What I’m Watching: Big Little Lies

Big Little Lies: Season 2, Episode 6 “The Bad Mother” (B+)

I thought that this was the season of Reese Witherspoon, but Nicole Kidman got quite the showcase in this hour. Her entire life really was put on trial in an extremely public way, and Denis O’Hare was born to play the role of the belligerent questioner set on exposing her every potentially unfit action. At least she was honest about pretty much everything, the specifics of Perry’s death aside, and she held up very well considering the onslaught of accusations leveled against her. It was reassuring to see her stand up right before the judge was set to deliver her verdict and demand that Mary Louise be put on trial for her own fitness as a parent, given that she continues to deny that Perry could have been the abusive person everyone else insists he is. That’s sure to make for an explosive finale, one that may also resolve some of the other plotlines prominently featured in this episode. Ed got a relatively straightforward and strings-free offer from Tori that he may well take, and that would probably be the simplest way to be back on good terms with Madeline, who is doing whatever she can to try to atone for her sins and grapple with what she’s feeling now. Bonnie confessing to her mother and expressing her resentment was powerful, and I’m glad that no one overheard that moment of honesty which Bonnie seems desperate to unload. Jane is doing a good job of confronting the people in her life who do things to upset her, and it seems that Corey is interested in being with her, no matter how long it takes for her to trust him again. Renata does go overboard sometimes, but her reaction to finding out that her husband slept with the nanny and that she was demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars for her time felt much more justified than usual.