The story of five mothers living in the wealthy, coastal Monterey, California, whose seemingly picture-perfect lives begin to unravel in the lead-up to a murder is riveting enough. However, with names like Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Alexander Skarsgård, Big Little Lies had one of the best casts in TV history, making the crime thriller a must-watch.
Between its star power, critical acclaim, audience adoration, and huge number of award wins — including eight Primetime Emmys — Big Little Lies proved that female-driven series could also be considered prestige TV. Sadly, the show hasn’t held onto its reputation, but get ready to grab your cozy sweater and stare out at the ocean, Nicole Kidman-style, because the tide is about to turn for Big Little Lies — and you won’t want to miss it.
How Big Little Lies Lost Its Masterpiece Status
Big Little Lies season 1 is considered such a successful adaptation because it not only tells the complete story of Liane Moriarty’s book, but also elevates its source material. In other words, it was a perfect miniseries. However, because it was so good, everyone from the cast to the audience was clamoring for more story, and HBO was happy to oblige.
Season 2 was greenlit, transforming Big Little Lies from a limited series to a regular show, and prestigious Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep was added to the cast. With all these factors in its favor, Big Little Lies season 2 was set to be an even bigger cultural juggernaut than its predecessor. There was just one big little problem.
While the first season had rich source material in Moriarty’s book, Big Little Lies season 2 wasn’t based on a published novel. Instead, Moriarty wrote a 200-page novella specifically for Big Little Lies creatives to use as a script aid, and it was never released to the public.
This is a significant shift, and the result was a significant dip in quality in both audience and critics’ eyes. The domestic dramas of the Monterey Five were still present, but without a salacious crime to anchor the season, many felt that the sophomore season was too slow-paced and melodramatic. With no murder, the Big Little Lies season 2 season finale was far less thrilling, and the show quietly disappeared after that.
Big Little Lies Season 3 Will Adapt Liane Moriarty’s Upcoming Sequel Novel
While audiences may have lost faith in the series, executive producers and stars Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman definitely didn’t, and sure enough, Big Little Lies season 3 is officially happening. In addition to Witherspoon and Kidman, Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelley is returning, and Francesca Sloane has been tapped to write the season 3 premiere.
However, what’s even more exciting is that Big Little Lies season 3 will be a traditional book adaptation à la season 1. This is because Liane Moriarty is publishing a Big Little Lies sequel novel called Big Little Truths, and it will be released on August 25, 2026.
Moriarty has been incredibly forthcoming with information about Big Little Truths, posting the cover reveal to her Instagram and sharing plot details with USA Today. She revealed that the new book will have a time jump, 10 years ahead of the first, with the Monterey Five now the mothers of teenagers.
Similar to how Big Little Lies was framed around the big school fundraiser, Big Little Truths will center on Madeline’s 50th birthday party. The Greek chorus of parents giving testimony (and salacious gossip) to the police in the first book will be replaced by the teenagers, who are forced into interviews after a severed finger is mailed to their principal’s office. Read Moriarty’s statement below:
“Their principal’s office receives a severed finger in the mail. In the first book, the parents at the school, they provide the Greek chorus explaining the action and what happened. In this book, the teenagers − the kids − are the Greek chorus. So they’re being interviewed about what happened. So the first thing that happens is they say, ‘Well, it all began at Madeline’s 50th birthday.’”
Assuming Big Little Truths is just as good as its predecessor — and with Moriarty’s talent, there’s no reason to think it won’t be — this perfectly sets the show up to return to its former glory.
How The New Novel Could Make Big Little Lies HBO’s Best Book Adaptation
Besides simply having a published novel to adapt, Big Little Lies season 3 has the opportunity to reinstate everything that made season 1 so spectacular — provided it follows the source material.
Primarily, Big Little Truths is centered on a gruesome crime, and already raises many questions before readers have started the first page — Whose finger is it? Who severed it? Who sent it to the principal? Why was it sent to the principal? These are much more interesting than the central, “Will the Monterey Five get caught?” conundrum of Big Little Lies season 2.
It’s also more in keeping with a crime thriller, as is the Greek chorus, which season 2 eliminated. The fact that the parents were giving police interviews kept tension high by reminding the audience that a murder had taken place.
Beyond that, it not only provided hilarious dark humor to the series as the chorus shared their catty thoughts, but also embodied Big Little Lies‘ themes of toxic judgment consistently aimed at mothers, no matter how affluent they may be. With Big Little Truth‘s Greek chorus being the Monterey Five’s teenagers, we’re sure to get even deeper, darker secrets revealed in the interviews.
Big Little Lies season 3 is anticipated to be in production by the fall, so it’s only a matter of time before we see whether the new installment saves the show or not. But as long as it returns to its literary and crime thriller roots, the Monterey Five are all but guaranteed to be the toast of television.
- Release Date
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2017 – 2026-00-00
- Network
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HBO
- Showrunner
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David E. Kelley
- Directors
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Jean-Marc Vallee, Andrea Arnold
- Writers
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T. Rafael Cimino