I’m not sure if you noticed, but “Mare of Easttown” broke HBO Max. So many people tuned in for the finale that the streaming site stopped working properly! This begs the question, what did people love the most about “Mare of Easttown”? Was it the small-town setting? The murder mystery? The female lead who took no ish from anyone? Or perhaps it was all the twists and turns (because, let me tell you, there were tons of twists and turns).
Well, no matter what you loved about that small-town living murder mystery, we have several Korean dramas you must watch right now if you liked “Mare of Easttown.” Below we break down the many fun tropes of “Mare of Easttown” and the K-dramas that have them! So take notes because if you are wondering what to watch if you like “Mare of Easttown,” we’ve got you covered!
SMALL TOWN MYSTERY
One of the biggest tropes of “Mare of Easttown” is the small town that oozes secrets and consequences. Mare not only grew up in this town, she is also the local town hero for shooting the game-winning shot in a few days gone by the State Championship Basketball tournament. Now, she is the local police detective. This town has history with Mare going back 50 years, which leads many people to overlook wrongs to keep the community together. Though that could also be isolating this community further under a barrel of homegrown secrets.
Korean dramas also have their secretive small town communities where favors are granted, and secrets are kept. If loving secretive small towns is what drove you to keep watching this show, then look no further than the following K-drama shows similar to “Mare of Easttown”: “The Village Achiara’s Secret” (a sleepy small-town murder mystery where a body is found and the town isn’t talking); and “Come and Hug Me” (a small-town serial killer is on the loose, and two kids in love are trapped in the crosshairs).
STRONG FEMALE LEAD DETECTIVE
Mare is a no-nonsense, hard-living, alcohol-drinking, vape-smoking tall glass of don’t-mess-with-me water. She takes no mess from no one, even the people she has known and grown up with for years. This gets her into all sorts of arguments and unsavory situations in this town because everyone is looking for a favor in this murder mystery – and Mare is just not having it.
K-dramas are ripe with strong female leads who shirk the responsibilities of well-mannered, feminine living. The kind of female leads who want to solve the case ethically and yet by any means necessary. If you love strong, no-nonsense female leads, then you must watch “Children of Nobody” (a children’s social worker follows a poem as a clue to finding a murderer); Nobody Knows (a detective searches for the serial killer that killed her friend 19 years ago), and “Sell Your Haunted House” (a dark comedy where a female ghost hunter takes no mess from anyone).
THE MURDER MYSTERY
One thing “Mare of Easttown” has done wonderfully is introducing doubt in this murder investigation. Everyone who was a suspect was a suspect. Everyone had a motive. But on top of that, new cases were turning up in this small town! I mean, it is time for these people to move, amirite?
The murder mystery was wonderfully done and kept you guessing to the very last twist at the end. If getting lost in a great murder mystery and trying to solve the clues right along with the protagonist is what kept you trucking along in “Mare of Easttown,” then be sure to check out the above K-dramas as well as these two murder mysteries: “Kairos” (a speculative murder mystery where a man 30 days in the future helps a woman solve a missing person case), and “Ghost” (a cat and mouse game with a cop and a cyber-murderer).
THE TWISTS AND TURNS
Hot snot, did “Mare of Easttown” have twists and turns, or did “Mare of Easttown” have twists and turns! My head was spinning like the top of a coke bottle at everything going on in this town. Of course, I cannot tell you about anything that happened because I do not want to spoil it. Just know that “Mare of Easttown” will keep you on your toes and then trip you with a roundhouse kick.
But even though “Mare of Easttown” had lots of cliffhangers in its plot, those cliffhangers were nothing compared to the cliffhangers I have seen in K-dramas. I’m talking mouth-dropped-to-the-floor cliffhangers. The kind of cliffhangers that keep you dialed in for the next weeks’ episode and hunting the internet for clues on just what might have happened in the meantime.
If pull-your-hair-out cliffhangers is what kept you going in “Mare of Easttown,” then you must watch these K-dramas: “Gods Gift 14 Days” (a mother commits suicide after her child’s murder, but then wakes up 14 days before the incident and has to solve the case before it happens again); “The Penthouse” (a murder happens at an elite penthouse and everyone is to blame); and “The Last Empress” (an alternate reality dark comedy where a modern Empress is killed, and the new Empress might be next).
Of the shows mentioned, I would say that “The Village Achiara’s Secret,” “Children of Nobody,” “Nobody Knows,” and “God’s Gift 14 Days” are the best match to the tropes mentioned for “Mare of Easttown” and just might give it a run for its money with creepy mysteries. All these shows mentioned above are available to watch right now on KOCOWA. Start your free two-week trial today!
[maxbutton id=”592″ ] [maxbutton id=”593″ ]
