Thursday, June 20, 2019

What I’m Watching: Big Little Lies

Big Little Lies: Season 2, Episode 2 “Tell-Tale Hearts” (B+)

Anyone who doubted whether a second season was worth making without the corresponding source material should hopefully feel, as I do, that there’s evidently fascinating ground still to be covered with these characters. This episode was all about the women’s relationships with their husbands and other family members, something we haven’t really seen in depth before this. Laura Dern had her Emmy-winning scene here when Renata went ballistic on Gordon after he dared to blame his commission of crimes on her wanting more. She also wasn’t too shy to repeat bluntly that she would not “not be rich” after realizing that his arrest was no mistake. Nathan calling Bonnie’s mom ended up being more miserable for him than for her when she didn’t hide her feelings about him being a clueless idiot. I was happy to see Martin Donovan from “Boss” and “Weeds” as Bonnie’s father, even though he didn’t have much of a part. Dr. Reisman having Celeste replace herself with Madeline in abusive memories was indeed effective, but unfortunately she’s far from in control of what’s happening, and it’s not just her sleeping pill-induced car wrecks. The truth about Perry and Ziggy getting out was accepted relatively well by most parties aside from Mary Louise, who continued to enable her son by attacking the integrity of his accusers. Her going to the police won’t do anyone any good, and she’s going to defend her son’s reputation no matter who else has to be impugned in the process. Abigail not wanting to go to college will now be the least of Madeline’s worries, and I can’t imagine what she’d be able to do to entice Ed to stay. It’s good to see Adam Scott getting some serious material, though he also handled Nathan’s attempt to challenge him to a fight with excellent comedic dismissal.

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