(Note: This piece contains specific plot details about the season-two finale of Big Little Lies.)
The second season of Big Little Lies wrapped up last night to some mixed reviews. Without a satisfying mystery to wrap itself around, the season was primarily limited to the five female leads’ near-constant fretting about the lie they all shared about their combined role in Celeste’s husband’s Perry’s death—though if they had confessed that night, they likely could have gotten off with self-defense. Although the book the series was based on ended in that deception, the uncharted waters of season two meant that the season ended with all the women walking into the police station to finally, and belatedly confess, now that Celeste has custody of her kids as well as documented proof of Perry’s abuse.
It’s an ending that some found a bit anticlimactic, while also doubling as a cliffhanger. So the question on many BLL viewers’ minds now is: Will there be a Big Little Lies season three? While season two’s plot was certainly lacking, the performances of blockbuster actors like Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, and special season guest star Meryl Streep never faltered. So season three could follow up on the consequences of the women’s trip to the police station, Bonnie and Nathan’s breakup, and hopefully, Renata dumping Gordon’s worthless, adulterous ass. The show’s first season won eight Emmys, making the second almost a necessity and a hit for HBO. But can the creators keep it going for yet another season?
Depends on who you ask. HBO president Casey Bloys told TV Line a few months back that a third season is “not realistic,” as it was hard enough to schedule around the schedules of popular actors like Kidman, Dern, and Reese Witherspoon. And Harper’s Bazaar points out that series writer David E. Kelley stated at the Television Critics Association press tour earlier this year, “I think that it’s one and two, and we like where our closure is at the end of season two, so that will probably be it.”
But a recent story from Kidman’s home continent of Australia states that she “wants another season of Big Little Lies after taking blockbuster to the world.” In an interview with the News Corp Australia Network, Kidman stated, “I think we would love to do a season three because there is certainly ideas… but we would not do it without all of the same people involved… even the kids.”
So coordinating all the schedules to get the large cast back together could be an untenable obstacle to another season. (Imagine if every main cast member on Game Of Thrones had a movie production deal.) Bloys told TV Line, “I love this group of people—I would do anything with them. But the reality is, they are some of the busiest actresses working in Hollywood… If they all came to me and said, ‘We worked out all of our schedules!’—then sure… But I just don’t think it’s realistic.” Given the somewhat tepid reception to the finale—as well as some behind-the-scenes controversy over first-season director Jean-Marc Vallée taking over post-production from second-season director Andrea Arnold—that may ultimately be for the best.