As Kate Winslet mulls return to ‘Easttown,’ more strong women
Don’t crack that celebratory bottle of Rolling Rock just yet. While HBO would love to air a second season of “Mare of Easttown” and viewers would kill to see more of Mare and her vape pipe, neither creator Brad Ingelsby nor star Kate Winslet have quite committed to bringing everyone’s favorite small-town detective back for another round of crime-solving.
So what’s a lovesick “Mare” viewer to do? You could cry over your cheesesteak, or you could dig into some of the best fierce-female performances currently streaming on a screen near you.
From the Zen serenity of Natasha Rothwell to the globe-trotting lunacy of Kaley Cuoco, here is a look at six seriously sensational TV women. While you wait for “Mare,” they’ve got your back.
Jennifer Coolidge and Natasha Rothwell, ‘The White Lotus’ (HBO Max)
With its hothouse stew of family drama, class warfare and assorted personal dysfunctions, the White Lotus resort hotel is not the escapist Hawaiian paradise its rich, pampered guests signed up for. But for fans of first-class acting, this HBO miniseries of the same title is a slice of TV heaven.
As the resort’s increasingly unhinged manager, Australian actor Murray Bartlett is the show’s breakout star, and sight of Bartlett waltzing through the hotel in his salmon-colored blazer will put you in an instant state of viewing bliss. But save some love for veteran character actress Jennifer Coolidge (“Best in Show,” “Legally Blonde”) and “Insecure” wisecracker Natasha Rothwell, whose performances as a damaged guest and an empathetic spa manager are the soul at the heart of director-writer Mike White’s canny satire.
Everything about the befuddled, grieving Tanya (Coolidge), the saintly Belinda (Rothwell) and their transactional friendship is ripe for lampooning. But White and the actresses give the characters and their relationship a respectfully funny depth that nudges “The White Lotus” from terrific to practically perfect. There will be Emmys.
Kaley Cuoco and Zosia Mamet, ‘The Flight Attendant’ (HBO Max)
To watch Kaley Cuoco on “The Big Bang Theory” was to love her for making the ditzy Penny so much more than a sexy second banana. But to watch Cuoco careening through “The Flight Attendant” is to be shocked and amazed. Shocked because Cuoco’s performance as Cassie Bowden, an alcoholic party girl who may have killed a guy during a blackout, is amazing.
You can say the same for Zosia Mamet. The “Girls” star is a deadpan delight as Cassie’s best friend Annie, a high-powered lawyer whose no-nonsense cool helps mask the reality that Annie works for very, very bad people. As Cassie lurches from one bad scene to another and Annie uses her wits and rule-skirting savvy to bail her out, Cuoco and Mamet have the edgy chemistry of spies who know their partners too well to trust them, but need them too much not to.
The eight-episode series is a dizzying mix of bloody violence, black humor and screwball-comedy energy, but with its crew of capable women in control, “The Flight Attendant” sticks its landing. It has been renewed for a second season. Here’s hoping Cassie has Annie on retainer.