Little Fires Everywhere Review: The Spider Web (Season 1 Episode 4)

It’s Halloween in Shaker Heights, but things aren’t spooky so much as tense on Little Fires Everywhere Season 1 Episode 4, “The Spider Web.”

Halloween doesn’t play a huge role in this episode, except to tell us that it’s now November. Since this whole saga started in summer, that means the events of these four episodes took place over about three months. 

Three months feels like both an eternity and a blink of an eye, but in this case, nothing has really changed between the central characters. Elena and Mia are as cold towards each other as they were in the first episode, and that’s both the show’s strength and its weakness. 

This episode is the halfway point of this limited series, and it’s a tipping point. While the first three episodes set up a lot, “The Spider Web” tips it over the edge, and drives a truck over it. 

I previously said that one of the things that drove the first three episodes was that Mia and Elena are not friends and that continues to be true. On this episode, the friction that may have been simmering between them has now exploded. 

Elena’s reading of their “friendship” is very shallow. Mia has a better read of the situation and when she points it out to Elena it’s met with a guarded retort:

MIA: You didn’t make good choices, you had good choices. Options that being rich, and white, and entitled, gave you.
ELENA: Again, that’s the difference between you and me, I would never make this about race. 
MIA: Elena, you made this about race when you stood out there in the street and begged me to be your maid. 

This interaction alone says a lot about Elena and Mia, and where they’re coming from, and it’s no surprise that Elena reacts this way by firing Mia. 

As the conversation precipitates, so much comes out at once, and it snowballs to the point of the custody battle. 

While Mia and Elena are the push and pull of this series, the entire story really centers around Mirabelle Rose/May Ling and Bebe and the forces fighting for her. The ensuing custody battle is a large stage for the micro-relationships between Mia and Pearl, and Elena and Izzy to play out. 

The difference is that while Izzy and Pearl can make their own choices, Mirabelle is a child and doesn’t have a voice. Hearing everyone 

One of the things this series is doing well is sucking us into the story behind Mia’s art. I’ve come to this series blind so I don’t know what the story is behind the photo that Mia is refusing to sell, or why she’s refused to sell it, but Kerry Washington’s performance draws me in. 

Stray Thoughts:

• The brief vignette of Linda and Mark at the beginning is a good insight into their struggle with infertility. Since watching though, I wonder if it’s enough for viewers to put the pieces together and follow the thread since Linda and Mark themselves have been minor characters up until this point.
• The kids seem to have taken a backseat, except for Pearl’s moment with Trip. I am not happy with how this plotline is playing out, but considering how the story seems to be escalating I am willing to hold judgment to see the pay-off.
• It’s interesting how the events unfold on this episode, because if we associate Halloween with masks then we can also point to the Richardsons facade and entitlement as a costume. As much as I am enjoying their performances, their lack of empathy is getting to me. 
• Does anyone really remember costumes looking that pristine in the 90s? I definitely don’t remember costumes that didn’t fall apart the second you got them out of the bag. 

What did you think of this episode of Little Fires Everywhere? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Little Fires Everywhere streams new episodes Wednesdays on Hulu.

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