Big Little Lies (2017)
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Big Little Lies Review
Big Little Lies is a drama television series that premiered its first season on HBO in 2017 and the second two years later. It’s such a good show.
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“Bruises heal, stigmas can last a lifetime“
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This is a show that follows five women who all have their problems and some even have some past traumas. They have each other to go through all these issues at least with their friends besides them. This is one of the great reasons how one similar premise can yield entirely different results when given a different approach – a suburbia where women have secrets and issues is ‘Desperate Housewives’ basically, but Big Little Lies handles this subject matter in a nuanced, dramatic and sophisticated instead of trashy and soapy fashion.
Let’s talk about the characters first and throughout each and every character, I will touch upon the overall storyline and the connections between them all. Here we go. Madeline. I’ve had mixed feelings about her. At first, I adored her, but eventually I’d come to really despise her for what she did to her husband. Still, the character is fantastic, very realistic and wonderfully written. She is believable throughout and her willingness to change was quite inspirational.
Her bubbly, optimistic attitude changed in the second season and that shift was fascinating to follow. She is a flawed, deeply flawed human being, but one that is probably the most relatable out of all these women, and her relationship with Ed was one of the show’s highlights.
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Yes, he is overly naïve and too kind and good toward her, but there are men like him who are basically victims, and who wouldn’t harm a fly, which their wives take advantage of. In the first season, their toxic dynamic was only mildly explored, but in the second season it culminated with her cheating on him and betraying him. There is this one amazing conversation between the two that touched upon marrying for an agenda of some sorts and how all relationships are different and all have at least a portion of an agenda in them. That was sadly incredibly realistic.
My main issue with Ed is that his fraught relationship with Nathan was so much emphasized that it really bored me. It took too much screen time from other more important characters when in reality it was unnecessary to get back to these. They don’t get along, then move on for crying out loud. Nathan himself was so annoying and his relationship with Bonnie was obviously fake, so it was expected that she would leave him, though that breakup scene was unexpectedly sad to witness.
Speaking of Bonnie, she’s somewhat cold and acting too cool and kind of a bitch. But her arc became so much better as it went along. In the first season, she was just kind of there, but in the second one she became a crucial character for the show as the one who pushed Perry to his death. Her trauma stemming from it was powerful, the entire backstory with her abusing mother was mostly well realized and all of this tied very well into the entire outline of the show. The ending where all women go to confess what happened to the police was wonderfully shot and so moving. It was the perfect scene to cap the entire show.
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Jane isn’t as well developed as others on the show as she is entirely characterized by her rape trauma, but her getting to cope with that and eventually to finally start having normal sex was very well written. My problem with her in the first season was that the entire Ziggy drama was overly extended and overly dramatic. Overall, the kids on the show are weak and they could have gotten more realistic, better dialogue.
Renata is a rich bitch who has the flair to overreact and be too theatrical, but she is a great friend, which made her much more likable. Unfortunately, she never quite got the best storylines as she was relegated to being overly dramatic in the first season and somewhat sidelined in the second one, but the show touched upon powerful, rich women and their husbands well through her character.
Celeste is the heart and core of the entire show. She’s the most important character. In the first season, her abusive husband Perry hit her and traumatized her, which always led to them having hot sex, which confused her. The series explored so well how complicated all of this abuse can be to the victim psychologically speaking, but that no matter how seemingly grey area it can feel in certain aspects, it is undeniably still horrendous domestic abuse that women (mostly) face on a regular basis. The show never dwelled on violence too much, but simply focused on the psychology behind it all.
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The scenes with her therapist remain the best parts of the entire show. Some of their conversations were insightful and simply devastating in dialogue that pierced right through your soul. What it means to be a mother is showcased while problematic personal life and parenthood clashing against each other was painfully depicted.
Perry being an abuse victim himself in childhood led to him becoming a monster later down the line, which was another one of the show’s very realistic plot points. Mary Louise is such a terrible, frustratingly direct and insulting woman who basically acted as the villain of season two with Meryl Streep channeling her bitchiest role so far and one of her greatest. She excels at these roles the most and she should commit to them fully in my opinion.
The second season wasn’t planned, but it came to be due to the immense popularity of the first one. I personally preferred the second one. It was weaker in pace and structure for sure, but the outcome from that faithful night was so well explored through all characters. The show’s at its best when focusing on dialogue, which is incredibly well written and so sophisticated. Thematically rich, the storylines were mostly very layered and nuanced, though some very clearly rushed or sidelined.
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Big Little Lies is powerfully shot. In fact, it’s so beautiful in its coastline scenery and amazing editing that it genuinely felt cinematic and like a big-screen experience. The soundtrack is even more accomplished. There are two songs that I adored, but the opening itself still affects me both emotionally and in terms of its quality. The powerful, creepy score and the lyrics both make it an instant classic among the pantheon of greatest openings.
At the end of the day, Big Little Lies is an excellent show in both of its terrific seasons. It started off weakly in both seasons, but eventually it became terrific to the point of being both sophisticated and moving. The cast here is tremendous with everybody delivering in spades with the standouts being Nicole Kidman (who has rarely been better than she was here), Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern and Meryl Streep.
Worst Episodes: Somebody’s Dead and What Have They Done?
Best Episodes: Once Bitten, You Get What You Need, Kill Me and I Want to Know.
