Big Little Lies MVPs: Episode 2.7 "I Want to Know"

Previously: Episode 1 (Nathaniel) Episode 2 (Spencer) Episode 3 (Lynn) Episode 4 (Nathaniel) Episode 5 (Eric) Episode 6 (Chris)

by Nathaniel R

Parting is such sweet sorrow. But so is sticking together. With the seventh and final episode of Big Little Lies -- beware SPOILERS ahead all throughout this post-- we're in some ways directly back where we ended last season, with the Monterey Five, all in harmonious agreement. This time around, though, it's a bit grimmer if you stop to think about what might occur after they all confess. We don't mean the threat of a possible third season (which we don't actually think will happen) but the narrative possibilities inside our own heads. Exactly how do you conspire to lie about manslaughter and get away with it? Did Celeste keep her children only to lose them? Did Madeline save her marriage only to lose her freedom? Etcetera. 

But we're jumping right to the finale and we need to backtrack again for the best moments and fine performances of the finale...

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Big Little Lies MVPS: Episode 2.5 "Kill Me"

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"

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Big Little Lies MVPs: Episode 2.4 – “She Knows”

Previously: Episode 1 (Nathaniel) Episode 2 (Spencer) Episode 3 (Lynn)

Let's face it. This fucking lie has had quite a shelf life.

by Nathaniel R

I can't be the only person to have made this observation but occasionally Big Little Lies is rather like a high-end version of Desperate Housewives. There are the core group of women who maybe wouldn't be friends in real life but whose distinctive personalities make a juicy combustible mix as a cast (within the alloted tight geographically region: cul de sac in one case, beachfront in the other) Didn't Housewives also have a crime or murder mystery each season to mix in with the soap opera theatrics? At any rate, it's worth mentioning because the writing on Big Little Lies this season is... questionable. It's not a patch on the first season cumulatively, alas, but scene by scene it's still great evening entertainment in the old tradition of the "watercooler" show; it certainly gives us a lot to talk about!

In this episode, Mary Louise (Meryl Streep) makes her big move -- suing Celeste (Nicole Kidman) for custody of "her boys". That's the huge story beat that will undoubtedly take us through to the finale (episode 7) but it's more like a prologue this time around as the bulk of the episode deals with 1) Amabella's birthday party 2) Madeleine and Ed's flailing marriage, and 3) the bizarre 'are they really going there?' subplot of Bonnie's mom having a stroke while also possibly being psychic and predicting that Bonnie will drown. We suspect everyone in the writer's room of Big Little Lies wore matching Regina George"A Little Bit Dramatic" t-shirts while they wrote "She Knows"

Top Ten MVPs of Big Little Lies, Episode 2.4: “She Knows”

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Big Little Lies MVPs: Episode 2.3 – “The End of the World”

Previously: Episode 1 (Nathaniel) Episode 2 (Spencer)

by Lynn Lee

As someone who loved the first season of Big Little Lies, I have to admit I haven’t been enjoying the show’s sophomore outing as much, in large part because the tone has been so much more subdued, almost dirge-like.  It feels like the fire’s gone out of many of the key characters: Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz), of course, but even more so, Reese Witherspoon’s Madeline.  (Not Renata, bless her – yet even her manic aggressiveness seems driven by a desperation that wasn’t there before.)  This isn’t a choice I quarrel with, exactly: it feels like a necessary reckoning as the inexorable aftermath of a violent death, and the cast is beautifully illustrating the strain the “Monterey Five”’s silence is exercising on each of their lives and relationships. 

That said, the moments of humor – mostly courtesy of Laura Dern as Renata, of course – came as an especially welcome break, and figure heavily in this week’s MVPs...

Top Ten MVPs of Big Little Lies, Episode 2.3: “The End of the World”

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10 Best Dressed Men at the Emmys

Happy Still Thinking About the Emmys Day, everyone! Kim from Head Over Feels here to break down the Handsome Men of the Emmys. Covering Men’s Fashion can be hard sometimes because it’s basically like “Here’s a bunch of really handsome men in tuxedos! Enjoy!” Which, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a handsome man even in the most basic of suits.

Lately though the fellas have, as a whole, started to make more daring choices as of late, embracing color and prints and statement accessories. (And excellent tailoring. All the slim fit suits, please and thank you.) Let’s take a look at the Gents who brought their A-Game to the Emmys, shall we?

The ten best dressed are after the jump...

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