(Spoilers!)
Oh my this show. What a fucking masterpiece those seven episodes were. When we all first heard about a tv show with this fantastic female cast, those of us who didn't read the book were thrilled about it (can imagine those who read it were ecstatic). But little did we knew what we got ahead of ourselves. Because this whole show has been beyond perfection and it couldn't have been any more flawless.
The plot of the book alone was pretty much a good bait for anyone who loves a mystery and adding to that an outstanding female assemble like Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Reese Witherspoon alone was more than enough to get interested. At first, the show could had been loosely described (veeery loosely described) as a very dark version of '
Desperate Housewives' meets '
The OC' meets '
Pretty Little Liars' but is much more than that. '
Big Little Lies' is a show that not only deals with a mystery murder but also with domestic violence, rape, cheating, jealousy, motherhood, female friendship as well as women hating on each other, with luckily delivering a very positive message in the end. "
It takes a village to raise a child" is said once in the show, and in Monterrey it really does. But let's get to the bottom of things.
The Murder Mystery: i didn't see this coming. I was actually under the impression that the victim was Renata (Dern) the whole time. Somehow i thought that right away after the pilot but i'm glad i was wrong. That fight scene, with all the women involved sticking out for each other was tear-breaking, and the end with Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz) pushing Alexander Skarsgard's character down the stairs to stop him beating up his wife was nerve-wrecking. It was like 'YESS' but 'OMG' at the same time. But he had it coming, he really did.
Jane's story: Another thing that i didn't see coming. Like at all. And it makes sense because if i'm not wrong, Jane (Shailene Woodley) never meets Perry (Skarsgard) so recognizing him during that turmoil of a scene was something that made me scream OMG out loud twice. Because it all made sense. I've read that in the book Celeste knew about this as the name that Jane gives her as her rapist was Perry's cousin's name and she eventually found out that he was using his cousin's name when he was away to prey. But anyway, that moment was really a stand out from the finale, the whole scene basically, as it was the other big reveal.
The bully: I actually called this one out. At first, i thought it was someone who you wouldn't think about like Bonnie's daughter, but as the story went on, it was obvious that it was the twins or one of them. After all, despite not witnessing any of the abuse that their dad was doing to their mom, kids always know. They aren't silly and it was a little bit obvious that one would copy the behaviour that their dad was having with their mom. Celeste's reaction to the kid, being so understanding and loving and not at all mad at him, was something beyond sweet. That's how a loving mother would have reacted and she was totally admirable.
The domestic violence: This broke my heart during every episode. Literally. Because they portrayed a really good example of this picture perfect marriage that's far from the happy picture that they show. That's why Celeste was so obsessed with facebook and pretty pictures of them to post online, and how she never mentioned anything about it to her closest friends. Because in the end she gave herself up just to be a stay-at-home mom when she was a successful lawyer, but she couldn't shine brighter than him. He got her where he wanted and that was a really lowering her self esteem to the point that she believed she couldn't do better. But obviously she did. And it was painful to watch her pain, the violent scenes, her putting a smile on for everyone else and covering the bruises when she was physycally and emotionally aching so much it hurt to see. It's hard to pick one among this stellar cast but Nicole Kidman deserves all the awards.
The women: I love how in the end this is a story about women and their interactions with each other. From the three main characters, Jane, Madeleine (Witherspoon) and Celeste, bonding, to the rivalry between Madeleine and Bonnie as the ex and the new wife, to Renata (Dern) feeling above everyone else just because she was a working mom and she felt judged by all the rest. All involving jealousy and competition that is sometimes how some of the female relationships work, sadly even between friends and it's something we can all relate to. It's far from healthy but that's sometimes how some people relate to each other and i try to run away as far from that type of friendships. So, in the end, they all come together to cover the murder and forget about all the nonsense bullshit that they had going on between them and that's a really powerful message out there. Because we all need to stop pitching against each other and just hang out at the beach with our kids (or dogs in my case) and bond, as there's nothing as precious as a good friend: "Friendships are the masterpiece of nature" they quote in the show and it's totally right to me. In the end it all comes to the friendships you make along the way, if you can also find someone to love and become your partner in life that's great, but surrounding yourself with really good friends is the biggest accomplishment in life. They might be few but true enough to treasure and i loved the message that the ending gave.
Season 2? The ending gave somehow the impression that it might be an open ending as someone is spying at them on the beach with binoculars, implying that the detective is still after them. In the book, Bonnie actually confesses the crime and that could be potential for a second season but it's extremely unlikely. After all, the ending of the show leaves it exactly at the end of te novel is based on, so there are no further plots to develop. And as we are having a hard time saying goodbye to these women and would watch anything with them simply hanging out, it would degrade the whole show, and we know it. We've got to leave it on the such high note that the finale was and deal with it. But we gotta cherish how amazing everything was, and what a big surprise for me was Reese Witherspoon, who i never really cared about and here she was excellent. Or Shailene Woodley as well, who really did stay on the same level of huge co-stars like Witherspoon, Dern and Kidman. I feel like Zoe Kravitz didn't have the chance to shine that much but she was good as well, and her singing was something beautiful. But we're left with some of the best performances from actresses in a tv show and it's going to be an epic awards race between the 'Big Little Lies' ladies and Sarandon and Lange with 'Feud'. And i can't wait for it.
Check out some of the very best scenes of the show after the cut, and some precious behind-the-scenes pics as well!
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