Reese Witherspoon (Madeline MacKenzie), Nicole Kidman (Celeste Wright), Shailene Woodley (Jane Chapman), Laura Dern (Renata Klein), Zoë Kravitz (Bonnie Carlson), Meryl Streep (Mary Louise Wright), Adam Scott (Ed Mackenzie), James Tupper (Nathan Carlson), Gordon Klein (Jeffrey Nordling), Kathryn Newton (Abigail Carlson), Iain Armitage (Ziggy Chapman), Robin Weigert (Dr. Amanda Reisman), Merrin Dungey (Detective Adrienne Quinlan), Sarah Sokolovic (Tori Bachman), P.J. Byrne (Principal Warren Nippal), Becky Ann Baker (Judge Marylin Cipriani), Martin Donovan (Martin Howard), Crystal Fox (Elizabeth Howard), Ivy George (Amabella Klein), Poorna Jagannathan (Katie Richmond), Denis O’Hare (Ira Farber), Douglas Smith (Corey Brockfield), Sarah Sokolovic (Tori Bachman), Mike Bradecich (Carl Swallow), Santiago Cabrera (Joseph Bachman), Feodor Chin (Kevin), Chloe Coleman (Skye Carlson), Mykal-Michelle Harris (Young Bonnie), Will Hawkes (Esalen Husband), Khalilah Joi (Young Elizabeth), Bellina Logan (Mindy), Paul Nygro (Kevin’s Partner), Benjamin Plessala (Brian McPherson), Melinda Ratner (Esalen Wife), Travis Schuldt (Michael Something), Eliza Shin (Vice Principal Coolidge), Deb Snyder (Marsha)

Well, HBO fans, Andrea Arnold has brought a Sharp Objects level of abstraction to this episode of Big Little Lies, although it appears now that the second season was always going to head in a more fragmented direction than the first. The show’s dreaminess has taken on the quality of nightmares, as indicated by the opening scenes, in which each of the liars seemed to go back to the night of Perry’s death. Nowhere was that brokenness more apparent than in the final few moments, which cut between swimming, kayaking, dinner, affairs of the past, affairs of the present, Mary Louise, a storm, and Bonnie apparently on her way to hand herself in at the police station, until she saw the suspicious Corey leaving. I am assuming he is undercover, seducing Jane to get information about what happened to Perry. If that is the case, then, well, poor Jane, having experienced abuse piled upon abuse.

There was trauma all over this episode. The difficult relationship between Bonnie and her mother was made explicit in the flashbacks to her childhood, and her confrontation with her father about his failure to protect her took things in an interesting new direction, exploring domestic violence of a different hue. The title, although literally what Bonnie’s mother asked of her, works well when it comes to Madeleine’s attempt to salvage her relationship with Ed. For all the darkness, the show still has shades of humour; the Healing Institute’s hugging workshop was too much, even for them. Kill me now, they both seemed to be saying – and who can blame them? Just when the custody battle threatened to outstay its welcome, everything came into focus. If it goes to court (which it surely will, as Celeste is unwilling to give an inch), then the women will be called to testify, and asked about Perry’s death, which will force them to lie under oath. “It’s a perjury trap,” explains Renata. For Madeleine, the answer is still sisterly solidarity. Nothing has broken it so far, although Bonnie has come close – will she be the one to crack at last? At least things feels as if they are, finally, building to an ominous conclusion. Those storm clouds haven’t rolled in for nothing.