Big Little Lies MVPs: Episode 2.3 – “The End of the World”
Monday, June 24, 2019 at 9:54PM 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”