Big Little Lies behind-the-scenes drama surrounding director
Even with a bit of a sophomore slump, people are still watching and are invested in Big Little Lies.
Have you noticed that something has been a bit off with this season of Big Little Lies? If yes, you’re not alone.
The reason could be because of a creative control shift and behind-the-scenes tension.
The executive producers tapped Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold (American Honey) to direct the entire second season and asked her to give them the “Andrea Arnold version” of the show. One can only assume she would have complete creative control. But showrunner David E. Kelly had other ideas.
More. Big Little Lies season 2 premiere recap. light
More from Show Snob
- The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 6 recap “Wanga Banga Langa!”
- Lawmen: Bass Reeves season 1, episode 7 preview: Non-spoiler thoughts for Part VII
- Goosebumps season 1, episode 6 recap: “Night of the Living Dummy”
- Beacon 23 season 1, episode 3 recap: “Why Can’t We Go on as Three?”
- Upload season 3, episode 2 recap: “Strawberry”
According to Indie Wire, creative control was taken from Arnold and given to season 1 director Jean-Marc Vallee. This means everything Arnold shot in her style would be edited to feel more like Vallee’s. Maybe season 2 was looking too different from season 1, so they wanted to unify the look and feel to make it look like the same show.
But don’t tell someone you want something “different,” have them deliver what you asked, and then change your mind.
It turns out, it was always the plan to have Vallee become re-involved with the show. They just didn’t clue Arnold in on the plan.
Kelly always wanted the second season to keep the tone and look of the first season. But HBO wasn’t willing to wait for Vallee to begin filming season 2 because was committed to Sharp Objects. Vallee is the one that recommended Arnold for the job because of their similar style.
This seems to be a crazy misunderstanding and lack of communication between all parties. What we’re left with is a choppy, disjointed season.
Of course, HBO doesn’t agree. In fact, the premium network calls this standard collaboration. According to Deadline, HBO said this in a statement released Friday:
"“There wouldn’t be a season two of Big Little Lies without Andrea Arnold. We at HBO and the producers are extremely proud of her work. As with any television project, the executive producers work collaboratively on the series, and we think the final product speaks for itself.”"
You may not have seen the best comedy series on Netflix. dark. Next
I think if there is to be a season 3 if HBO and the showrunners want to avoid controversy, they’ll need to work on their communication skills.