What I’m Watching: Big Little Lies (Season Finale)

Big Little Lies: Season 1, Episode 7 “You Get What You Need” (B)

Well, this is it. While there’s a slight possibility that the popular of this show will help earn it a second season given the binoculars shot we saw of someone watching them, this is likely the end. As I had predicted all along, the final episode did answer questions but provided fewer answers than seemed fitting given the number of interviews we saw brief segments of over the course of all seven episodes. All of the denouement was contained to about a fifteen-minute scene, when we finally understood that the person who I’d imagine was everyone’s likeliest suspect, Perry, turned out to be the one who was dead, but we still didn’t know exactly how. The idea that, after everything, Madeline, Celeste, and Jane were joined by Renata and Bonnie in the very necessary takedown of a violent predator who also turned out to be the one who raped Jane is intriguing, since it creates a bond between them that obviously they kept to themselves. After all the squabbling, they’re the best of friends, and what happier ending could there be than that, if you think about it? Madeline’s affair is inconsequential, in theory Amabella is no longer being hurt, though that wasn’t addressed, and life is much more peaceful on the beach without any men, even the relatively good ones like Ed and Nathan. There were certainly good performances on this show, but I do wish it had been just a notch more organized and less driven by this surprise conclusion. I’d be happy to see more, and I do hope it earns some awards recognition come Emmy time and beyond.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Reese Witherspoon as Madeline