What I’m Watching: Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere: Season 1, Episode 5 “Duo” (B+)

I was completely right about Lexie being pregnant, but I didn’t see things going down like this. Calling Pearl to ask her to come be with her for the abortion felt like a perfectly acceptable thing to do, until Pearl heard her own name called so that Lexie could protect her reputation and sacrifice that of someone she felt mattered less. Lexie collapsed into Mia’s arms when she arrived at her house, but she got a stern life lesson handed to her when Mia chipped away at her entitled behavior. Lexie walking out of the Warren house came at the worst possible time since the unexplained event served to alienate another member of the Richardson family who was actually interested in the Warrens for who they were, and that’s budding pyromaniac Izzy, who we know will end up hating her own family more than she hates anyone else. The custody case has gotten intense, and Linda was understandably furious at Elena for not sharing the crucial information that Mia was connected to Bebe. Elena driving to New York to learn more about Mia’s past and reconnect with an old flame was a real escape from reality, and it ended much in the same way that her daughter’s stay at Mia’s home did, with a brutal takedown from Jamie about how highly she thought of herself. Getting awoken while asleep in her car and told by the police officer that she wasn’t parked in a very safe area was an emphatic way to once again highlight the difference in how people are treated simply by the color of their skin.