Big Little Lies (Season 1 spoilers)

[JirinPanthosa]

I’ve been catching up on Big Little Lies, and it’s blowing me away. I finished season 1 last night and plan to see the first two season 2 eps before the next new one airs.

The show starts with a killing that happened at a school event in a wealthy Monterrey neighborhood but doesn’t tell you who the victim is until the end of the season. It has a stellar cast and focuses on the nuanced social politics of wealthy parents with time on their hands and the violence that secretly underlies them.

From this point on, there will be season 1 spoilers. Season 2 spoilers should be marked.

The resolution to the murder was incredible. It did kind of rely on a coincidence to work but that moment where all of the women realized not only that Celeste was abused but that Jane recognized her husband as the same man who raped her was executed perfectly.

The whole season misleads us by making us think the killing came out of the conflicts between the women, and it turns out once their secrets came out they just empathized with each other and collaborated to lie to protect their children from finding out about their father.

Can’t wait to see what Meryl Streep brings to the show.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I was also late to the game, but only a few months after the first season ended.

I remember feeling shaken by the experience after I watched the whole season in one day. I'm not sure why this mini-series got under my skin more than other shows, films, books, graphic novels that have covered abuse in the past. Maybe it's because of the different types of abuses that are explored. Maybe it's because of the children, even if they weren't direct victims of it. Maybe it's just the way the show explored the impacts of abuse through the writing, the directing, the acting, the music selection.

And yet the part that disturbed me the most is the gossiping mob mentality that occurs in the periphery. I don't know if it's because I'm accustomed to depictions of abuse or my own history with abuse or simply my own lack of experience as a parent, but seeing these parents gossip (even if just in the form of police interviews) greatly bothered me. Which, of course, was the point.

I also have to say the music selection on its own was sublime. I may not have known half of the songs, but damn it's a killer playlist, one which I still have on my Spotify. I don't mean just the official soundtrack but every song that was featured throughout the season including the Elvis covers (which is wonderfully listed here). And speaking of those covers, while it's no surprise Zoë Kravitz has a beautiful voice considering her parents, I was completely blown away by Adam Scott's performance.

I've already seen the first two episodes of the new season and, without giving anything away, Meryl Streep is a force not to be reckon.

It did kind of rely on a coincidence to work but that moment where all of the women realized not only that Celeste was abused but that Jane recognized her husband as the same man who raped her was executed perfectly.

I rewatched the finale prior to the season 2 premiere and that moment is the one that stood out the most to me. Not just everyone realizing Celeste was abused and Jane recognizing her rapist, but also everyone else realizing that Jane recognized her rapist...and Perry realizing that everyone figured this all out in a few short breaths. Absolutely superb acting.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Also it makes me smile how Madeline reminds me of Leslie Knope if she never got into government work and just happens to be married to Adam Scott.

Now that I think of it, Jane is also a little Ann-ish.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Heh, I didn't think of that. Might because I didn't watch Parks and Recreations until after I saw Big Little Lies. Yeah, I know, I was really late on that one.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm caught up now. It makes me just slightly uncomfortable that

Spoiler

the one fully black character to show up is openly superstitious.

Meryl Streep is fantastic though, with the perfectly placed passive aggression.

Spoiler

I knew a woman like you once who turned out to be really vapid underneath, so I unfairly judged you!

That's some Livia Soprano level passive aggression, but with bigger vocabulary.

 

[Astra]

I watched the first season last year when it aired in German TV. First week they aired three episodes, the other weeks two each. So you were through very quickly.

I started to watch as it was sold as kinda being like "Desperate Housewives" and at first couldn't see the hype but the more you got into it the more compelling it became. Nicole Kidman blew me away. They all did but especially her. And the women power at the last episode was overwhelming.

I shall catch up with season 2 then, thank you for reminding me!