Entertainment

'Big Little Lies' Is Prepping For A Murder Reveal

by Kayla Hawkins
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/courtesy of HBO

Two episodes in, and fans are no closer to knowing who the murderer or the victim is on Big Little Lies. But the show has deepened the relationships between some of its central characters, including the female protagonists and their husbands. Will Perry kill Celeste on Big Little Lies? So far, the show has demonstrated several ways in which Perry is abusive to Celeste. Clearly, he physically abuses her, grabbing her during one scene and pushing her in another, and he also coerces her into having sex in two different scenes as well. If the show wants to echo real statistics about domestic violence, it's true that, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one third of women report "have been victims of [some form of] physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime."

It's chilling the way that Alexander Skarsgard, who plays Perry, captures the attitude of an abuser — one who can potentially turn any situation into an explosive one. And opposite him, Nicole Kidman is flawlessly capturing the waves of different emotions going through Celeste during these moments, from fear, to disgust, to desire, to shame, all with very little dialogue. Watching her battle against Reese Witherspoon next year for TV accolades is going to be one hell of a fight.

But when it comes to the story of Big Little Lies, does it fit to have one of the central female characters as the victim of the murder and her husband as the perpetrator? It certainly doesn't match up with the way the other fundraiser attendees characterized the death, as something that was clearly Madeline's fault, or egged on by the power struggles between her clique and Renata's clique. Here's what some fans are thinking about the Perry/Celeste relationship so far, and whether or not it will turn deadly.

So... Perry doesn't have too many fans so far, and audiences are rightfully worried about Celeste. But not too many are theorizing that he will kill her.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE ENDING OF THE BOOK

OK, SO MAJOR SPOILER zone: Perry isn't the killer, he's the kill-ee. His trail of abuse and cruelty binds together several of the women on the show. When she was very young, Perry raped Jane, and the first night where they see one another again is the fundraising Trivia Night. When all of the women, including Celeste, realize this, the confrontation turns deadly, and Perry winds up falling to his death. It's a moment of triumph, sort of, as Perry's death represents these characters moving on from their trauma. The way Big Little Lies is slowly building to this conclusion is, so far, perfect. Celeste's despair is clear, but she's struggling to communicate her problems to Madeline or any of her other friends. Meanwhile, Ziggy's troubles in school are making it difficult for Jane to fit in. The adaptation is slowly leading towards the point where Perry is killed — and I think Big Little Lies will be able to pull this off in a big, not so little, way.