MARE OF EASTTOWN

This weekend, I’m looking forward to starting HBO’s new limited series, MARE OF EASTTOWN. The first episode premiered last Sunday, and while many are (rightfully) fixating on Kate Winslet’s stirring performance as a small-town Pennsylvania detective investigating a murder, Twitter is in a frenzy over the inspiration for the costumes on the show. Executive producer and series director Craig Zobel told Philly Voice, "Our costume designer [Meghan Kasperlik] would constantly be texting me pictures from the Wawa convenience store, just of people in the line.” The show’s stellar reviews have placed a particular emphasis on its moody atmosphere and distinct setting, so let this be a lesson in authenticity and world-building to all of us: Anything short of an ethnographic field study in the Wawa check-out line simply will not cut it.

—Neal Mulani, Development Assistant