It’s been two years since Big Little Lies series one but at last, the Monterey Five are back.
The second series of the hit US drama arrived on Sky Atlantic on Monday, bringing Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley and Zoë Kravitz back onto our screens.
Joining them for round two is none other than Meryl Streep, whose character arrives in Monterey to try and uncover the truth about her son Perry’s death.
While we viewers know exactly what happened, the characters have so far managed to keep the details of Perry’s final minutes under wraps, but the pressure of such a huge secret is weighing down on the group.
Will they be able to keep it together?
Here are the 8 burning questions we have after episode one…
Will Bonnie turn herself in?
Zoë’s character – who was actually responsible for pushing Perry to his death – is clearly struggling the most when it comes to dealing with her guilt.
At one point, we saw her standing outside the police station as she contemplated handing herself over, and it was also revealed that Bonnie has thought about coming clean on multiple occasions.
In the novel which inspired the series, Bonnie does come clean, but the second series is based on a novella by the author, rather than the book, so it remains to be seen what she’ll ultimately decide.
Is romance on the cards for Jane?
To say Jane’s first year in Monterey was tough would be a humongous understatement, but with a new job at the aquarium and Ziggy seemingly back on track at school, things are looking up for Shailene Woodley’s character.
The season two premiere saw her share a moment with a fellow employee, who later approached her while she was dancing in the surf at the beach.
Despite his observation about the fact that she’s one of the seemingly notorious Monterey Five, the surfer seemed more than a little intrigued by Jane and open to chatting more.
Will season two see Jane consider the possibility of romance? We really hope so, but there’s also a risk, as opening up to someone new could make her more likely to spill the beans about what really happened in the moments before Perry’s death.
Will bosses keep up the good work on the soundtrack?
The answer to this is surely a yes, but we had to find a way to talk about the songs, OK?
Episode one featured two particularly musical moments, both of which featured Jane. The first saw her and Ziggy dancing around the living room to Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation and when she later boogied solo on the edge of the water, Big Little Lies borrowed Sufjan Stevens’ Mystery Of Love from the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack.
Will Abigail go to college?
This is admittedly a plot line we’re a little less invested in, but it has so far allowed Reese Witherspoon to really flex her acting muscles, by being incredibly passive aggressive towards her daughter’s teacher, before screaming a series of amazing one-liners during a row with Abi.
Abi’s teenage optimism is also giving us major Summer Roberts at Brown University vibes (shout out to all The O.C. fans getting their California fix from Big Little Lies).
What is going on with Renata Klein?
We’ve always had a soft spot for Laura Dern’s high-flying character, no matter how difficult and demanding she becomes. But it seems like she could be about to ramp things up big time and started the season two premiere by giving her daughter’s new teacher a stern talking to.
She then took part in a seriously glam photoshoot at her home, bemoaning the fact successful female executives are usually photographed looking bored behind a desk.
While we agree with the sentiment (and need that sparkly pink jacket for the office), she did seem even more tense than usual, and potentially dangerously close to a burnout.
Will Madeline’s affair be revealed?
We love Madeline and Ed, so have done our best to forget this whole thing, but there’s no avoiding the fact Reese’s character was unfaithful.
As the drama of series one got more and more intense, her affair became small fry – but it had to have happened for a reason.
In Monday’s episode, we saw Ed bump into Tori in the supermarket who (just in case you need your memory jogging) is the wife of the theatre director, Joe, who Madeline slept with. And to make things even more complicated, she was definitely flirting with Ed.
We’re not sure what this means for the couple or where they’re going, but for the record, we do not like it.
Can Detective Meryl Streep solve the case?
The Monterey Five are seriously tight and despite police pressure, they’ve stuck to their story that Perry’s death was an accident.
But Meryl Streep – or Mary Louise, to use her character’s name – is having none of it, and remains seriously suspicious (and angry) about her son’s death.
Having managed to make herself indispensable to Celeste and her young family, Mary is making Monterey home and attempting to snoop for more information on what happened.
Celeste’s frequent nightmares proved to be a point of interest for her in the first episode, especially as her daughter-in-law screamed about rape and murder during them.
If anyone can crack this case, it’s Meryl. And her fake teeth.
Can the women remain friends?
Having started season one as warring mothers on the school playground, the Monterey Five began season two as a tight group of women bound by a dark secret. But will it stay that way?
We learned that she spent the summer in Lake Tahoe with her family, while the other ladies stayed in Monterey together and episode one also saw Bonnie beginning to break away and internalise her problems, declining offers of support from her husband, Nathan, and Madeline.
If she does decide to break away and be honest, it’s not just her own life that could be devastated by the consequences.