It seems like the Monterey Five could make do with some therapy sessions.
Meryl Streep stars as Mary Louise in Big Little Lies Season 2. CREDIT: HBO
This post for Big Little Lies “The End of the World” contains spoilers.
It’s impressive how Season 2 of Big Little Lies is starting to pick up its pace. “The End of the World” (2019, directed by Andrea Arnold) shows the Monterey Five—Celeste, Madeline (Reese Witherspoon), Jane (Shailene Woodley), Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz) and Renata (Laura Dern)—struggling with issues in their own lives, and Mary Louis (Meryl Streep) still refusing to believe that her son Perry (Alexander Skarsgård) grew up to be a menace.
“I will be rich again. I will rise up. I will buy a fucking polar bear for every kid in this school.” – Renata Klein
Just like last week’s episode, Renata is a whole big mood once again in here. After discovering that her husband has been doing illegal activities behind her back and has now placed her entire fortune at risk, she becomes extremely hostile around him and transfers her anxiety onto her daughter Amabella (Ivy George). Because of this and the topic of climate change in class, Amabella has an anxiety attack that, in the words of Renata, “deconstructed [Amabella] into a coma”.
I honestly think Renata is one of the most fascinating and genuinely relatable characters (to me) that I have ever seen on-screen. Dern’s performance as Renata is f*cking incredible. I 👏🏻 love 👏🏻 everything 👏🏻 about 👏🏻 her 👏🏻.
Streep’s role as Celeste’s mother-in-law feels so convincing that every time she’s on-screen—I’m just living for it. Mary Louise feels like that annoying mother-in-law who will not rest until she finds the lie. Everything organically plays out in BLL, as Streep is undeniably talented.
As Mary Louise continues to prod into her son’s mysterious death, it seems like the truth will sooner or later be exposed. There is no doubt that she will go to the police, despite Celeste entrusting her with sensitive information, which she shared in last week’s episode.
Rating: 5/5
Sidenotes on “The End of the World”:
- What happened to Tom!!!! And his Blue Blues cafe!!!! Will we ever find out?
- Renata is my favourite character this season—a hundred per cent.
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