Big Little Lies Season 2 - Episode 1 Initial thoughts

I’m just going to get this right off the tap: Meryl Streep is a juggernaut. Hose me off, Streep was incredible. Her dismissive description of Witherspoon’s chatty busybody, Madeline, as itty bitty and untrustworthy, perhaps even treacherous, later faux recanting those words as “well, you remind me of a friend who betrayed me, she was just like you” was just gold standard work. The way Streep’s Mary Louise, son of the slain hubby to Kidman’s Celeste, is right there when her daughter-in-law awakens from nightmares, questioning their meaning as if inquisitively hoping she’ll admit to something criminal, and a later dinner table discussing her precious son (no clue to the true monster he really was), when the sons have a brief “conflict” (the more violent son, adopting some behaviors from the father, uses a fork as a means to threaten the other brother), including memories of the Golden Gate Bridge and seeing other kids with their fathers, resulting in loud screaming (more like grief shrieking) is a masterclass. I can’t even imagine how good she’ll be just after this one episode. I wonder if Streep has an empty spot ready for the next award for her trophy case because I feel like this is an easy Emmy in wait for her. Okay, don’t count your chickens.

The problem with what happened at the end of the previous season was Madeline’s mistake of claiming that the victim fell instead of what actually happened: the ladies were protecting Celeste from her monstrous husband’s nasty physical assault. Claiming it was a fall to the concrete without the push was just a kneejerk lie that has enwrapped Celeste, Jane (Woodley), Bonnie (Kravitz), Madeline, and Renata (Dern) into a difficult spot that just invites scrutiny, gossip, and distrust. You could see in the first day back to school that the faculty and parents were quite eyeballing each mother, and according to Jane’s co-worker, they are even considered the “Monterey Five”, a label that appears to cast suspicion most certain to shadow them until the real truth eventually emerges.

While Madeline alarmingly seems completely okay with the lie, Bonnie, married to her ex, certainly isn’t. Bonnie can’t talk to her husband or child without “swallowing” the heavy knowledge she was part of a person’s death, no matter if he deserved it or not. Not being able to defend what actually happened, Bonnie is weighed by their collaborative decision to lie. Celeste still has visions of good memories, which are clearly still vivid and real while the violence remains on the periphery. It was complicated. His death means she doesn’t get hit anymore. But the good times that existed within the complex marriage are still there. Of course, for Mary Louise, her baby boy never did anything wrong. He’s perfect. She didn’t get the privilege of watching him pummeling Celeste with repeated blows to her stomach or sock her in the face. Bonnie’s inability to talk while Nathan (James Tupper) is struggling to understand (leading to the customary intense exchange between Nathan and current Madeline husband, Ed (Adam Scott) when the latter is asked by the former to talk with Bonnie in order to maybe draw out of her what is wrong), is just one of many problems the Mackenzies and Madeline must endure. Madeline refuses to allow her daughter, Abby (Newton), to skip college for something more important for her: a start-up that would provide housing to the homeless. Madeline unloading on Abby for turning away college for something that wouldn’t produce a serious career is something to absorb. Abby, thinking of others, and Maddy, thinking of her future, just can’t see eye to eye on almost anything…they really do appear to be complete opposites. And Nathan, already dealing with Bonnie’s disquiet and communication problems, is overwhelmed by his ex and daughter’s fighting matches. It is as explosive as mommy/daughter theatrics when the two just aren’t on the same page. Nathan just looks so defeated and exhausted.