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Big Little Lies – Season 2, Episode 6 The Bad Mother

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Big Little Lies – Season 2, Episode 6

The Bad Mother

Aired Jul 14, 2019

Drama

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Popcornmeter

82%

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22 Reviews

Celeste is blindsided by Mary Louise; Gordon continues to disappoint Renata; Bonnie contemplates a solution to her mother's suffering and her own ongoing guilt; Ed entertains an unusual proposition before catching Madeline in an unguarded moment.

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Critics Consensus

Despite its wonky editing and overreliance of soap opera tropes, Nicole Kidman's searing performance as the broken but embattled Celeste helps anchors, "The Bad Mother."

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Reese Witherspoon

Madeline Martha Mackenzie

Nicole Kidman

Celeste Wright

Shailene Woodley

Jane Chapman

Laura Dern

Renata Klein

Zoë Kravitz

Bonnie Carlson

Meryl Streep

Mary Louise Wright

Big Little Lies: Season 2 Episode 6 Trailer

0:36

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Megan Garber

The Atlantic

07/16/2019

Each emotional crescendo, as the season draws to a close, might have offered new observations about the trauma that hovers over these characters, the way fog lingers over the crashing waves of the Pacific. Instead: Melodrama wins the day.

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Roxana Hadadi

Pajiba

07/15/2019

It's most clear, I think, in last night's penultimate episode of this season, The Bad Mother which again careens us between moments quite fantastic and cathartic and others that continue to suspend our greatest disbelief.

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Alex Abad-Santos

Vox

07/15/2019

With all the melodrama stripped away, Big Little Lies is really about how society doesn't trust women.

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Swetha Ramakrishnan

Firstpost

10/09/2023

There's no denying that this episode sets up a wonderfully dramatic premise for the finale. Who doesn't want to watch a showdown between Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep. But at what cost is this drama coming to us?

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Christopher Hooton

NME (New Musical Express)

07/14/2021

I'm such a sucker for courtroom drama that I'll accept pretty much any show pivoting toward it, as Big Little Lies appears to be as we head into next week's season finale.

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Fiona Flynn

entertainment.ie

12/13/2019

The most heartwrenching moment of the episode however was Bonnie's confession to her mother, calling her out for the abuse she endured from her as a child and holding her responsible for making her lash out and kill Perry.

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Synopsis

Celeste is blindsided by Mary Louise; Gordon continues to disappoint Renata; Bonnie contemplates a solution to her mother's suffering and her own ongoing guilt; Ed entertains an unusual proposition before catching Madeline in an unguarded moment.

Director: Andrea Arnold
Executive Producer: Reese Witherspoon, Bruna Papandrea, Nicole Kidman, Per Saari, David E. Kelley, Jean-Marc Vallée, Nathan Ross, Gregg Fienberg, Andrea Arnold, Liane Moriarty
Screenwriter: David E. Kelley
Network: HBO
Rating: TV-MA
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date: Jul 14, 2019