SHATTERING TV HISTORY! Kelly Reilly’s Under Salt Marsh Outshines Mare of Easttown with Devastating Cold Case Secrets in Storm-Ravaged Wales
Yellowstone star Kelly Reilly is set to deliver a knockout performance in Under Salt Marsh, a gripping new Sky Original crime thriller that promises to eclipse HBO’s Mare of Easttown with its raw emotional depth, atmospheric Welsh setting, and devastating cold case revelations. Premiering in 2026, this six-part series marks Reilly’s first major TV role since the Dutton ranch saga ended, and early buzz suggests it’ll shatter viewers with secrets that unravel lives and communities alike.
A Haunting Return to the Shadows
In Under Salt Marsh, created and showrun by Claire Oakley (Make Up), Reilly embodies Jackie Ellis, a once-fierce detective forced from the force three years prior after a tragic case involving her missing niece shattered her career and family. Now a schoolteacher in the fictional coastal town of Morfa Halen—nestled precariously between jagged mountains and a relentless sea—Jackie’s fragile peace is obliterated when she discovers the body of her eight-year-old pupil, Cefin, seemingly drowned amid an approaching once-in-a-generation storm.
The discovery isn’t just a fresh horror; it’s a chilling echo of the past. Convinced the boy’s death links to her niece’s unsolved disappearance, Jackie must bury old wounds and reunite with her estranged ex-partner, Detective Eric Bull (Rafe Spall, Trying), whose previous failure in the case left their partnership—and the town—in ruins. As floodwaters rise and evidence threatens to vanish forever, the duo races against time, dredging up long-buried secrets that expose the town’s fractured soul: hidden grief, simmering resentments, and betrayals that bind residents like the encroaching tide.
Why It Crushes Mare of Easttown
Fans of Kate Winslet’s Mare of Easttown—with its small-town Pennsylvania grit, maternal ferocity, and cold case heartbreak—will find Under Salt Marsh a worthy successor, but with a sharper, storm-lashed edge. Where Mare simmered in suburban melancholy, Reilly’s series dials up the elemental terror: the Welsh landscape isn’t just backdrop; it’s a character, its wild beauty masking a community “deeply connected to its environment, interwoven with heartache, fears, dreams, and secrets.” Oakley’s script blends cinematic intimacy with pulse-pounding urgency, evoking Broadchurch‘s coastal claustrophobia and Sherwood‘s communal scars, but infuses it with Reilly’s signature steel—think Beth Dutton’s venom redirected into quiet, unraveling resolve.
First-look images capture Reilly’s transformation: windswept hair framing a face etched with quiet devastation, her eyes piercing the misty Welsh horizon as if daring the sea to yield its truths. “Jackie embodies the wildness of the place,” Oakley says, praising Reilly’s ability to channel “free-spirited compassion and steely determination.” It’s a role tailor-made for Reilly, trading cowboy boots for rain-soaked wellies, yet retaining that unyielding fire that made her a Yellowstone icon.
A Stellar Ensemble and Cinematic Stakes
Spall’s Bull brings brooding intensity as the guilt-ridden detective haunted by past failures, their tense reunion crackling with unspoken accusations. The cast deepens the drama: Jonathan Pryce (The Crown) as a community elder guarding dark histories, Naomi Yang (Chimerica) as a local grappling with loss, and a ensemble including Dinita Gohil (Treason), Brian Gleeson (Bad Sisters), Kimberley Nixon (Queenie), and Harry Lawtey (Industry), all navigating Morfa Halen’s web of suspicion.
Directed by Oakley (Episodes 1-2, 5-6) and Mary Nighy (Episodes 3-4), the series promises moody visuals of eroding cliffs and storm-battered homes, mirroring the characters’ inner turmoil. Produced by Little Door Productions for Sky Studios, it’s an “intimate and cinematic story” that probes resilience amid unthinkable crime, with the encroaching tempest literalizing the deadline for truth.
Secrets That’ll Shatter You
Under Salt Marsh isn’t just a whodunit; it’s a slow-burn gut-punch, where cold case revelations don’t just solve mysteries—they destroy facades. As Jackie and Bull peel back layers of communal silence, expect twists that echo Mare‘s familial bombshells but hit harder, amplified by the isolation of a town on the brink. The series explores how violence ripples through tight-knit lives, forcing reckonings with grief, complicity, and the lies we tell to survive.
With Reilly at its fierce heart, Under Salt Marsh is poised to be 2026’s must-binge thriller—a devastating cocktail of suspense, humanity, and heartbreak that’ll leave you questioning every shadow in the surf. Mark your calendars; this one’s washing away the competition.
