Season 2 - 7 episodes (2019)
Created by: David E. Kelley
Directed by: Jean-Marc Vallée
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Scott, Zoë Kravitz
Rated: TV-MA
Season 2 trailer
Plot
The second season reflects on the aftermath of the homicide investigation in season one while exploring the entanglements of the "Monterey Five's" personal lives.
Verdict
The fact this season isn't horrible is a victory. This season isn't as good as the first. It raises some interesting points that just don't travel far, but the driving force is a custody battle resulting from the aftermath from the first season's homicide. Meryl Streep joins the cast and does a great job, but I couldn't help but wonder what this season is really about. I didn't want all of the plot points wrapped up with a neat bow, but the comparisons or connections never quite materialize.
While I enjoyed the season, it's uneven.
Watch it.
Review
This wasn't originally intended to get a second season. The source material wrapped in season one. After the success of that season, HBO decided to push for a second season and it's an impressive and very different season. The fact this season isn't a huge drop off is a success by itself.
The driving force isn't a murder investigation and cross cutting police interviews. The driving force is Celeste's mother-in-law who threatens a custody hearing to determine what happened to her son. There's plenty of drama along the way with a bankruptcy, new relationships, and an affair intertwined.
The first season wrapped everything up while the second season leaves a season three wide open, though as it stands a third season may not even happen. It just feels a bit cheap. The big reveal I thought might happen in season 2, one teased numerous times, is left as a cliffhanger that may never be resolved.
I really liked Ed and Madelaine's arc. It was rather understated compared to the rest of the plot as their marriage becomes increasingly strained. This season compares marriages and relationships and all of them are different. Despite an affair Ed and Madelaine have the best relationship by the end of the season.
At the outset this season seemed to be about mothers while the "Five" were dealing with what happened. Meryl Streep plays a real piece of work, but her quirks/strategy didn't quite payoff.
I wondered if this season would be them skirting suspicion but that doesn't play a part. There are a few story lines hinted, but they don't progress. At times this season doesn't seem to know where to go. Bonnie is having a difficult time coping with the events of season one and her mother shows up for no good reason, but that arc felt forced.
After the first episode, I figured the kids and their teacher would play a role but that teacher just shows how entitled Renata is. Renata goes bankrupt and her character never quite belonged in the show. She's part of the group, but her struggles of being entitled and rich don't connect. When she ends up bankrupt I didn't really care. She's a terrible person and we're shown that time and again. The show could at least make her terrible as a means of coping or defense, but that's not it. It's all the more strange since Renata is a female CEO. Her entitled manner just doesn't fit.
Nathan and Ed have a contentious relationship and Ed, and Nathan's wife Bonnie, at one point seem to be quite close but that doesn't go anywhere. Nathan and Ed's disdain for each other at times is funny, but I don't think that's the intent. There's a comparison to be made between Ed and Nathan and how Madelaine views them, but I can't give the show credit for actually exploring that.
After the second episode I really liked the writing and characterization, an extension from season one, but too many arcs felt like padding. Too many plot points just didn't materialize.
Meryl Streep does a great job as the unlikable Mary-Louise. She wants to know the truth behind how her son died. She's quirky and that began to seem like an act. She doesn't want to believe her son was terrible.She's in turmoil, but the show doesn't quite make that engaging. She's a villain and she should have a bit of sympathy.
The last episode begins to question nature versus nurture in regards to Mary-Louise, Perry, and Celeste, but it just introduces the idea and leaves it.
This season hits a lot of the same points time and again. I never found the season less than enjoyable, but it also doesn't travel very far. This season could have been fewer episodes and still made the same points. It easily could have expanded one some of the plot arcs introduced, but doesn't. I wasn't disappointed, but this also slightly squanders the premise.
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