Big Little Lies
 

Badly wanted to like this show. It's been quite a while since I've liked anything new on HBO. Made it through the pilot & maybe episode 2, I think. Great cast, but just did not grab me.

Not dreadful like Divorce, but kind of meh.

Re: Big Little Lies
 

Yeah, it had a great cast, but I couldn't finish the 2nd episode. Too much about motherhood and Reese Witherspoon's character was incredibly annoying.

Re: Big Little Lies
 

It's OK, but how anyone could be gripped by it I don't know.

Did you watch the whole thing?

Won't surprise me though if it gets renewed for a second season. Maybe it already has been.

Re: Big Little Lies
 

Wow, couldn't disagree more. The reason someone could be gripped by it is pretty straightforward: there's a mystery, and the show does a really really good job of setting things up so that half a dozen characters have an equally good claim on the whodunnit, which is no small feat. I really had no idea who it was going to end up being.

A few other things I liked about it:

• It's incredibly well-acted.
• The relationships are a lot truer to life than the ones you normally see on television (though there's still some normal dramatic inflation, of course). Lots of shading, nuance, and I-can-see-both-sides conflict.
• It was really refreshing to see a depiction of an abusive relationship that wasn't cartoonishly simplistic. I've often wondered how much harm has been done by depicting abuse in overt terms. Seems like it would be easy for someone in a real abusive relationship to see that, think "well, he's not as bad as that," and rationalize things away as not really being that bad.

All that said, yeah, it shouldn't get another season. Much better as a one-off.

my 2 cents-

i mostly agree with Yoda, especially about the abusive relationship. the book does a really incredible job of portraying this as well. and yeah, most people in abusive relationships spend most of their time defending their partners and/or rationalizing their behaviors.

the one thing that kind of bugged me, if i had to pick a grievance, though...



but, this grievance is kind of rooted in my love for the book, so i dunno that it's all that fair but ya know

oh, and props to the opening theme. HBO always has the best openings.

and yeah, the ending... kind of made me roll my eyes. i don't want there to be a second season.

Re: Big Little Lies
 

why aren't my spoilers showing up? meh, i can't be bothered to figure it out.

Re: Big Little Lies
 

Fixed it; the spoilers were inside the quotes, where the title would normally go.

Adam Scott always looked shocked to me to find himself in this show. Like he'd wandered onto the wrong set.

Big Little Lies
 

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Just binged my way through the first season of a deliciously entertaining limited series on HBO from executive producer David E. Kelley, the creator of The Practice, Ally McBeal, Chcago Hope, and Boston Legal. Big Little Lies is a stylish and provocative look inside the scenic seaside community of Monterrey and all of the secrets that wash up onshore. The ladies are the primary focus here and the actresses hired to helm this show are definitely up to the task. Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) is the mother of two daughters and a second marriage to Ed (Adam Scott) who still has major unresolved issues with ex, Nathan (James Tupper) who has remarried the much younger health nut and yoga instructor Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz); Jane (Shailene Woodley) is a single mom who is trying to shield her son from the fact that he is a product of rape; Celeste (Nicole Kidman) is a former lawyer who is now a stay at home mom to adorable twin boys but is married to a slime (Aleksander Sarsgaard) who physically abuses her. Renata (Laura Dern) is a powerful married businesswoman who wages a war on a first grader who she thinks choked her daughter. Oh, and by the end of the final episode of the season, one of the above mentioned characters is dead. For those who were fans of the long running ABC drama Desperate Housewives, you will be in heaven here...just picture that show without all of the restraints that come with network television. Kelly's writing is smart and edgy and director Jean Marc Vallee (Dallas Buyers Club) directs with imagination and polish. The acting is top-notch with clearly stand out work from Witherspoon, who has just amazed me with her powerhouse work here. She received one of the 10 Emmy nominations that the series received, as did Kidman, Woodley, Dern, Skarsgaard, Kelley, and Vallee. If pretty people wearing expensive clothes, driving expensive cars and dealing with their so-called troubles is your cup of tea, bellyup.

Re: Big Little Lies
 

I enjoyed it. Well written, well acted. Not a cliffhanger by any means, but pretty good.

Watched episode 1 tonight with wifey and we both enjoyed it.

Re: Big Little Lies
 

Damn had no idea there was a thread for this. Me and Zotis posted like 1000 words each at each other on this in the tv tab :laugh:

Just finished it and my wife and I both loved it. Great balance of darkness and dark comedy with mystery and a cast that was perfectly chosen. I actually said to my wife during episode 3 that I bet so and so is so and so's father, but it was more theorizing than predicting. I was kept wondering until the very end of the brilliant finale. Fantastic theme song and music throughout with a beautiful setting. Awesome television and it's only drawback was having just the 7 episodes.

There's apparently going to be a Season 2, not sure if it'll be different characters just with similar themes and location or if it's going to be Reese and the gang again.



I did like the show though.

Re: Big Little Lies
 

I’ve yet to see this but Meryl Streep joined the cast for season 2.

Streep is joining season 2? Can the set of this show handle another high-powered female ego wondering around?

Just finished the season 2 premiere and it did not disappoint. The addition of Meryl Streep as Celeste's mother-in-law was inspired because it is clear this woman is not going to rest until she finds out exactly what happened to her son. Her scenes with Reese Witherspoon's Madeline crackled with tension and that scene at the dinner table where she screamed was freaking brilliant. It seems that Mary Louise has no idea that her son was abusing Celeste and it also seems like she thinks Celeste had something to do with Perry's death. Celeste is trying to heal and it looks like Mary Louise is going to impede that process and might even be triggering these nightmares that Celeste is having...that one of the police lineup was messed up. And Jane is an idiot for not cashing those checks...you would think that she would want to give her son everything, even if he is a product of rape. Witherspoon also scored in that scene where she confronted her daughter about going to college. Witherspoon and Streep are keeping this show appointment television.

Re: Big Little Lies
 

Enjoyed season 1, so I'll be tuning in for this.