Big Little Lies Season 2 premiere recap

More than two years after its debut season, which earned eight Emmys including Outstanding Limited Series, Big Little Lies returns for a second season on HBO Sunday night.

While there were originally no plans for a second season, since the first season lines up with the ending of the Lianne Moriarty book of the same name, HBO ordered a second season in February 2018.

This new season, based on a story by series creator David E. Kelley and Moriarty, delves into the aftermath of the grisly death shown at the end of Season 1, and the new stigma that follows the women now known as The Monterey Five.

At the end of the first season, the abusive Perry Wright (Alexander Skarsgard) attacked his wife Celeste (Nicole Kidman) as she attempted to leave him, as fans also learned that Perry was the man who raped Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley) and fathered her child Ziggy (Iain Armitage).

Jane, Renata Klein (Laura Dern) and Madeline Martha McKenzie (Reese Witherspoon) tried to fight him off, but he continued to punch and kick Celeste, until Bonnie Carlson (Zoe Kravitz) pushed Perry down the stairs, killing him, as his neck was impaled by concrete pipes from the staircase that is constantly under construction. 

The season ended with The Monterey Five all maintaining that the death was an accident, with the final shot of the first season teasing that the suspicious detective Detective Adrienne Quinlan (Merrin Dungey) is watching The Monterey Five from afar.

The new season begins with a slightly updated title sequence, with different shots of The Monterey Five driving, including new character Meryl Streep's Mary Louise Wright, ending with The Monterey Five walking together.

Bonnnie is seen walking alone on the beach at night, while we see flashbacks from the past season, which culminates in Mary Louise waking Celeste up from her nightmare.

'What was it about, your nightmare?' Mary Louise asks, but Celeste shrugs it off, though Mary Louise won't let it go, saying that Celeste said something about a rape.

We then see video of Celeste's interrogation being rewound, seemingly by Detective Adrienne Quinlan, before seeing Jane and Ziggy dancing around on the first day of school.

Mary is then seen driving the twins to school, as they fight in the back seat while Celeste is in the front. 

Madeline tells Ed that they have to earn their 'good mom badges' all over again on the first day of school as all of the kids begin second grade.

There are a number of shots of The Monterey Five reuniting at school after dropping their kids off, all happy and carefree, but Bonnie seems distant, more aloof, as other parents notice them.

Principal Nippal (P.J. Byrne) leads the parents in a rendition of the Otter Bay song to lighten the mood, as Madeline thanks him for the 'service.'

Nippal reminds her that a service would be described as something like a funeral, bringing up the murder at the school function last year.

Bonnie has been quite distant, while Renata welcomes the new teacher Michael Perkins (Mo McRae), who mentions that her daughter was bullied last year but that won't happen this year.

Madeline mentions to Celeste that Bonnie is unplugged and unhinged, with Madeline saying that they think she needs to talk to her.

Madeline sees Mary Louise at the coffee shop, with Mary Louise saying she can't complain... but then adding, 'I can, my son is dead.'

Mary Louise comments that Madeline is short, and that she finds short people untrustworthy, and that she prides herself on being a very good judge of character, and she could never get a good read on Madeline.

'You don't have to take it personally, I'm a wanter myself. I want to find out what happened that night but I don't think I'd get the truth,' Mary Louise said.

Ed runs into Tori at the supermarket, who mentions that she got her breasts done, and that it pisses her husband off, as she gives him an unusual look.

It was Tori's husband Joseph (Santiago Cabrera) who had an affair with Ed's wife Madeline, so it's possible she could be looking for payback.

Celeste is seeing her therapist Amanda (Robin Weigert), who tells her about the nightmares she's been having.

She also blames herself for Perry's death, since she should have left him sooner and if they weren't together, he would not have died.

'Even in death, his message lives on. You're always to blame,' Amanda says.

Bonnie is taking an aggressive run through the woods, as we see flashbacks to that night, but when she gets home, Nathan is upset because she's been gone for so long.

Jane is at her new job at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, teaching a group of kids about sea animals, when we get a glimpse at Douglas Smith's Corey Brockfield.

When a kid asks why pretty things can be dangerous, Corey says that pretty colors can be used to tell other animals to keep their distance.

Nathan finds Ed, and asks him to take Bonnie to lunch because she's been so distant lately, but their interaction doesn't go so great, with Nathan calling him a 'snide f**k.'

Renata is having a photo shoot at her house, but her husband Gordon (Jeffrey Nordling) is more interested in drinking and working on his model train.

Madeline and Nathan

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