BIG LITTLE LIES: SOMEBODY'S DEAD {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this dramatic mystery series, based on the 2014 novel by Liane Moriarty, about the complex personal lives of the seemingly perfect women of Monterey, California. In this episode, the police are summoned to a "costume night or something," at which an unnamed person has died. When interviewed, the locals offer their gossipy views on the event, suggesting that the trouble started at "the incident on Orientation Day." Some months earlier, wealthy stay-at-home mom Madeline Martha Mackenzie befriends young single mother Jane Chapman, a newcomer to Monterey, as they drop off their children, Chloe and Ziggy, for the start of first grade. Elsewhere, glamorous Celeste Wright spends time with her handsome younger husband, Perry, with the townspeople noting that they are still annoyingly "gooey" with one another. At school, Madeline greets her frenemy, hyper-competent working mom Renata Klein, and has a rather passive-aggressive encounter with her ex-husband Nathan and his kindly second wife Bonnie. Madeline and Celeste then invite Jane to their favorite coffee shop, run by the friendly Tom, and Jane confirms that Ziggy's father is "not in the picture." Surprised by the other women's immediate kindness to her, Jane confesses to her strange sense of feeling perpetually out of place.
Later, Jane runs on the beach, thinking back to a certain memorable night in her life. Bonnie, who teaches yoga classes, dismisses Nathan's complaints about Madeline's rude behavior, wanting to avoid a conflict. When the mothers return to pick up their children, Renata mistakes Jane for Ziggy's nanny, and Madeline is offended when Bonnie tells her that she and several other parents have signed a petition to stop the town's upcoming production of "Avenue Q," a bawdy and satirical musical. Everyone is stunned when the kids' teacher announces that Renata's daughter Amabella was physically attacked by another child, and when Amabella seemingly names Ziggy, "battle lines are drawn" as Renata demands an apology and Madeline jumps to Jane and Ziggy's defense. At home, Madeline complains to her second husband Ed about the incident, though her teenage daughter Abigail argues with her, suggesting that she is merely resentful about the play and about Bonnie in general. Madeline confides to Ed that her daughter is "slipping away" as she matures, and when she complains that Nathan "won" with his remarriage to an attractive younger woman, Ed takes offense at being deemed a "consolation prize."
Renata admits that she is "not liked," though her husband Gordon chalks the conflict up to mere female envy. Jane calls her mother to relate the day's strange events, and she assures a worried Ziggy that she believes him innocent of Amabella's attack. Madeline is distressed to hear that Abigail is having doubts about attending college, though they later bond as Madeline confesses her sadness over "losing her babies," and Perry turns quickly aggressive with Celeste as he questions her about Ziggy's apparent violent nature, demanding that she keep their twin sons Max and Josh away from "the wrong crowd." In the present, Detective Adrienne Quinlan announces that the death, caused by a fractured skull, is officially being treated as a homicide, while in the past Jane puts a sleepwalking Ziggy back to bed as she stashes a gun under her pillow. Celeste regards a sleeping Perry as Madeline tries to avoid thoughts of an intimate encounter, and all of the residents affirm that the mothers in the community are "vicious," leaving the identity of the victim – and the killer – unknown.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: November 30, 1999 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:51:09
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 129769
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Women's Collection - Drama; Drama, mystery/suspense; Literature - Adaptations; Murder
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2017-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Nathan Ross … Executive Producer
- Gregg Fienberg … Executive Producer
- Nicole Kidman … Executive Producer
- Per Saari … Executive Producer
- Reese Witherspoon … Executive Producer
- Bruna Papandrea … Executive Producer
- Jean-Marc Vallée … Executive Producer, Director
- David E. Kelley … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Barbara A. Hall … Producer
- Liane Moriarty … Producer, Based on the book by
- Marc Coté … Co-Producer
- Claire Newman … Associate Producer
- Reese Witherspoon … Cast, Madeline Martha Mackenzie
- Nicole Kidman … Cast, Celeste Wright
- Shailene Woodley … Cast, Jane Chapman
- Alexander Skarsgård … Cast, Perry Wright
- Adam Scott … Cast, Ed Mackenzie
- Zoe Kravitz … Cast, Bonnie Carlson
- James Tupper … Cast, Nathan Carlson
- Jeffrey Nordling … Cast, Gordon Klein
- Laura Dern … Cast, Renata Klein
- Iain Armitage … Cast, Ziggy Chapman
- Sarah Baker … Cast, Thea Cunningham
- Sarah Burns … Cast, Gabrielle
- P.J. Byrne … Cast, Principal Warren Nippal
- Santiago Cabrera … Cast, Joseph Bachman
- Darby Camp … Cast, Chloe Mackenzie
- Gia Carides … Cast, Melissa
- Hong Chau … Cast, Jackie
- Kelen Coleman … Cast, Harper Stimson
- Joseph Cross … Cast, Tom
- Merrin Dungey … Cast, Detective Adrienne Quinlan
- Ivy George … Cast, Amabella Klein
- Virginia Kull … Cast, Ms. Barnes
- Kathryn Newton … Cast, Abigail Carlson
- Sarah Sokolovic … Cast, Tori Bachman
- Larry Bates … Cast, Stu
- Kathreen Khavari … Cast, Samantha
- David Monahan … Cast, Bernard
- Joel Spence … Cast, Matt
- Larry Sullivan … Cast, Oren Berg
- Nelly Buchet … Cast, Juliette
- Chloe Coleman … Cast, Skye Carlson
- Parker Croft … Cast, Brent
- Cameron Crovetti … Cast, Josh Wright
- Nicholas Crovetti … Cast, Max Wright
- Keisuke Hoashi … Cast, Dr. Leo Chang
- Kimmy Shields … Cast, Kelly
- Tim True … Cast, Detective Walt Gibson
- Carrie Wampler … Cast, Lori