If she thinks she can trust Zabel with the fact that she’s continuing to work on the case while suspended, why not trust him with this information?

Could Mare know more about the case than she’s letting on? Does she suspect her son or daughter had something to do with Erin’s death? Or does she just want the glory of solving the case, because she’s been unable to track down Katie Bailey?

What significance does 5-29-17 hold?

When Mare visits Erin’s bedroom to try and find her diaries, she comes across a gold, heart-shaped necklace at the back of her dresser with the date ‘5-29-17’ engraved on it.

The obvious explanation – that it’s DJ’s birthday – doesn’t quite check out: not only would he be too young for this to be true (I’m presuming this show is set in the present day, which would make him four), but also, why would she hide it if that was the case?

The only thing I will say about this necklace is that it’s interesting that Mare decides to hold onto it. Sure, she can’t exactly walk into the police station and say ‘hey, look what I found’, but you’d think she’d put it away for safekeeping, not walk around her house looking at it, as she’s shown doing later in the episode. Is it possible that she has a personal connection to that date too?

Mare Of Easttown episode 4 recap: things are getting dark around here