Sacrament (Mare of Easttown)

The photo reveals Erin next to a sleeping John, while Jess mentions that Dylan knows he isn't the biological father. She goes on to say that they burned the journals to protect Erin's secret, especially since both Erin and Dylan's parents wanted the baby to stay with Dylan's family. At the lake, John prepares to shoot Billy, but Mare interrupts them. Before John can commit suicide, Billy fights him until Mare restrains them and arrests John despite his pleas to kill him.

At the station, John admits he was in a relationship with Erin and is DJ's father. He recalls that Erin called him away from Frank's engagement party to meet her at the park, where she threatened to shoot herself. John says he accidentally shot her while struggling for the gun, and that he and Billy moved her body to the woods to draw suspicion towards the other kids who were there that night. John admits he convinced Lori to lie and tell Mare that Billy killed Erin.

After being convicted, John pleads with Lori to adopt and raise DJ. Billy gets arrested too, but he manages to get out on bail, and Deacon Mark is also released. In the end, John receives a light sentence. When Carrie fails to appear for the custody hearing, Mare finds her in the stairwell, crying, and she confesses that she has relapsed. Carrie agrees to let Mare look after Drew while she goes back to rehab.

Later, while Mare is dining at a restaurant with Helen, Frank, and Faye (who have reconciled), she jokes with Frank about his poor choice of wedding tuxedo and steps away to use the restroom. As she leaves, she encounters Sandra and makes a rude remark. Sandra confronts Mare, stating that she hasn't been unfaithful to John in five years and would never cheat on her husband again.

Mare returns to work and reviews the footage of John's confession. She realizes that even though he shot Erin, he can't recall the make and model of the gun he used. Later, she talks to Chief Carter, who tells her that the ballistics officer is the best in the business and would know they type of gun used. Mare receives a call from Glen Carroll, who is in a state of despair. He confesses that since his wife's passing, he can't keep the house in order. When Mare presses him, he reveals that he's noticed some things missing, including his handgun. When Mare asks for details about the missing gun, Glen describes it, and she suddenly realizes it's the same type of gun used to kill Erin. Glen explains that it recently vanished from his shed and was returned with two rounds missing, and only he and Ryan Ross had access to the shed. After checking the security footage, Mare sees Ryan taking the gun on the night Erin was murdered.

When she goes to talk to Ryan, he flees the scene, forcing her to issue an APB on him. He flees home, just as Mare arrives with more officers. Ryan confesses that he, not John, met Erin at the park and had planned to use Glen's gun to scare her into staying away from his family. Ryan killed her after his attempted intimidation became a physical struggle and he lost control of the gun. He admits that his father John and uncle Billy covered it up to protect him, and Lori confesses that she was aware John had gotten Erin pregnant and that Ryan was the one who killed her, but she went along with the narrative that it was Billy who both impregnated and murdered Erin to protect her son. Ryan is sent to juvenile detention, while a devastated Lori blames Mare for everything and ends their friendship.

After a while, things go back to normal, with Mark heading back to the church and Siobhan decides to leave Easttown to attend the University of California, Berkeley. After Frank and Faye's wedding, the family has a tearful goodbye with Siobhan. Mare, who attended the wedding with Richard, says goodbye to Richard (who is leaving to teach at Bates College) and they confess their love for one another. Mare sticks with therapy. When her therapist presses her, Mare confesses that Lori isn't speaking to her even though she's reached out several times. Mare eventually goes to see Lori, who initially turns her away but eventually collapses in Mare's embrace. Back at home, Mare finally goes back to the attic, the first time since Kevin's suicide.

The episode was written by series creator Brad Ingelsby, and directed by executive producer Craig Zobel. It marked Ingelsby's seventh writing credit, and Zobel's seventh directing credit.^[1]

Brad Ingelsby said that the decision to reveal Ryan as Erin's killer took months, before feeling comfortable with the idea, "I took about eight months with the characters in my head and then one day I was like, “Can it be Ryan? That would be really hard on Mare and how it relates to her son and Lori.” That felt like a surprising ending, and also a really emotional one."^[2] Julianne Nicholson was content with the idea, "it was satisfying for me to have so much to do around home and motherhood and friendship in that last episode in particular."^[3]