HBO released the first full trailer for the upcoming second season of the hit limited series Big Little Lies and though the secretive members of the Monterey Murders Club are very quiet throughout, I screamed from beginning to end. After the events of last year's finale, the five socialite moms played by Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Zoe Kravitz, and Shailene Woodley close rank to protect themselves ("The lies," they murmur to each other. "They are so big. But should we make our voices small? Nay, never that. And yet...") But the new trailer shows that two outside forces will stop at nothing to turn up the volume. First is Merrin Dungey's dogged detective who wants to solve a murder (and who dramatically flicks her lighter so much I suspect she may be an amateur magician). The second is Meryl Streep, who plays mother of the departed Perry Wright, and is trying to get the some Little Big Truths out of the Big Little Lies.
That's the plot but the most beautiful aspect of Big Little Lies has always been its ability to stack all manner of outrageousness on the basic structure of a slightly soapy noir plot. Is it a soap opera about gossipy rich people? Absolutely! Is it a black comedy about community theater productions and the communities that do not support them? Sure, why not? Is it an excuse to play a lot of very chill songs on TV while looking at interior design porn? Without a doubt.
The new trailer gives you all of that in spades, plus two moments that seem to be built exclusively to make me scream at my computer screen. Let's take an honest look:
COSTUMES
After the huge central set piece of the Audrey Hepburn-themed party in the first season (a very common theme for gatherings of all sorts), one would think that the second season would pull back on capital L Lewks. One would be wrong. The trailer first bestows upon us the sight of five disheveled Audreys in a police line up (Paging Anna Wintour; we have some late-breaking camp). And then it cuts to a 70s-themed gathering, featuring a hippie Shailene Woodley (a redundant term, but I'll allow it), plus a permed Reese, Zoë, and Laura. What did I do to deserve such gifts?!
And just when you think life can't get any better, there's a random shot of Laura Dern's Renata Klein wearing an iridescent fuschia gown and posing for a photo shoot for reasons unknown. At a certain point, this trailer just becomes images I've only dared to dream while planning cabaret acts and, reader, I screamed.
WHISPERS
One does not simply walk around Monterey shouting the lies. One must mutter the lies to others in scene lit by the sunlight poking through clouds. This is very important. And no one knows this better than Meryl Streep's Mary Louise Wright, who spends the trailer skulking around, breathily dropping devastating lines on A-list actresses doing brilliant character work. In the teaser, we were treated to Streep's Mary Louise ethering Reese Witherspoon's Madeline Martha Mackenzie with the line "I want to know what happened that night. I'm very tempted to ask you but I... I don't think I would get the truth, would I?"
"GASP!" Madeline whispers. "GASP!" I scream.
In the new trailer, Mary Louise sets her sight on ex-daughter-in-law Celeste Wright, played by Nicole Kidman. She casually accuses Celeste of leaving out crucial information about Perry's death and then, like Hercule Poirot with a bob and a sweater from Ann Taylor Loft, she drops the hammer. "You learned of his infidelity just 10 seconds before he died," she purrs. And then, with a dramatic sigh she says, "Ohhh, you left that out too."
"GASP!" Celeste's bangs whisper. "GASP!" I scream.
I would like to formally request an entire series in which Meryl's character interrogates Oscar winning actresses in dulcet tones. It's like Murder, She Wrote meets Snatch Game.
The new season of Big Little Lies premieres on June 9. I am very excited, although I am certain that I will have screamed myself hoarse by then.
