The air has gone out of the tires of several TV series after amazing initial seasons; Killing Eve, The Handmaid's Tale, and Big Little Lies come to mind. BLL has a great cast, and first time around it addressed the disturbing realities of domestic abuse, an often hidden problem because of shame and concerns about breaking up families. Season 1 reminded that this can happen anywhere with anyone, including those who are wealthy and give the appearance of happiness and stability. Season 2 feels more like "the real housewives of Malibu" and hardly any character is likeable. Not even this year's addition, Meryl Streep, can save the story.
I did appreciate the episode in which a second grader has what turns out to be a panic attack in the classroom. While her parents wonder whether it is the stress from financial turmoil and bickering in the home, the big issue is climate change. Her school is making an effort to educate children about the implications of their own actions and what the consequences will be. A child psychologist named Dr. Little Bo Beep discovers that the girl is terrified.
Later there is a school assembly in which entitled parents vent their anger until mother Madeline, played by Reese Witherspoon, takes to the stage and weepily, half-coherently, speaks about how to talk to kids about difficult subjects.
Our kids are afraid. They’re afraid to go to school; they’re afraid they’re gonna get shot. We don’t prepare them. We fill their heads full of happy endings and happy stories and lies. We have to tell the children that life is an illusion and things don’t work out sometimes. You can’t tell them part of the truth. You have to tell the whole truth.
I thought it was excellent and a reminder that adults are often as confused and fearful as children about a lot of stuff, and often in denial. The amount of venom launched by adults toward climate activist teen Greta Thunberg astonishes me. Every day we hear another report about a planet in crisis, yet a 16-year-old is the problem here?
Maybe we should all be passing out in our version of the cloakroom. Not long ago our six-year-old grandson was teary because he didn't want to be eating plastic every day. His Mom comforted him and wondered where he'd heard about this (apparently adults consume the equivalent of two credit cards worth of plastic every week!) Should he know about this at age six? I don't really want to know about it pushing 65, but that doesn't mean it will go away by denying it.
There's never a hint of religion or spiritual hope in BLL and certainly not part of this episode. It is my faith which keeps me hopeful for the future of Earth, and for the future of my grandkids. Maybe there is a conversion episode if BLL coming up?
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