Collider columnist Liam Gaughan reflects on HBO's Big Little Lies, arguing that the drama has grown beyond its source material with each new season. The piece frames the show's 2017 debut as a landmark moment when a prestige network could attract A-list film stars to television, combining a starry cast, a bestselling novel and an acclaimed director. It matters because the show helped reshape expectations for premium TV, and its continued success has pushed it well past the single limited series originally intended, with a third season now on the way.

Adapted from Liane Moriarty's novel and set among wealthy parents in Monterey, California, the first season told a concise, seven-episode mystery built around a school-grounds homicide, while exploring domestic abuse, trauma and class. Its ensemble — Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz and Shailene Woodley — became the main draw, with Kidman and Witherspoon also producing. Season two moved beyond the book with entirely new material, adding Meryl Streep as Perry's mother, though the article notes it was tonally uneven, reportedly because director Andrea Arnold was not allowed to realise her own vision.