The first season of HBO’s Big Little Lies told the interconnected stories of five women in Monterey, California. At the beginning of the series we were told that there was a murder, but given no details as to the victim or the perpetrator. In the first season finale, the details were finally revealed to the viewer as to who was killed, by whom, and why.
The police’s main suspects are the Monterey Five—the five women who were present at the time that Perry White (Alexander Skarsgård) fell to his death. On the top of the list is Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman), who was in an abusive relationship with husband Perry, and had told her husband she was leaving him the night that he died. Meanwhile, Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley), a single mother who had just moved to town with her son Ziggy (Iain Armitage), had just moments earlier discovered that Perry was the man who raped her nearly a decade ago. Also present at the crime scene was Madeline Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon) who not only has a teenage daughter with ex-husband Nathan Carlson (James Tupper) but also a 10-year-old with second husband Ed Mackenzie (Adam Scott). Nathan’s current wife, Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz), was the one who actually pushed Perry down the stairs—seeing him yelling at Celeste reminded her of her own traumatic childhood. And finally, there was lawyer Renata Klein (Laura Dern) who suggested that the woman all tell the police that Perry fell down the stairs, and that they all make a pact to keep this lie.
For the second season, the series no longer utilizes the wrapping device of the flash-forward or police interviews with the other school parents and administrators. It focuses on the aftermath of the death of Perry Wright. As the second season opens, it is the beginning of second grade, and some of the women are handling the lie better than the others. Detective Quinlan continues to watch them, and this makes Bonnie paranoid. However, there are many more lies about to be revealed that are going to test both the bond between the women and their own marriages. Celeste’s mother-in-law, Mary Louise (Meryl Streep), shows up under the guise of wanting to help with her grandsons, but she is a cunning and manipulative woman with ulterior motives. She suspects that Celeste had something to do with her son’s death, and doesn’t believe the stories about her angel of a son being abusive, and soon makes Celeste’s life a living hell. Meanwhile, Jane is finally trying to heal and move on with her life, dating fellow aquarium employee Corey (Douglas Smith), but now must also deal with people knowing the identity of her son’s father and that he was a rapist and abuser. Renata’s relationship with her husband Gordon (Jeffrey Nordling) is put to the test when his illegal activities cause them to deal with filing for bankruptcy, and Madeline’s marriage is also on the rocks once the news of her affair gets out. Finally, Bonnie is already stressing about her role in Perry’s death and contemplates turning herself in, when her abusive mother (Crystal Fox) comes to town.
I didn’t really think this series needed a second season after the way the first one ended, but I’m glad we got one. I really enjoyed this follow-up, binging all seven episodes straight through. I found myself captivated by the character drama and interconnected stories of these women. The writers have given each of the women really beautiful and interesting character arcs for the season, centered around the ideas of healing, forgiveness, and resolution. There also seems to be a lot more interaction between the characters this season. The lie they share is a common bond between them, but may also be the thing that could tear them apart. It seems like just as one issue gets resolved, some other bomb gets dropped that shakes things up once again. While there isn’t this central mystery like the first season, there are still a lot of twists and turns to the season that keep it interesting and keep the viewer guessing right up until the end.
The series has some heartbreaking drama, but is also one of empowerment, inspiration and joy. There is some nice humor sprinkled in as well—like Renata’s frustration at setting off the metal detector every time she enters the courtroom. Meryl Streep is an amazing addition to the cast for the second season. Mary Louise is so wickedly passive-aggressive and manipulative that you love to hate her—some of the stuff she does is downright despicable. Every time Celeste says or does something around her mother-in-law you want to reach out and stop it because you know it will ultimately be used against her.
The second season felt like a complete story, ending in such a way that provides resolution to the characters. That said, I would certainly welcome a third season if the writers can find more stories to tell about these characters. This is a rich, interesting world with characters you will want to see more of. If I had one complaint about the second season, it would be surrounding the constant use of these muted montages of clips—such as flashbacks or just general thoughts in the women’s heads. These often didn’t make a lot of sense and felt unnecessary, taking you out of the moment.
Warner Bros. has released the second season on both DVD and Warner Archive Blu-ray. This means that if you want the HD release, you will need to order it online as the Warner Archive titles are typically not stocked in stores. I was sent the Blu-ray release for review. All 7 episodes of the season are split across two discs, with the second disc containing the sole bonus feature, a fun 37-minute discussion with the cast. The presentation is solid, with a clean, detailed picture, and an audio track that provides clear dialogue and an immersive viewing experience. My one minor gripe about the Blu-ray is that there are no chapter stops directly after the 2-minute opening title sequence, so the only way to skip over these was to manually fast-forward. The discs are packed in a standard multi-disc HD keepcase without a slipcover. Unfortunately, unlike the first season, there is no digital copy included this time around.
What’s Included:
-
Episodes: (5:31:50)
- All 7 episodes of the second season:
Disc 1: “What Have They Done?”, “Tell-Tale Hearts”, “The End of The World”, “She Knows”
Disc 2: “Kill Me”, “The Bad Mother”, “I Want To Know” - 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital
- Subtitles: English SDH, French
- The Lies Revealed (36:56)
Stars Shailene Woodley (“Jane”), Meryl Streep (“Mary Louise”), Nicole Kidman (“Celeste”), Reese Witherspoon (“Madeline”), Laura Dern (“Renata”), and Zoe Kravitz (“Bonnie”) sit down for a fun and interesting discussion about the series. They talk about the reactions to the first season, the female acting community, reuniting for season 2, their friendships off camera, their characters and storylines, their own experiences with motherhood, and more.
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
I possibly enjoyed the second season of Big Little Lies even more than the first. While the first season set up this rich world of characters, the second season expands on this, giving each of the women excellent story arcs. The addition of Meryl Streep to the cast was a wise choice as she quickly became my favorite character to hate. Warner Archive’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, but only includes one bonus feature and no digital copy. That said, the release still comes recommended based on the quality of the series itself.
