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It seems that HBO was just as enraptured by Big Little Lies’ decadent houses, high-society intrigue, all-star cast, and inexplicably talented kid DJ as you were—and now they want more. The network is reportedly eyeing a spring 2018 production start for a second season of what was supposed to be a seven-episode miniseries, TVLine reported Thursday. While there’s been no official confirmation of a second season from HBO, showrunner David E. Kelley had previously suggested to TVLine that BLL Season 2 was close to becoming a reality.
Cases can be made for and against a second season (just Wednesday, in an article on Reese Witherspoon’s new Apple series with Jennifer Aniston, I called the prospect of a second season “heresy,” so that’s my take). The pro–Season 2 argument: The show was a major hit for HBO, nabbing eight Emmys this year—including Outstanding Limited Series, plus best actress and best supporting actress wins for Nicole Kidman and GIF-worthy, wine-sipping Laura Dern—and the actresses were clearly game for returning.
Would you want to be known as the network that prevents Witherspoon, Kidman, Dern, Shailene Woodley, and Zoë Kravitz from making more television? Absolutely not.
On the other side, BLL was pegged as a miniseries for a reason. The finale wrapped a neat bow on its story lines, which stay relatively true to those from the Liane Moriarty book of the same name. There isn’t much to do in a second season, aside from meandering across picturesque Monterey with the leading women and the detective who’s suspicious of their innocence in the death of Celeste’s (Kidman) abusive husband, Perry (Alexander Skarsgard).
One story that the show could explore in Season 2 that’s more prominent in Moriarty’s novel is Bonnie (Kravitz) and her familial history of abuse. A fair criticism of the first season was how it noticeably left Bonnie on the sidelines to focus on its other women; Season 2 would be wise to fix that.
In any case, I have one demand for Season 2 that is nonnegotiable: Adam Scott must return with his large, beguiling beard.
Disclosure: HBO is an initial investor in The Ringer.
