Big Little Lies

[Incandenza]

HBO's new show, adapted from the popular novel of the same name.

I started watching it when it debuted thinking it would be trashy entertainment, and the opening episode delivered--beautiful people that secretly hate each other, opulent homes with huge glass walls all overlooking the rocky Monterey Bay coastline, and the storyline telling you up front that someone gets killed. We don't know who, and the show promised you the fun of figuring out who it is, and who did it. The cinematography and editing hinted that the show was making some very conscious artistic decisions, but it looked like high-minded soap.

5 episodes in, and while I'm still guessing at who gets killed and who does it, I have to say that my initial perception was way off base. It's been gripping stuff, but not soapy trash. The acting has been superb, especially from Nicole Kidman, and the show has gone into some really dark places regarding abuse. There was a scene in the most recent episode that was one of the best that I've seen on TV in a long time, a scene in a therapist's office that brought to mind the scene from the Sopranos when Carmela hears the truth from the therapist she went to and you see a character struggling to understand someone presenting them with the truth that they don't want to face.

There are only 7 episodes, so 2 more left.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Big Little Lies

Yeah it's great, probably the best cable series this year so far. As you say the acting has been superb. It was the mix of Kidman, Witherspoon, and Laura Dern that brought me to it, but the performances across the board are exceptional. I'm guessing that — like Masters of Sex — it'll go largely overlooked however, mainly because women drive the plot and subscription cable is regarded, rightly or wrongly, as a male preserve.

[Incandenza]

Big Little Lies

Laura Dern has been really good in what is kind of a villainous character, but you (or I do, at least) completely understand where she is coming from with respect to what is going on with her daughter.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Big Little Lies

Perhaps. Except for the leaping to assumptions part. Her character's hideous, but she's great fun to watch.

One of the problems, or more accurately questions, I have is around the initial incident concerning her daughter. It seems to me unlikely that a teacher, even a novice, would make the mistake of dealing with that out of school hours, in the presence of the entire class and — most especially their parents. It verges on the the unbelievable in a show that, otherwise, is all too realistic.

BTW I'm betting that Kidman and Skarsgard's twins are the guilty parties in that regard.

[Incandenza]

Big Little Lies

Agreed on both.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Big Little Lies

One of the best things about the show is that while the "grown-ups" are self-obsessed neurotics, the kids are apparently quite sane.

It reminds me a bit of Cyra McFadden's The Serial, which lampooned exactly the same section of society, in the same way, in the same place (well, Marin County) forty years ago. It didn't have the dark edges BLL has, but pressed many of the same buttons.

[Hot Pepsi]

Big Little Lies

I'm watching it, but I went on Wikipedia to read the plot about the book it's based on. The book is set around Sydney, but otherwise it seems to be following the story exactly and have all the same characters. So unless it deviates wildly, I know who did it and to whom and why. And I'm a little disappointed, tbh.

The framing of it around the investigation makes sense, I guess. Without that teleological device, most viewers would probably give up after an episode or two because it doesn't seem to be going anywhere at first and everyone except Jane seems obnoxious. But as it goes on, the performances and characters are more compelling for themselves and I don't care about the end very much.

What strikes me is that, in just about every scene, I can imagine how everyone could get along and be happier if they'd just chill-out by about 5% to 10% instead of always being so defensive.

I wonder if Monterrey really is that douchey. Probably.

[Incandenza]

Big Little Lies

Well, a pretty satisfying conclusion.

I told Mrs. Inca beforehand my guess about how it ended. I was partially right (not on the whodunit, but if we found out who Ziggy's father was, and who it was).

Overall, a really good show. Well done to Reese Witherspoon for pushing for it to get made and to the cast. Adam Scott turns out to be a decent dramatic actor.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Big Little Lies

Yes. I thought it worked well. It was never really about whodunnit and, in the end it didn't really matter.

Interview with director Jean-Marc Vallee on the series.

I noticed the binoculars in the final scene, but didn't connect them with the police officer. Did you?

[Incandenza]

Big Little Lies

Yes, and I think you heard the sound of a Zippo lighter also as there was the final shot of them on the beach, like she was continuing to watch them.

[Hot Pepsi]

Big Little Lies

Amor de Cosmos wrote: Yes. I thought it worked well. It was never really about whodunnit and, in the end it didn't really matter.

Interview with director Jean-Marc Vallee on the series.

I noticed the binoculars in the final scene, but didn't connect them with the police officer. Did you?

The police characters could have been better-developed, I thought.

I thought the result was a little too coincidental and the villain a bit too obviously villainous, but that doesn't matter much really.

Apparently, in the book, it's explained that the interior decorator is his cousin and he sometimes used his name, but that's not important really. Also, apparently Bonny reveals she saw a lot of abuse growing up. That's not really critical either.

