TV & Movies
The New Big Little Lies Book Contains Major Season 3 Spoilers
The storyline has been written. Now the cast just needs to get back together.
The most recent update on the long-awaited third season of Big Little Lies wasn’t exactly the most encouraging, with reports suggesting that stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, and Laura Dern aren’t able to reunite for filming until 2028. However, if fans can’t wait to see what happens next, they can just read about it instead.
On Aug. 25, author Liane Moriarty published Big Little Truths, the first sequel to her seminal novel Big Little Lies, which spawned the Emmy-winning HBO series. Set 10 years into the future, the book checks back in on Madeline (Witherspoon), Celeste (Kidman), Jane (Woodley), Bonnie (Kravitz), and Renata (Dern) after a decade of life changes, just as their past starts to catch up to them.
Moriarty and HBO executive Casey Bloys have already confirmed that Big Little Truths will form the foundation of Big Little Lies Season 3, which Witherspoon and Kidman have assured fans they’re working on, despite the cast’s reported scheduling conflicts. Therefore, her book provides major spoilers for what’s going to happen whenever Season 3 finally arrives.
Spoilers Ahead
The Monterey Five’s youngest children are now in high school with separate friend groups, but the ladies stay connected, as they reckon with the consequences of keeping the murder of Celeste’s husband, Perry, a secret. Madeline’s family is facing multiple health scares, while Jane is married to coffee shop owner Tom. Bonnie faces her first conflict with her daughter Skye, and Renata is living her best life — until her estranged mother dies, leading her to unlock some painful family history.
The book changes perspectives between the five women, leading up to the mysterious “D-Day,” which turns out to be a landmark event at school. Jane’s son Ziggy leads a presentation that exposes their teacher and the moms’ new friend Melody, who has been preying on students by dangling job prospects with her husband, Seth Montclair, who turns out to be a predator. Needless to say, it’s a big wake-up call for the Monterey Five.
While each character’s story seems carved out, there are sure to be differences between the book and series when it returns due to Season 2, which was based on story ideas from Moriarty but not her books. Celeste’s mother-in-law, Mary Louise, is famously played by Meryl Streep in Season 2, but is only introduced in Big Little Truths, meaning their storyline may be subject to change.
There’s no telling when Big Little Lies will end up on our screens again, but at least viewers can now catch up with our long-lost friends whenever we really miss them.
