Anybody else feeling weirdly uncomfortable, but in a good way?
Tonight's Big Little Lies dug deep into lots of deep dark secrets, forcing Madeline (Reese Witherspoon), Celeste (Nicole Kidman), and Jane (Shailene Woodley) to confront or at least contemplate confronting the most painful parts of themselves.
For Madeline, that meant dealing with the affair she had with Joseph (Santiago Cabrera) and and the possibility that maybe Ed (Adam Scott) isn't who or what she really wants. Joseph showed up at the coffee shop and asked to take a drive so they could talk, but that drive led to a minor car accident that put him in the hospital with a collapsed lung, just before Madeline could give her thoughts on the situation.
We can't say we haven't noticed Ed and Madeline's slight lack of chemistry, but now it feels deliberate, because the other parents have noticed it too. They may not be violent with each other, but they're also lacking any sort of passion, unlike another couple we know.
After a couple rounds of passionate kitchen sex and a violent fight over the kids' toys, Celeste went to therapy alone. Very slowly, the therapist got Celeste to sort of admit how bad and dangerous things really are with Perry (Alexander Skarsgard).
Kidman was so goddamn good in this scene that we wanted to get out of it. We wanted to either shake her and then give her a hug or just get out of there because the fear in her eyes mixed with the front she was trying to keep up was just too painful. We throw around Emmy noms a lot over here, but if only one performance on this show could get all the awards, it should be Kidman's.
The therapist recommended another appointment to start helping Celeste find a way out, and then Celeste promptly picked up her kids and headed to the airport. For a split second, it might have been possible she was running. In fact, she was just picking Perry up, and he greeted her with a hug that was both loving and strangely scary. Alexander Skarsgard's face has never disappointed us more.
Jane, meanwhile, ended up on a quest for revenge. She and Madeline and Renata had planned to head to San Luis Obispo together in order to find out if the interior designer Madeline had googled was actually the right guy.
Madeline and Celeste eventually decided it was a bad idea (especially after Madeline heard about Jane's gun practice) for many reasons, including both physical and mental safety. So Jane claimed she had work to do, asked Madeline to pick Ziggy up, and then drove there on her own, with her gun in tow. She met the guy, and then she left, screaming in her car.
Was it him? We don't exactly know. But Jane sure was unhappy, and she was extra unhappy when she got pulled over on her way home.
Finally, we must discuss Renata (Laura Dern). While helping Amabella prepare for a play date, Renata discovered that someone had bitten her daughter on the shoulder. Obviously, this sent Renata into a rage, but Amabella wasn't saying who was responsible, and this only created more rage.
With no one else to blame, she went after Ziggy, which got Jane called into the principal's office, with nothing else to do but hand Renata tissues. Sure, Renata's just looking out for her kid, who keeps showing up with visible injuries, and that should make sense. But Dern manages to just make her terrifying. We do not blame Amabella for not speaking up, and we really, really do not know what's going on with these kids at this school.
Trivia night update: Somebody's clearly getting busy on the night in question, and it doesn't appear to be Jane, at least. Who could it be? And how will all of these storylines finally collide while everyone is dressed as Elvis and Audrey Hepburn?? We are theory-less.
Power Rankings:
5. Renata: Chill out, woman!
4. Bonnie: Way to only have one line.
3. Jane: Little worried she's completely losing control, but it's hard to blame her.
2. Madeline: Girl's life is a mess but she's still possibly the best friend anyone could have.
1. Celeste: We're so proud of her for finally, if extremely reluctantly, speaking up. (This ranking is also for Kidman.)
Big Little Lies airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.