By Spencer Coile
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After a compelling season opener, Big Little Lies is back to remind viewers why its viewership only continues to rise. Renata’s husband, Gordon, is arrested and jeopardizes her wealth and self-worth. Per Nathan’s request, Bonnie’s mother (Crystal Fox) arrives on the scene to shake her daughter out of her funk. Meanwhile, Celeste and Jane disclose to their respective families how Perry connects them - much to the chagrin and denial from Mary Louise. Not to mention, Ed finds out about Madeline’s affair with the theater director and concludes their marriage is over. Oh yeah, and Perry had an older brother who died years ago.
A lot of drama was covered in the second episode, so buckle up for...
Top 10 MVPs of Big Little Lies. Episode 2.2 “Tell-Tale Hearts”
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10 Celeste the “enigma”
Finally! Someone said it! Nicole Kidman’s performance as Celeste is magnificent because she shrouds her character with an almost sensual ambiguity - and now we know that other people see it too. Mary Louise points it out, but it is also the first word Perry used to describe her. Is that why she is so alluring? The mystery about “Who is dead?” from the first season is gone, but with it remains “Who is Celeste Wright?”
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9 Withered glances
Don’t get me wrong, everyone’s line readings are delicious on this show. And while the second season may not prove to be as subtle as the first, we can always count on the incomparable leading ladies to offer us glimpses into their heartbreak, their compassion, and their warmth - sometimes all with a single glance.
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8 “He salted you”
It’s easy to get caught up in everything happening with the adults, but a strength of Big Little Lies is the way it offers insight from its child actors. Jane’s conversation with Ziggy is a stunner. Not only is Shailene Woodley giving her best performance in that scene, but it unites mother and son inextricably. Ziggy’s understanding of his father is somewhat skewed by adolescent gossip and a naive view of the world - his reading of “he salted you” depicts this perfectly. It strikes an appropriate balance between precocious and wrenching.
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7 Let’s hear it for the boys
In its first season, I barely gave James Tupper’s performance a second thought. Here, he is still a “complete dolt,” as Bonnie’s mother puts it, but there is a level of fragility that Tupper is willing to show us. He wants so desperately to help Bonnie, but he doesn’t know how. He is spiraling for some semblance of normalcy, just like Ed. Adam Scott remains a steady beating heart to the series, and his conversation with Madeline allows for his pent up anger and insecurity to be revealed. Women may run Big Little Lies, but the men are slowly becoming more and more human.
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6 “The Wonder of You”
Having won the Emmy for Music Supervision in its first season, it’s no surprise that the music this season is perhaps even more effective. “Tell-Tale Hearts” ends with Madeline staring out at the ocean - heartbroken and alone. “The Wonder of You,” the Elvis song that Ed serenades her with at the charity function last year, begins to play. Now, tarnished by betrayal, the song’s romantic sentiments of love and “the strength to carry on” have lost their earnestness.
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5 Revelation, revelation, revelation
Did you really think we were going to wait all season for Ed to find out about Madeline’s infidelity or for Celeste’s twins to find out Ziggy was their brother? Think again. “Tell-Tale Hearts” dropped so many bombshells - many of which revealed by children, no less - and now it’s time to wait for next week’s aftermath.
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4 The personal becomes the political
Bonnie’s race, while significant to her dynamic with the Monterey Five as well as to the community as a whole, was notably absent from the first season. However, the arrival of her mother, Elizabeth, challenges this silence. Like Nathan, Elizabeth simply wants to understand why her daughter is struck with melancholy. Her observation that Bonnie is surrounded by people who don’t get her may sound vague, but then she points out, “I haven’t seen one other black person since I’ve been out here.” Bonnie may have shrugged this off, met her mother’s suggestion to "just breathe" with strained apathy, but there is something about Bonnie that is trying to claw itself out of her. Is it just her guilt, or is there something else lurking beneath her tough exterior?
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3 Second season sisterhood
Season one ended with a celebration of sisterhood and the bonds that hold women together. Season two presents each woman’s struggle as their own - oftentimes thematically and physically separated from one another. That’s what makes the tinier, seemingly insignificant moments of sisterhood all the more powerful. Madeline picking up and taking the blame for Celeste’s Ambien-induced car crash, Jane and Bonnie chatting over yoga, and even Renata to referring to Madeline as “babe” when lamenting her money woes. Together or apart, Big Little Lies is a show that upholds women’s narratives.
2 Mary Louise’s cross necklace
I texted a friend during “Tell-Tale Heart” to remind us to never take advantage of the Big Little Lies era of television. Years from now, we will likely remember the loud and astonishing feats of acting these women accomplish more than others. But sometimes there is such beauty in the simplicity. As Mary Louise denigrates Madeline at the top of the episode, referring to her as a sometimes “godsend,” she fidgets with her cross necklace and brings it up to her chin. With this subtle child-like flourish, Meryl not only cornered the market on necklace acting, but cemented herself as the menace that now haunts Monterey.
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1 Renata being poor
While the storyline for Gordon’s securities fraud somewhat came out of nowhere, the idea of Renata becoming poor makes for some scintillating television. Waving a finger in Gordon’s face, she exclaims, “I will not NOT be rich.” As she dumps him on the side of the road, she brandishes her middle finger through the sunroof and shouts, “Will somebody give a woman a moment?!” Turned into memes and gifs within seconds, Laura Dern is proving again and again why we are still amidst the Dernaissance. She tears into Renata with such gusto that it’s almost easy to bypass her quieter, more interior moments. While still an integral member of the Monterey Five, Renata still seems very much like a peripheral part of the squad. However, “Tell-Tale Heart” practically hands us Renata’s vulnerability on a silver platter. Plus, it’s arrived so early in the season, so I cannot wait to see where she will go from here.
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Plus, I will accept any excuse to hear Laura Dern say, “I used to like to sit on your face, too. You think that’ll happen again?” But therein is the beauty of Big Little Lies: it is comprised of moments - both big and small - peppered throughout each episode. What were some of your favorites?