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Feb 24, 2017 · Serious Mothering: Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. With Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgård. Jane deflects questions from Ziggy, Madeline is outraged over a slight from Renata, and Celeste suggests she and Perry see a counselor.
- (5.1K)
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Jean-Marc Vallée
- 2017-02-24
Serious Mothering. Season 1 Episode 2. Editor’s Rating **** « Previous Next » Kathryn Newton as Abigail, Darby Camp as Chloe, Adam Scott as Ed, Reese Witherspoon as Madeline. Photo: HBO. It’s...
- It's not TV, it's episode two.
- Big Little Lies: "Serious Mothering" Photos
- Verdict
By Jean Bentley
Posted: Feb 26, 2017 8:00 pm
Note: The second episode of HBO's Big Little Lies is available to watch early on HBO Go and HBO Now before it airs Sunday night on HBO. Full spoilers for the episode follow.
If the first episode of HBO's miniseries Big Little Lies was about introducing the feuding mothers of Monterrey, Calif., then the second was about drawing the battle lines.
Reese Witherspoon's Madeline is the kind of woman who knows everyone - but in "Serious Mothering," it became abundantly clear that it's because she inserts herself into other peoples' conflicts. Madeline might be well-meaning, but she's the town busybody. And when you concern yourself with fights that aren't your own, you're bound to make a few enemies.
Madeline proved that to be true by fighting with (in no particular order): fellow mom Renata (Laura Dern), mother of the little girl who accused a classmate of assault on the playground; ex-husband Nathan (James Tupper); Nathan's new wife, Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz); her own husband, Ed (Adam Scott); and her oldest daughter, Abigail (Kathryn Newton).
While it's sad that a little girl's birthday party was spoiled, there are two major benefits to this move: one, it's fun to watch other people be petty while you remain superior and moral. And two, Dern's anguish as the frustrated, overworked Renata is both imminently GIF-able and a pleasure to watch. So far, TV Renata is much more fleshed-out and whole than book Renata, which adds a new and necessary layer of complication and context to the group of moms. Being able to explore the inner lives of more characters makes the rich, picture-pretty town seem more like an actual place where people live rather than a collection of houses you've probably seen featured in Architectural Digest.
Madeline's beef with Bonnie is simple, really... Madeline is jealous that her eldest daughter, Abigail, is bonding with her stepmother. And the drama with Abigail, who is a teenage girl? FYI to anyone who was not a teenage girl at one point in time: teenage girls and their mothers fight. A lot. While ostensibly Madeline was mad that Bonnie took Abigail to get birth control at Planned Parenthood, the real problem was jealousy - Madeline's ex, Nathan, left her with a small child. When saw sees him acting like a loving husband with Bonnie and being a hands-on dad with his and Bonnie's kid, she was reminded of the fact that she had to struggle as a single mom (hence her connection to Jane). Nathan might be older and more mature now, but it doesn't change the fact that he treated her so horribly then.
That revelation was brought on by Madeline fighting with her second husband, Ed, who worried that his wife wasn't over her ex. But once Madeline was able to articulate why she was so angry with Nathan, Ed understood—and even stood up to Nathan when he tried to confront him about Madeline's behavior. Scott's Ed could've felt like a beta husband next to the extremely Type-A Madeline, and perhaps he does, but this power move both proved that he's not a doormat and showed that even laid-back, bearded Northern California dads will summon any masculine energy necessary to protect their families.
It's the same protective instinct that caused Renata to become so outraged about her daughter's attack, and that caused Madeline to take Jane under her wing—Madeline might be acting out of turn, but it's the only way she knows how to act. Seeing Ed stand up to Nathan showed why Madeline and Ed work. He's happy to defer to his wife because he loves and respects her, just don't mistake that for weakness. They have a partnership that's working, especially now that Madeline has articulated exactly why she's so jealous of Bonnie and mad at Nathan.
While it's still unclear who was killed (or how or why - nor does it seem we will find out any time soon), the fact that Madeline is so central to the story makes a good case for her as the victim. Why else would we be learning so much about this woman and all the ties she has to everyone in the town? (And the feuds?) Again, as in the premiere, Witherspoon's performance as the confident (but secretly guarded) star mom is pitch-perfect. Madeline is the sun of Monterrey, and the other women orbit around her.
Madeline wasn't the only one fighting in "Serious Mothering," however. While the premiere hinted at the violent way Alexander Skarsgard's Perry treated his wife, Celeste (Nicole Kidman), episode two showed that Perry regularly beats her. And while Celeste is clearly unhappy (she's tried therapy, she does fight back), it's hard to entangle an abusive person from your life.
Episode two gave more context to the relationships introduced in the Big Little Lies premiere, richly expanding the world and setting the stage for bigger drama to come. (You know, like the murder we've known about since the very beginning.)
- Jean Bentley
Feb 27, 2017 · ‘Serious Mothering’ also touches on Jane’s mysterious past slightly. When she finally falls to the ground crying from the stress of staying together for Ziggy, she becomes one of the few characters who is willing to put aside all of her problems in favor of providing a solid foundation for her son.
Feb 25, 2017 · “Serious Mothering,” the second episode of HBO’s Big Little Lies, makes you forget the show will involve a murder at some point. It’s a dive into the politics of parenting in Monterey, a pulpy...
- Alex Abad-Santos
Serious Mothering. TV-MA | 54 MIN. WATCH NOW. Jane deflects questions from Ziggy; Madeline is outraged over a slight from Renata; Celeste suggests she and Perry see a counselor. 1. Somebody's Dead. A suspicious death at a coastal elementary school draws attention to the frictions among three mothers and their families. 2. Serious Mothering.
"Serious Mothering" is the second episode of the first season of Big Little Lies. It is the second episode of the series overall. It was released on February 26, 2017 on HBO.[1] Jane tries to keep it together as Ziggy queries why they moved to Monterey--a question for which she has no easy...
