy after all; the show was hugely popular, placing that reference to Bates in the pop culture pantheon with Meadow Soprano&#8217;s tour (complete with test-optional reference) and the Bates-related insults that Lisa Simpson endured in a 2015 episode of <em>The Simpsons<\/em> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/batescollege\/photos\/a.173503320821\/10153708879945822\/?type=3\">which we answered with a link for her to apply<\/a> ). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite Mare\u2019s dismissive &#8220;never heard of,&#8221; we\u2019re going to interpret the use of the Bates name as a positive sign for the character of Richard Ryan. He wrote one book, titled <em>May\u2019s Landing <\/em>\u2014 after their first tryst, Mare asks if she can take a copy with her \u2014 and it was well-received, even winning a National Book Award. But according to HBO\u2019s official description&nbsp; of the character, that was a long time ago: \u201cA visiting creative writing professor who wrote a dazzling novel that won the National Book Award 25 years ago, but he has never lived up to his early promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>So maybe her &#8220;never even heard of Bates&#8221; is not an insult; it seems Mare doesn\u2019t think much out of the Easttown box.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>For avid fans of <em>Mare of Easttown<\/em>, Richard was an immediate suspect in the murder that propels the story. The rationale was that Guy Pearce, a movie star, doesn\u2019t show up for minor roles. Plus the character was new to Easttown, saying he\u2019d only moved there a few months ago from Syracuse, for another short term gig as visiting lecturer in creative writing at local Kettleman College. (Scenes involving this fictional institution were shot at Girard College in Philadelphia.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou talk about writing, that\u2019s a thing?\u201d Mare asks Richard about this position when they first meet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a thing,\u201d Richard says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/guy-pearce-900x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-140208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/guy-pearce-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/guy-pearce-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/guy-pearce-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/guy-pearce.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption>Does this man look like he belongs in the English department at Bates? <em>Guy Pearce in the role of &#8220;Richard Ryan,&#8221; photo courtesy of HBO<\/em>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>His \u201cone and only\u201d book was made into a TV movie in the 90s, he tells Mare, starring Jill Eikenberry.&nbsp; \u201cI don\u2019t know who that is,\u201d Mare replies. So maybe her &#8220;never even heard of Bates&#8221; is not an insult; it seems Mare doesn\u2019t think much out of the Easttown box. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cI was the one who gave him that job at \u2018Bates College\u2019 (a code name for my house).\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>And arguably, Bates puts Richard on an upward trajectory, like Mare at the end of the series. He\u2019s going to be working at a nonfictional college in a whole new setting, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment-arts\/tv\/story\/2021-05-30\/hbo-mare-of-easttown-finale-episode-7\">the Los Angeles Times pointed out <\/a>as its critic and another entertainment writer recapped the finale, would be a fine place for a second series:  \u201cAs Stephen King and Jessica Fletcher can both tell you, small-town Maine is a great location for murder, intrigue and tricky regional accents. Sign me up,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This despite BuzzFeed senior editor Estelle Tang\u2019s insistence that Richard isn\u2019t actually going to Bates. \u201cI was the one who gave him that job at \u2018Bates College\u2019 (a code name for my house),\u201d Tang joked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/estelletang\/mare-of-easttown-finale-season-1-review?bftwnews&amp;utm_term=4ldqpgc\">in BuzzFeed\u2019s assessment <\/a>of the finale.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/kate-winslet-guy-pearce-900x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-140210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/kate-winslet-guy-pearce-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/kate-winslet-guy-pearce-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/kate-winslet-guy-pearce-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/06\/kate-winslet-guy-pearce.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption>Happily ever after? Not exactly.<em> Photo courtesy of HBO. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And while Richard may be headed north, Mare, having solved the murder and begun the process of healing from the suicide of her son, may come to visit. \u201cI will call you once I\u2019ve settled in and found a good place to get a beer,\u201d Richard promises Mare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no shortage of those in Lewiston. Keep an eye out for the couple in the Den.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cNever even heard of Bates College,\u201d says Kate Winslet&#8217;s character in the season finale of HBO&#8217;s Mare of Easttown. What&#8217;s up with that? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1283,"featured_media":140210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[11010,224],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-society-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1283"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140200"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146081,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140200\/revisions\/146081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}