Mkay, so I was one of the “treacherous gays” who was originally kind of hoping for a BLL S2 flop–you know for the messy drama of it—but two episodes in and not only has the series more than proved the existence of its second season, but it has me hoping the possibility of a third season is not completely off the table.
I mean, a dramatic murder mystery is its own potent drama but the fallout–the painful reckoning of such a traumatic communal event has its own delicious trappings as well. That is the realm of storytelling I tend to gravitate toward anyway—how a group deals with the aftershock of it all.
So, girls…I tend to look at fictional media through a somewhat sociological lens and I could not help but examine the first two episodes of this season through the filter of Jeffery C. Alexander’s social theory of trauma. He mentions that “trauma is not just the result of a group experiencing pain. It is the result of this acute discomfort entering into the core of the collective’s sense of its own identity.” I think it’s clear that Celeste and Bonnie are the two obvious examples but this is a conflict all five of The iconic Monterey Five are contending with in one way or another.
Most of the first episode was table-setting, getting us back into the atmosphere of the setting and these characters and the traumatic event and lie that has bound Celeste, Madeline, Jane, Bonnie, and Renata—while also introducing us to the antagonizing force that is Mary Louise. Episode Two wastes little time mining some dramatic and emotionally potent confrontations and all of them look more specifically into family trauma.
I love how the storytelling of each main character is so closely intertwined this season, more inclusive and intersectional in terms of how one event touches all of their lives and the lives of their families and thus the community. The setting of Monterey being a powder-keg of gossip, secrets and scandal are like bullets and the secret uniting the Monterey Five is like a bazooka. The secrets and desires of each of the women will only lead to the inevitable fallout of that big bazooka-sized drama.
Celeste’s current state is rather heartbreaking sis. Perry’s demonic ass is haunting her from the grave as she continues to cling to whatever good times she had with that man. But all of those memories are tainted both from the abuse and by the dramatic circumstances of his death. Interior contradictory feelings are crazy-making enough right, but when external circumstances begin to interrogate those feelings, Celeste has to confront the possibility of reliving all of that trauma.
While Nicole Kidman is giving quite a compelling internal performance, we do get a few external flashes of the rage Celeste works hard to keep clenched down and quiet. The scene in which the therapist asks Celeste to imagine a close friend (Madeline) in a relived moment of abuse had me holding my breath sis. It is a ruthless and effective therapeutic technique that gets to the dark heart of the violence and brutality Celeste suffered at the hands of Perry. Through this perspective, Celeste can detach her residual feelings of passion for this man from the abuse. Her reaction is startling even to her therapist. It is a powerful moment that highlights how some victims of abuse feel like they don’t get to feel the full gamut of their complex feelings about the abuse they suffered, particularly their underlining anger. Here, Celeste is allowed a safe space to feel and express that anger and it shakes her to the core sis, because she damn sure can’t at her own home because she feels as if she might upset her sons but even more so she might spur more suspicion from Mary Louise. And the last thing she needs is the ever-gossiping neighborhood of Monterey to be aware of her vulnerable state.
Another moment occurs when Celeste is forced to confront the hectic grieving process of her twin boys both of whom, much like her conflicting feelings about Perry’s death, are clashing. In this, the residue of Perry’s violence is haunting the entire family and it raises more questions for Mary Louise about what had been going on under this roof prior to Perry’s death. I especially loved this telling shot:
When Mary Louise confronts Celeste about Ziggy’s parentage, all bets are off. In the face of ML’s disbelief and suspicion, we see Celeste going through the painful internal journey of processing the rage, sadness, and humiliation of her marriage to this woman’s son, the son she sees as this golden boy, all of her affection for her son overriding the story of Celeste’s trauma. Mary Louise is unconvinced or maybe delusional from her grief or perhaps a bit of both, but either way she lacks a complete understanding (perhaps a generational misunderstanding?) about the complexity of how abusive relationships are sustained, especially given Celeste’s isolation from her family.
But here is where the show’s empathetic storytelling kicks in for me again–you know, Perry was perhaps so good at maintaining such a handsome outward appearance that not even the woman who raised him was aware of the monster Celeste is describing to her. She lost her son so suddenly and she herself is angry and grieving and now she is finding out this information about her son through strangers–it’s humiliating to her, because in the thematic logic of the episode and of the series itself, the power and responsibility that comes with rearing children in the world always falls back on the mother–so if her son was this monster and she was unaware of it, it is a direct deconstruction of not only who she knew her son to be but of what role she played in creating a man who could do such things–in the same way she questioned Celeste about where she was when Madeline saved one of her sons from drowning, it begs the question, where was Mary Louise when her son was turning into an abusive predator and rapist? Of course ML is desperate for this information to not be true and for her to seek out something that will condemn Celeste and the other women involved rather than her deceased child. And of course Meryl Streep portrays it all with beautiful humanism, thankfully never slipping into melodramatic villainy.
Mary Louise is also a woman who has somewhat old-fashioned ideas about how women behave and how young men behave, which will definitely come into play with how she goes about acquiring justice for her son’s death. And I shudder to think what passive-aggressive cuts she has ready for when she finally meets Jane and Ziggy.
