Big Little Lies (HBO) [ Spoilers ]

seligehgit · 24-04-2017 1:13am

Superb mini series.

SimonTemplar · 25-04-2017 1:09am

Absolutely fantastic miniseries. Really great writing and memorable acting. Last episode was the tensest I'm been in a long time while watching a series. I'm pretty sure I'll forever associate Kidman, Witherspoon and Woodley with these roles. All three were amazing, especially Kidman who was always excellent at conveying brittle vulnerability. It's also good to see Woodley being able to showcase her talent outside of that awful Divergent series. The only nitpick is that I predicted a certain person's identity

Celeste's Husband = Jane's rapist

a few episodes before its reveal but that was a fairly minor criticism.

One other thing though - Madeline works part time 20 hrs a week at a local theater and her husband works from home as an IT contractor. However, they live in a perfect palatial home with a seemingly endless supply of money. This leads me to suspect that the husband is in fact an international arms dealer - it's always the quiet ones!

johnpatrick81 · 25-04-2017 1:18am

It really was fantastic. The performances all round were incredible.

The ending was a tad obvious, and a little too convenient, but yeah, bravo!

SimonTemplar · 25-04-2017 1:21am

johnpatrick81 wrote: »

It really was fantastic. The performances all round were incredible.

The ending was a tad obvious, and a little too convenient, but yeah, bravo!

Given where all the characters are by the final episode, the ending is probably the only one where

a murder can happen but it is still a satisfying happy ending. I certainly didn't want any of the core women to die by the end, which is what I suspected would happen when I started watching it.

johnpatrick81 · 25-04-2017 1:25am

Yeah, for a second I thought it was someone else dressed in black and I was raging! Very satisfied it was who it was. But....yeah! Was the last scene a teaser for a second season or was it merely a sign that all may not be as rosy as it seemed?

Aimeee · 25-04-2017 1:51am

Just watched the last two episodes now. Loved it. Thought Nicole Kidman excellent in this and normally not a fan of hers. Woodley excellent too. Guesssed halfway through that it might be Perry alright. All his business trips and that temper. Glad he got his comeuppance in the end. The detective probably won't let it go though.
Reminds me a little of The Affair set in Montauk. Note to self; never move to wealthy coastal towns in the US. Way too much going on!

duvetdayss · 25-04-2017 8:52am

Have to say it was one of the best US series I've seen recently. Loved the scenery, music and acting!

Did anyone else find it hard to hear the dialogue? We needed subtitles, but we have moved house and still have no curtains so there's an echo...

CMOTDibbler · 25-04-2017 10:16am

One of the most striking scenes for me was when

Jane recognised Perry.

Not a word spoken and everyone in the scene (bar Renata) knows what's happened.

Don't think I've ever been as moved by a no dialogue scene. Flawless acting and direction.

As a series, it's almost unique that so many top female actors have had such a vehicle to showcase their talents. And they absolutely nailed it.

johnpatrick81 · 25-04-2017 5:30pm

duvetdayss wrote: »

Did anyone else find it hard to hear the dialogue? We needed subtitles, but we have moved house and still have no curtains so there's an echo...

Definitely! There was an awful lot of muffled conversations, never rewound and stuck on the subtitles so much before to catch missed phrases

youngblood · 25-04-2017 5:55pm

I actually hope there's no second series, it felt like a perfect story

S.M.B. · 25-04-2017 9:26pm

There won't be. Looks like the team might reunite to adapt another book by the same author but doubt the 3 leads would be sharing the screen again if that's the case.

Aimeee · 26-04-2017 12:53am

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

One of the most striking scenes for me was when
Jane recognised Perry.
Not a word spoken and everyone in the scene (bar Renata) knows what's happened.

Don't think I've ever been as moved by a no dialogue scene. Flawless acting and direction.

As a series, it's almost unique that so many top female actors have had such a vehicle to showcase their talents. And they absolutely nailed it.

Agree with all of the above. I need to watch it again.

Evian98 · 26-04-2017 3:00pm

duvetdayss wrote: »

Have to say it was one of the best US series I've seen recently. Loved the scenery, music and acting!

Did anyone else find it hard to hear the dialogue? We needed subtitles, but we have moved house and still have no curtains so there's an echo...

Absolutely agree. Dialogue very difficult to hear in parts. Excellent series....so compelling.

Roanmore · 27-04-2017 8:48am

Very strange seeing Calamity Jane (Deadwood fans) as the Counselor.

