Review Roundup: What Did Critics Think of BIG LITTLE LIES Season Two?

BIG LITTLE LIES returns Sunday, June 9 exclusively on HBO. The second season of this subversive, darkly comedic drama will explore the malignancy of lies, the durability of friendships, the fragility of marriage and the vicious ferocity of sound parenting. Relationships will fray, loyalties will erode...the potential for emotional and bodily injury shall loom.

The Monterey Five - Madeline (Reese Witherspoon), Celeste (Nicole Kidman), Jane (Shailene Woodley), Renata (Laura Dern) and Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz) - are joined by Celeste's visiting mother-in-law, Mary Louise (Meryl Streep), and their husbands, Ed (Adam Scott), Nathan (James Tupper) and Gordon (Jeffrey Nordling), in this seven-episode season.

Find out what the critics have to think about the first three episodes of season two!

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Caroline Framke, Variety:

Even when Season 2 is messy - and it is, more often than not - the mess at least feels like the point. It would have been easy to leave the story on that beach at golden hour with the triumph of sticking the ending. It's far harder to imagine what would actually happen the next day, and the next, and the next. Purposefully rooting around that uncertainty and pulling clarity out by its screaming roots is a worthy task that the formidable women of "Big Little Lies" - both onscreen and off - have been preparing to face for a long time.

Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter:

After launching its first season in February (of 2017), Big Little Lies is returning in summer blockbuster season and with Streep in control, the series may be shifting from dark comedy, mystery and commentary on gender politics to full-on actorly action. I might miss the murder mystery a little, but this is more than a good substitute.

Ben Travers, IndieWire:

Streep doesn't abide by lies of any size, and she becomes the perfect addition to infiltrate the cast's individual arcs and start tying them all together. "Big Little Lies" can still feel like each lead is playing in their own custom-tailored genre - Madeline is in a satirical comedy, Celeste a painful drama, Renata in a nighttime soap - but Streep works wonders as the unifying force. In Season 1, it was the mystery. In Season 2, it's the cover-up. This is an extreme alteration, but Arnold's intimate direction, Kelley's efficient scripts, and the personal investment the audience has already made with these characters prove instrumental to building a compelling human drama.

Amanda Bell, TV Guide:

In its second season, Big Little Lies remains the same moody suspense-drama that fans fell in love with during its initial run. There are no jarring formula changes or new gimmicks to keep it going; this is simply the second half of the same story, with a very slight break in time, and it works. Even though it is a bit too heady to truly serve as an avenue of escape for audiences, Big Little LiesSeason 2 will still transport you right back to Monterey, wherein the water is warm but the wine is chilled.

Patricia Puentes, CNET:

Will I watch the rest of the second season of Big Little Lies with the same compulsiveness that I ingested the first season or the book? Probably not. But even if I'm not hooked by the need to discover a killer this time around, I'm still completely seduced by the lives of these complex women trying to raise their children, fulfill their passions, love and be loved, and -- if possible -- also be happy.

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