I thought they might have spent more time at the end showing how they all got their story straight and decided to stick together. But the montage was good enough, I guess.

The 15-year-old girl auctioning her virginity for Amnesty was an interesting subplot. On the one hand it's a good cause and it subverts the whole "virginity" nonsense. On the other hand that's a TERRIBLE idea, because whoever won the auction would clearly be a sex-criminal.

It was nice that the cafe owner, who everyone assumed was gay, ended up asking out Jane. He's the only man in the story, other than the cop, who isn't at least a bit of a dick. Perhaps that was just a nice surprise or maybe the writers were suggesting that the women in that group always assume all non-dicks are gay.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Big Little Lies

Yes. My initial reaction was that the male characters could have been more fully developed. Then I realised the show really isn't about them (and, lord knows, there are plenty of shows where the female characters aren't developed.) The series was produced very quickly — as the link says — and retrospectively the hanging threads, and implied future issues didn't bother me. They just suggest that life goes on.

If I have any sort of criticism it's that I felt Perry was a bit underwritten. The interview makes clear that they really wanted his character to be more than just a conventional evil bastard, but I'm afraid that's how it played out.

[WOM]

Big Little Lies

Okay, so we're talking about this now? Good.

So, was Ziggy's father *really* supposed to be Perry? Or was he just an avatar for any abusive man/rapist, as far as Jane was concerned?

Just a terrific experience all around, and a satisfying conclusion. I didn't catch the binoculars or Zippo in the end scene, but shit like that usually escapes me. Really enjoyable.

[Incandenza]

Big Little Lies

We've been talking about it, nice of you to notice now.

I suppose that there could be a question if Perry is actually Ziggy's father, but the show made it clear with the running on the beach imagery used throughout and Jane's reaction that Perry was the one that raped her. And Madeline's expression seemed to indicate that she was able to grasp that is what Jane was reacting to when she saw Perry. I had a feeling when I thought about Jane and Perry having never been in a scene together that it was leading to that revelation.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Big Little Lies

So, was Ziggy's father *really* supposed to be Perry? Or was he just an avatar for any abusive man/rapist, as far as Jane was concerned?

I think so. There was a flash of recognition between her and the other women when she heard his voice just before the fight.

I admit that, like many people, I thought that would turn out to be the case. The thing that bothered me slightly about it was that, though Perry traveled a good deal, it was always over considerable distances. But, unless I misheard, Jane moved from just up the coast. Why was he there, and would he be so stupid as to rape someone that close to home? He was nothing if not careful that the abuse of his wife would be undetectable.

[WOM]

Big Little Lies

Incandenza wrote: We've been talking about it, nice of you to notice now.

Sorry. My English was inelegant. I knew you lot were talking about it, but I was avoiding it in case you blabbed spoilers.

I suppose that there could be a question if Perry is actually Ziggy's father, but the show made it clear with the running on the beach imagery used throughout and Jane's reaction that Perry was the one that raped her. And Madeline's expression seemed to indicate that she was able to grasp that is what Jane was reacting to when she saw Perry. I had a feeling when I thought about Jane and Perry having never been in a scene together that it was leading to that revelation.

Yeah, see I got the reaction, but I didn't know whether it was meant to be him specifically or just her finally acting out the feelings on a real person and recognizing in him what she'd experienced with the 'real' rapist.

[WOM]

Big Little Lies

Amor de Cosmos wrote: [i] I admit that, like many people, I thought that would turn out to be the case. The thing that bothered me slightly about it was that, though Perry traveled a good deal, it was always over considerable distances. But, unless I misheard, Jane moved from just up the coast. Why was he there, and would he be so stupid as to rape someone that close to home? He was nothing if not careful that the abuse of his wife would be undetectable.

I never figure these things out, so I don't even try any more. I just watch it unfold. My wife, inevitably, says she figured it out in the third episode....but whatever. She never gets her suspicions on the record, so nuts to her.

[Ginger Yellow]

Big Little Lies

Yeah, see I got the reaction, but I didn't know whether it was meant to be him specifically or just her finally acting out the feelings on a real person and recognizing in him what she'd experienced with the 'real' rapist

I was especially confounded on this point because I'm terrible with faces and when they first brought up the photo of the Saxon guy, I thought it was Perry. I wasn't sure he wasn't going to be Perry until Jane actually went to confront him.

[G-Man]

Only caught up with it now. Great show indeed. I really enjoyed much of the music, especially the tracks by Charles Bradley, who died a month or so ago. I did find it sightly incongruous though that a six-year-old would have such mature taste in music. She doesn't read Pitchfork, surely.