Unlike Mary Louise, Bonnie’s mother does have a clearer sense of her child, even if Bonnie doesn’t like it. Still, while the mother can see clearly what has been weighing heavily on her daughter (Nathan is such an ape ohmygod.) her presence simply raises more questions about Bonnie’s past. Bonnie doesn’t seem to be open to whatever spiritual mysticism her mother is tapped into, or maybe not anymore for some pivotal reason that might also have to do with her mother’s apparent (past) drinking problem. But it’s clear that her mother believes she is helping Bonnie by being so direct and invasive in her efforts
Whatever Bonnie’s past was like with her mother, it is only exacerbating the guilt weighing on her about being the one to kill Perry. What was supposed to be her foundation to flourish–her family–is turning into a nagging reminder of her enduring trauma, because she cannot be open and truthful with them. The once self-contained yogi mama is becoming an angry ghost. And her child, Skye sees this for the slow disintegration of the family unit that it is. Children always know. They might not know the what and why exactly but they always know when something in the house is askew. I wonder how much longer Bonnie’s mother will be around and how or if her visions will shape into the plot. Bonnie sure could do with more yoga sessions with Jane—I’ve always had a feeling these two would make good friends and I’d like to see more of them together.
Speaking of, the good sis Jane is trying to move on with her life and step into the dating pool with that twink from her new aquarium job. Not too much to say regarding that as of yet, but he seems to be an interesting parallel to Jane, a semi-weirdo who has fixed himself on her. I AM interested to see how it will likely challenge Jane in terms of being intimate, socially and maybe even sexually and how it may allow her to tap into new desires and heal from prior traumas.
Sis may have been coming for the Emmys in this installment too. Difficult conversations about sexual assault are hard enough to have already, but their situation is an entirely different field of perplexing vulnerability and emotion and Shailene Woodley was ACTING girls! The fact that Ziggy sat with the truth about his father for so long is somewhat troubling, like imagine this kid’s confusion—yet at the same time it highlights a certain level of emotional maturity for his age. Thankfully Jane and Celeste can bring their boys together to begin the essential healing process–and the Sufjan Stevens of it all…ohmygod. Everyone involved is feeling their way through this mess, even as Mary Louise sits in the periphery, ready to rock everyone’s shit even more–sis really is here to fight! (I’m really still thinking about when she put that necklace on her chin. sis, like what does it all mean?)
But, umm Renata fucking Klein—sis is truly KILLING ME. Her furious incredulity is at a glorious 10 for the entirety of this episode. So many classic moments. National treasure Laura Dern is coming for another Emmy mkay. “Will somebody give a woman a moment?!” is this season’s “I said thank yoooouu!!!” and I LIVE. But we truly have a classic on our hands with “I will not not be rich!” Mkay, but imagine, as a woman in this patriarchal piece of shit world that you climb yourself out of poverty to become a rich sis only to have your raggedy ass husband fuck up your money, threatening to return you and your young daughter back into the hole. You’d be ready to kill too sis….
In all seriousness though, Renata’s situation is in itself traumatic, even if it is traumatic from a position of immense privilege. Sis is used to a certain lifestyle, she has built herself up to be a woman of greatness and to have that suddenly derailed—it’s a lot and at the forefront there is worry for her daughter’s future, which adds new anxiety to an already shaky situation. Also with the new involvement of the FBI, the ladies are walking a tightrope. Detective Quinlan is really on THAT ASS girls!
Lastly, I am wondering if that song Renata seems to play regularly in her car has a bigger significance…
Is it really any surprise that Madeline’s daughters are the ones spilling the hot tea? After all, that is what Madeline has cultivated–most of everything she does has to do with some sort of gossip that takes place in front of her children. They are merely an extension of Madeline’s constant gabbing. She does display an almost pathological ease in nurturing the drama of the secrets she keeps. It does beg the question of what else Chloe might have heard in passing. Although the little sis might be too interested in her phone to give a damn about any infidelity or murder.
Deep down Ed has always had suspicions, but to have those suspicions validated in such close proximity that it was his stepdaughter to reveal the ugly truth, how could he presume that there is anything left of his and Madeline’s relationship to fix? Madeline, like Renata is as Mary Louise said, a wanter who is always looking for the next big thing. But Madeline is a wanter in a different way than Renata. Her want stems from a place of insecurity that she is not living up to the standards of all the other Monterey moms and that she’s wasted her life with misstep after misstep. She’s still so anxious about her place in this community and even more so in regard to shaping her eldest daughter’s life. I have to imagine that Madeline would have liked to be a Renata herself (I mean, there’s a reason they clashed so frequently last season, both called pushy and “bull dogs” on separate occasions).
Madeline’s desires for more in her life and in her daughters’ lives stem far beyond her sleeping with the theater director but her choice to do so highlights those hidden desires, her want for more passion and color in her life. Can’t blame Ed for leaving given how, through Madeline’s compiled secrets, he has been isolated from his wife in his own home. And of all the husbands featured on the show, he has been the least irksome, particularly this season.
Still, Ed oversteps by asserting that Madeline should have told him about Jane’s rape, something that has absolutely no sway or impact on their marriage and is in itself delicate knowledge shared between women. Like, nigga…what good would it have done to have more people know about that, particularly a man who is so far removed from the situation and who has not even nurtured a friendship with Jane??? Still, I think his overall point is that Madeline has removed herself from their marriage already, she hasn’t been in it for a long while even as she tries to convince Ed otherwise. Given how Madeline apparently likes to assert that family is “the most fundamental building block” the trauma she’s almost singlehandedly dealt her family will only exacerbate her discontent and her anxieties. Get ready for a much more manic Madeline girls!!! They’re real ugly for playing Ed’s cover of “The Wonder of You” over the end credits like an echo of guilt rining in Madeline’s head.
As that dramatic British hoe Henry James insisted: “The essence of drama: what will happen, who suffer, who not suffer, what turn be determined, what crisis created, what issue found?” I really do love mess but even more, I love the reckoning of that mess and I’m ready for more sis…
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