The Monterey Five is back with more drama for the second season of Big Little Lies. This season was a bit of a disappointment following the hype of the first season. This season delves on deeper issues from the first season, with infidelity, marital issues, and family dynamics. Instead of focusing on the case of Perry Wright’s death, the viewers get a look into the personal lives of each of the main characters.
Reese Witherspoon (Madeline Mackenzie) is conflicted with her marriage and her infidelity with her husband, Ed (Adam Scott). Nicole Kidman (Celeste Wright) is still mourning the loss of her husband, Perry, and is in a constant battle with Perry’s mom, Mary Louise. Shailene Woodley (Jane Chapman) struggles to allow her new boyfriend to come into her life as she is reminded of Perry and builds up a wall, closing him off.
Laura Dern (Renata Klein) and her husband are in a relationship filled with constant arguing and financial problems. Lastly, Zoe Kravitz (Bonnie Carlson) is shown to have taken the biggest emotional toll during the series. The viewers are exposed to her backstory, with her mother becoming an integral part of the season.
Meryl Streep is introduced as Mary Louise Wright, Perry’s mother, and the moment she starts to talk she causes nothing but issues for the main female cast. Mary Louise’s character is hard to sympathize with. On one hand, you feel her sorry for her mourning the death of her son, but on the other hand, it’s hard to view her as a likable character. She has such a negative and uptight demeanor during the whole season and is an overall killjoy. She will make the viewer agitated, asking themselves, “Why would she say that?”.
This season is much more emotion-driven than the previous, we see each of the characters at their lowest points but this wears on the viewer after a while. The same flashbacks from season one are replayed which, in the first season were needed, but in the second season they grow tiresome and repetitive.
The lie finally comes into effect with Perry’s death. This is affecting everyone who was involved, especially Bonnie. The guilt of her being the one who pushed Perry over the edge of the stairs becomes a constant struggle against her conscience, straining her marital and family relationships.
My main issue with this season is the lack of furthering the investigation, regarding the death of Celeste’s husband, Perry Wright. While this season was good and patches up a lot of unresolved issues from the first season, the ending was a huge tease. Currently, there is no new information regarding a third season, so this could be the end of the series.
With the ending not fully being resolved in the story, the viewer is left with many questions. The soundtrack is once again phenomenal and Michael Kiwanuka’s iconic song, Cold Little Heart, is still in the intro. Big Little Lies: The Complete Second Season’s DVD includes The Lies Revealed: A Conversation with the Cast of Big Little Lies.
