Big Little Lies Review: The Bad Mother (Season 2 Episode 6)
Big Little Lies Season 2 Episode 6, “The Bad Mother,” takes us deeper into the guilt weighing down each of the Monterey Five, as Mary Louise takes Celeste to court over custody of the boys. We also dive into Bonnie’s past, finally begin to see resolution for Madeline and Ed, and we get one more reason to hate Gordon.
On the penultimate episode of Big Little Lies, the lie begins to unravel as each of these women are pushed to their limits as they struggle through the absolute agony of existing and trying not to fail.
JANE
I’m going to be honest, I don’t trust Corey’s story about being called in for questioning at all. Why would he be questioned in the middle of the night? It’s much more likely that he is an informant, and this story he’s selling Jane was in place all along for him to pressure her into confessing or giving up one of the other women.
It’s bold of Corey to assume that Jane is going to have an easy time trusting him after this, given what he knew about her trust issues before this happened.
Corey: She said with five witnesses the odds are in her favor. One of you will finally crack. First one who does gets a break, the other four are f–ked.
It will be interesting to see how this information affects the group as a whole. Each of their immediate reactions is pretty intense, but Bonnie is still the most likely to confess (and the one with the most guilt pressuring her to do so). Will she be the one to finally confess, or will the others beat her to it? Will one of them turn on the others, or will they stand together and face the consequences as a group?
BONNIE
Bonnie’s downward spiral continues as she envisions killing her mother, and confessing to her crimes. Up until now, we’ve been led to believe that Bonnie wants to confess in order to relieve herself of the guilt. On “The Bad Mother” it appears that Bonnie now wants to confess in order to save her friend.
She sees Celeste struggling in court while Mary Louise’s lawyer insinuates that she killed her husband. She’s wanted to confess for so long, I believe that Bonnie is even more likely to do so now when she thinks that it can save someone else. However, if what Corey says is true she could be condemning Celeste more than helping her.
Zoë Kravitz deserves an Emmy for many moments throughout this season, but the confession scene on “The Bad Mother” blows everything out of the water. She delivers this speech with so much carefully measured emotion that makes Bonnie’s history of being abused by her mother.
Bonnie: When I lunged at him, I was pushing you. And that push was a long time coming.
I’m going to continue to spinning my circle of protection around Bonnie through this finale. Bonnie has been drowning all season, please let her finally come up for air.
MADELINE
Ed toys with cheating on Madeline with Tori in order to essentially even the score in their marriage. Tori is very very into the idea but, while it isn’t completely clear to me, I don’t think Ed actually goes through with it.
When Ed finds Madeline dancing around in her too-small wedding dress, and singing songs that remind her of him, something shifts in him that brings him back into their marriage. I definitely think that these two still need to put in the hard work to get past their issues, but this scene effortlessly highlights the love they still have for each other.
Do you think Ed cheated on Madeline? Even if he didn’t he did say that it’s not necessarily about going through with it, it’s about thinking about it, and he has. If Ed and Madeline’s relationship can ever truly heal, and if he wants to really be all about truth and honesty, I think they need to continue going to therapy, even now that it looks like they may be on good terms again.
Ed: Like I said before, you can’t just wave a wand, but that was pretty f–cking close.
CELESTE
Celeste isn’t very good at accepting help from others, and this episode highlights that more than ever before. Watching her get questioned by Mary Louise’s lawyer is downright excruciating. We want to be on Celeste’s side, we want her to win and get to keep her children, but she’s getting torn to shreds in this courtroom.
I believe that we are supposed to feel the perspective of the Judge throughout this ordeal. She wants to rule in Celeste’s favor, unfortunately, Mary Louise is making a damn good argument for why she shouldn’t.
Celeste: Through it all I have always been a good mother. I have always put my children’s interests first, and I have always kept them safe. Even when…even when there was a monster in the house.
Celeste makes a moderate comeback when her own lawyer questions her for the sake of her defense, and she makes a pretty decent case as she speaks directly to the judge. Celeste is certainly sympathetic, the audience and the other characters cannot help but feel for her. But sympathy isn’t enough to make the court decide in her favor. What else do you think Mary Louise has up her sleeve for the grand finale?
RENATA
Renata has remained strong throughout the entirety of she and Gordon’s bankruptcy trial to a degree where I would almost say she’s in denial about the whole situation. On this episode of Big Little Lies, we finally learn that not only did Gordon lose every penny of Renata’s money, but he also cheated on her over and over with their daughter’s nanny.
Very few of the men on Big Little Lies have any redeeming qualities, but Gordon has absolutely zero. Gordon has ruined Renata’s life in innumerable ways and now not only does she find out that he was having an affair behind her back, but she finds out in the middle of a bankruptcy hearing, in front of dozens of people in the most humiliating fashion.
All I’m saying is, if she wanted to kill him, no jury would convict her.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
- I love this episode title because it could really be applied to almost any woman on the show from an antagonistic perspective, but from a sympathetic perspective that list gets a lot smaller. Who do you think it applies to most? I’m definitely tagging it to Mary Louise and Elizabeth.
- My BLL OTP is Renata + metal detectors.
- Mary Louise is so bent on discovering who killed her son I have no doubt that she’d love to destroy every single one of these women to get him back.
- Can we give Laura Dern an Emmy specifically for her incredible delivery of the f word in about 6 different ways throughout the last five minutes of this episode?
- Do you think Celeste made the right decision in requesting cross-examination of Mary Louise?
- What are your hopes for the Big Little Lies finale?
- Place your bets now people, I think Madeline is going to confess and say she did it in order to save everyone else. Who do you think will confess? Or do you think any of them will?
- Do you think Corey is telling Jane the truth? Or is he working with the cops?
What did you think of this episode of Big Little Lies? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Big Little Lies airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.
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Samantha Coley
Samantha (she/her) is a social media specialist by day and a sci-fi junkie by night. As a freelance writer and podcaster, she also enjoys live-tweeting, blogging, good music, and better television. Her current favorite television shows include Star Trek (yes, all of them), Riverdale, and Stranger Things and there will always be a place in her heart for Battlestar Galactica, Leverage, and The West Wing.