Big Little Lies starts to capitalize on all of the tension, which was building over the past few episodes. We alluded to this over the previous few reviews, and now the dominoes are starting to fall in the juiciest of ways. What seemed like a simple lie has now morphed into much more and exposed the lie it seems these five women are leading. As someone who was experiencing some Game Of Thrones withdraws, this show has certainly filled a very void in such a fun way.
photo: Jennifer Clasen/HBO
Mary Louise (Meryl Streep) is finally starting to show her hand to the rest of the Monterey 5. She’s moved into Jane’s (Shailene Woodley) complex so not only can Mary Louise see her grandkids (all 3 of them) she can asses whether or not Celeste is fit to be a single parent. The tensions between these two are quite high, and their relationship is frayed at best.
photo: Jennifer Clasen/HBO
A confrontation occurs at a Pumpkin carving party at Madeline’s (Reese Witherspoon) house. Celeste accuses her of overstepping boundaries, and Mary Louise sees nothing wrong with what has transpired. She takes it one step further and lets it be known to her daughter-in-law how characterizes Jane’s rape (at the hands of her son Perry). This leads to one of the best back and forths ever in Big Little Lies history.
photo: Jennifer Clasen/HBO
For a moment, we begin to think that Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz) is holding it together somewhat, but Big Little Lies keeps dropping massive hints that her end could be forthcoming. Bonnie and Celeste both seem to be feeling the pressure over all of the lies and deceit. They each tell Madeline that they wish that night at the fundraiser would have been handled differently. It seems now that a group which was so tight is now starting to fray.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCWevZV945M
Renata (Laura Dern) is still attempting to keep up appearances even though they just went through a bankruptcy hearing. She’s having trouble coming to grips that all of her dreams that she had for her daughter are gone. Instead of trying to reconcile with this, she does what any psychotic person would do and throw a party. Ed (Adam Scott) did sum up this episode beautifully when he talked about how fake everyone in Monterey is.
Overall, this was the best episode of the second season. The best moment of this episode doesn’t happen until the final six minutes and man was it awesome. Fireworks are beginning to fly on Big Little Lies just in time for the forthcoming holiday.
Dewey Singleton has been reviewing new releases in television and film for many years. Dewey's reviews have been heard in multiple markets (Houston Atlanta, Tampa). Dewey's past work has been with awardswatch.com, awardsradar.com, and bleeding cool. Dewey is a proud member of the CCA.