Previously: Episode 1 (Nathaniel) Episode 2 (Spencer) Episode 3 (Lynn) Episode 4 (Nathaniel)
by Eric Blume
I’m onboard with most of the TFE staff that season two of Big Little Lies isn’t quite up to the level of its first season, but that it’s filled with fun, exciting, and interesting things. Last week, Nathaniel noted that David Kelley’s writing is weaker this season, and I agree (especially in those therapy scenes), but it’s also about the directing: Andrea Arnold has talent, but she lacks Jean-Marc Vallee’s lush lyricism and ability to keep everything jangled and on-edge. She also doesn’t have Vallee’s gift for framing: the images aren’t as memorable as what Vallee put together, and she’s shot too many in-the-car sequences from the backseat so the scenes feel repetitive rather than intimate and revealing.
But each episode holds wonderful surprises and treats for those invested in the show...
Top Ten MVPs of Big Little Lies, Episode 2.5 "Kill Me"
10. Fitness
It’s a nice touch that we see these characters continually running or biking or doing yoga or something active: these beautiful people don’t have these beautiful bodies by accident!
9. Natural Woman
Reese singing Carole King to Adam Scott in the car (a beat late on every line) is all of the things: adorable, real, comic, and a reminder that she did all her own singing as June Carter Cash! These kind of moments happen between real couples all the time, and we don’t see them often. Plus, Scott’s button is fantastic (“Really?”).
8. Editing
This shot, which comes directly after Scott’s button, jumps us immediately mid-scene with Kidman and Dern. It’s a reminder of how incredibly elegant the editing can be on this show, and how crucial it is to the show’s power. There are FIVE credited editors in the opening credits of the show, and the editing at its best gives the show a glorious disorientation that helps the show transcend the domestic genre. The editors did electrifying work in the first season, and there’s still plenty of it sprinkled throughout season two. They get you out of scenes before traditional editing does, and simultaneously get you into scenes a beat earlier than usual. The editors are unsung heroes on this show.
7. "Backstabbing Sluts"
Laura Dern gets maybe her best scene in the season opposite Nicole Kidman, where she manages to offer help to Celeste, then insult her, then simultaneously compliment and insult her lawyer friend, clarify that nobody can handle people like she can, and escalate from there. By the time she calls the magazine editors “backstabbing sluts” we’re reminded of Dern’s special ability to inject dark human comedy into scenes like few can. Dern has been directed a little all over the map this season, but she has such a masterful ability to slide between anger and comedy when she’s on fire.
6. Mother/Daughter Time
Zoe Kravitz got a lovely, intimate scene with her daughter in the hospital this week. Kravitz isn’t the most expressive actor out there. Her performance often exists on a one-emotion-at-a-time plateau, and she’s not great at shading. But we got to see a fresh side to her character in this tiny scene, and Kravitz’s face, perfect for the camera, flushed with all sorts of flavors.
5. Hugs
Witherspoon and Scott go to a hippie therapy session where they’re encouraged to “explore the space” and hug people when they feel like it. It’s both a parodic and real spin on California yuppiedom…and it kind of doesn’t work, except it does.
4. Dern vs Streep
Renata, convinced that she can straighten out Mary Louise, invites her to tea, where Streep’s character upends the conversation. It’s fun because we’re watching not just Mary Louise take over from Renata, but Streep take over from Dern. Streep seems to be having a marvelous time in this role, not needing to carry the whole ship, and all of her scenes are like little bombs about to go off. Plus just seeing Meryl Streep and Laura Dern in a scene together is some sort of heaven that I still can’t process.
3. Ziggy
Iain Armitage, who plays Jane’s son Ziggy, has a face out of a Rubens painting, and Arnold does great work with him to keep him natural. His rapport with Shailene Woodley really is extraordinary. Side shout for Shailene, too: she is killing it this season!
2. Why Is Grandma Doing This?
Nicole’s scene with her two sons, where she confesses her “sadness” plays incredibly well, because it gets to the heart of what season two is really about: how honest can we be, should we be, with children? Obviously the environment/world-ending subplot a couple of weeks ago hit the nose a little hard on this, but here Kelley writes with wondrous tenderness. Celeste keeps facing crossroads with her children where she can tell the truth or spin, and she keeps moving forward honestly, to what seems will be a price. The writing here is stunning, and Kidman’s emotional directness makes the scene fly.
1. Adam Scott
Even as a professional lover of actresses, it makes me a little sad during the opening credits each week when each actress gets a cutaway after their name, but when Scott’s name comes up, there’s nothing, because he really remains one of the MVPs of the series. He pulls out his incredible instincts for comedy at strategic moments but plays most of his scenes with a surprising forcefulness, coupled with a delicate subtlety. It’s tough to play Everyman unboringly, and Scott adds so much humor and humanity to every scene he’s in. Plus he brings out a softness in Reese Witherspoon that’s miraculous to witness. Together, these two actors are playing a complex symphony of conflicting truths and divergent emotions that only exist in long-term couples. It’s the definition of superb supporting character work, and I hope to see him at the Emmys next year.