The Black Oil · 29-04-2017 2:41pm

Just watched the first one, thought it was very good.

Deeper Blue · 30-04-2017 12:29am

Just finished watching this. The scenes between Skarsgård and Kidman were a highlight, edge of the seat stuff. Witherspoon was great also.

Overall a top quality series.

The Black Oil · 03-05-2017 7:01am

I got to the fourth episode over the weekend.

It shares some similarities to The Affair in its setting, idyllic seaside and there's a nasty death that hasn't been fully revealed yet, plus Chekov's gun is in play. Two of the characters have a rather inflated sense of self-importance, imo, and there's been a few scenes that were difficult to watch. It is good, though.

The Black Oil · 04-05-2017 11:20pm

Well, you’d be a bit tripped out after watching that, eh? Still digesting it somewhat. I think in someone else's hands, or with an overload of irritating subplots or twists and turns it could have been quite messy, or if Renata's warpath had continued. I mean, there were moments when I was thinking are these people really adults? I did laugh at Madeline's puking, or rather the third green spew. **** off, Bonnie.

Good points in the thread. I too found Jane’s flinch of recognition to be one of the more visceral moments in the show. Not only did she have a gun, at times she basically was one too. The actual gun never needed to go off for the show to be effective. And in that regard, some of the potential signposting/telegraphing bits went over my head on the who it might be front. Re the acting, it felt like a toss up between Woodley and Witherspoon. Kidman, I don't really have a sense of her acting overall to compare it with anything she's done before. Thought I heard a few flecks of her native accent creep into the 1:1 therapy scenes, but I wouldn't bother focusing on that criticism much. Her husband was an appalling, manipulative prick. What was happening to her character was as bad on a psychological level as it was physically. The show worked well here, denial is scarily all consuming at times.

Overall, very enjoyable. At the same time, like FouxDaFaFa, I do wonder if they might have missed a step with the tone - should it have gotten under my skin more somehow, Kidman in particular? Perhaps. And yes, I had to rewind once or twice - the daughter mumbled something about Wolf Blitzer the morning after the Amnesty/virginity thing blew up.

Second series - can't see anything to be gained from that, creatively. Now, did I even watch the trailer in the first instance, can't remember...

S.M.B. · 08-05-2017 9:26am

S.M.B. wrote: »

There won't be. Looks like the team might reunite to adapt another book by the same author but doubt the 3 leads would be sharing the screen again if that's the case.

Hmmmmmm, looks like the cast are working on a second season.

Odd choice.

scrumqueen · 13-05-2017 7:05pm

NDWC wrote: »

Just finished watching this. The scenes between Skarsgård and Kidman were a highlight, edge of the seat stuff. Witherspoon was great also.

Overall a top quality series.

+1

Enjoyed this from start to finish. While I wish there was more of it, I feel if there was, it just wouldn't be as good.

Soundtrack was just fabulous too!

ondarack · 25-05-2017 9:50pm

Myself an my wife were watching this on sky Atlantic on demand but it's seemed to have disappeared. We were on to the last episode and all, does anyone know if it will be coming back onto sky?

Mushy · 25-05-2017 10:15pm

ondarack wrote: »

Myself an my wife were watching this on sky Atlantic on demand but it's seemed to have disappeared. We were on to the last episode and all, does anyone know if it will be coming back onto sky?

The 30 or so days probably ran out. Probably won't come back unless second season is coming soon.

bnt · 27-06-2017 10:22am

I'm halfway through the first episode, but am already enjoying this a lot while trying to avoid spoilers. The family of Madeline Martha MacKenzie (what a name) are cracking me up, especially the youngest daughter Chloe, who's totally laid back and cranking up King Kong by The Mothers of Invention on the stereo. I like her already.

Pinkman · 28-06-2017 9:09pm

Is it just me or has this been taken down from Sky's on demand service? No repeats even showing when I type it into the search.

TerrorFirmer · 14-08-2017 1:54am

Good show. Found the first episode or two a bit of a slog but once it takes off, it really becomes quite gripping. I thought the 'twist' was obvious by the third episode, but the whole affair just works pretty well that I didn't mind, I just appreciated the journey. No idea if they're making a second season, but it does work extremely well as a once off so it's well worth watching regardless of whether it's renewed or not.

Great performances all round, but particularly Kidman and Skarsgrad. I'd recommend it to anyone, and really urge people to stick with it even if the opener doesn't quite grab them because it really does reach high points I'd never have expected of it.