Big Little Lies ends with fireworks in the audience room, but a smothered end



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Illustration for the article titled Big Little Lies ends with a fireworks display in the audience room, but ends
Photo: Merie W. Wallace (HBO)
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Big Little Lies, a show with five (six) female lead roles in the same slow-knit community, was an opportunity to say a lot about a lot of things. About motherhood, marriage, privilege. The second season was not as successful as the first, mainly because it got stuck in the lie, as it had been all season. The main conclusions of this final were therefore predictable: Celeste will keep her children and the "Monterey Five" will be at the end. Both reached these closures with considerable relief, but with a surprise so minimal that they seemed virtually anti-climatic.

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This does not mean that this episode did not have its precious moments. The confrontation between Celeste and Mary Louise was extraordinary, two actresses can only be paralleled one by the other. Although Mary Louise has told the whole season, it was extremely gratifying to ask Celeste to reverse the situation and report Raymond's death. The multitude of emotions that overwhelmed Meryl Streep's face in a few moments proved why she was the greatest actor of our time. The horrible video on iPad was a nice variation, painful proof that the boys were only too aware of what was happening at home. And the comment "Did you beat her?" Means that Celeste still has a lot of work to do. But even the judge quickly reported his verdict, as if to say what else could she have achieved?

Because, as Celeste herself says, "this case concerns maternity". Celeste is the mother who has suffered the most, and then the one who has grown the most, as Madeline points out. We could see Jane overcoming her pain of Perry by going ahead with Corey. These successful developments show how well the series did not really know what to do with Bonnie's character, that she stayed in a quiet hospital room for half of the season. Bonnie's story is another story of abuse, with untapped potential for showing the long-term ramifications and how it can affect adult relationships. The worst thing is that Crystal Fox has added a dynamic presence to the show and has made it almost unconscious since the disco party. All this strange mysticism was a useless distraction, and Bonnie ended the season exactly the same place she was at the end of the first episode. Zoe Kravitz had a big confessional scene last week, but for the most part, this plot was a mess.

Better, this episode was starting to see Renata go full Renata over Gordon's adulterous bad, crushing the cave man. It's a fitting answer for Renata, a metaphor that men escape with everything and lose nothing (not even their dopey train cars!), While women are rarely so lucky. Hoping against any hope that her finality at the end of this fight leads her to divorce her worthless husband; if Renata is to get up, she will be able to do it a lot better without all that dead weight (and why is not he in prison?).

Conversely, the story of Madeline and Ed was meant to emphasize the importance of marriage, namely that the best thing parents can do for their children is to love their partner. Adam Scott helps Ed to sell the nicest and most understanding husband in the world, ready to let Madeline go with a simple renewal of vow. But both recall the solid foundation upon which the family can be built, even though, at the end of the season, they were the only remaining married couple.

Celeste says that "lying is friendship", a phrase I did not understand well. Does this mean that it is only the lie that binds them? It's a little cynical and at the end of the episode it does not seem to be true anymore. But it is interesting to see how this lie hovering around the surface has also brought out all these other truths. Each lie and dissimulation is offensive, to varying degrees: Bonnie can no longer live with a man she does not love. Mary Louise refuses to admit what kind of person was really Perry. Renata discovers that her whole life has been a sham and she has to start all over again (and she is so powerful that we do not doubt she will succeed). Despite all the suffering she has gone through, Celeste is in a much better position now that all her worst secrets are revealed, so that true healing can begin.

So, even though it seemed like the Monterey Five were going to come out with the lie (despite all its ubiquity this season, Inspector Quinlan was nowhere in sight.) N & # 39; Would not she have been to the audience?), Maybe the series season, ends with the five turning, unable to live with the lie either. Basically, it makes sense, but it's also annoying, because it's something they could have done. at any time, making the whole season useless. It's like ending the whole story with a huge shrug of the shoulders.

That said, will there be a season three? Surprisingly, this final has left enough holes in the plot so that there is enough left to fill in another seven 40-minute episodes. But HBO President, Casey Bloys, has already stated that a third season was "not realistic", due to the extremely busy schedule of the actresses in question (Nicole Kidman's already registered for an adaptation of BLL the author Liane Moriarty Nine perfect strangers for Hulu). And frankly, with all the controversy around this season, I do not think they need it. But you know, no one thought there would be a second season either.

That said, I did not think we needed a second season before these last seven episodes. I would rank Season 2 as a solid B against the high bar of Season 1. He has to do some valuable things: flesh out the character of Ed, show off the ramifications of life after the abuses with Celeste and the boys , give us a lot more Renata memes. It's a beautiful series, with a movie soundtrack and an acting game that manages to make the most of the usual domestic situations. I was happy to see these characters coming back and Mary Louise's performance of Meryl Streep was an absolute gift. But I think the last look at these five women entering the police department to face their fate is as effective as closing things forever.

Observations lost

  • Without answer Big little lies season two questions: Will Abigail go to college? Why did Nathan and Ed fight all the time? What were all these dumb and silent visions? Has Celeste ever gone back to her therapist? Why did the judge let Mary Louise and Celeste make final statements that were essentially revisions of everything they had already said? Did Mary Louise bring Renata her Starbucks order?
  • I mentioned on Twitter that this review is a little later than usual because I did not have a viewer, forgive me the typos.
  • Spot-on almost at the end of the episode quotes: "10 minutes more, then all the killing stops."
  • I will not miss Shailene Woodley's gray hat.
  • And it's a good idea Big little lies, everyone. Thank you very much for reading. What do you think: season three or not?
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