'Big Little Lies' season 2 gifted us with Meryl Streep's grieving scream that fans find Emmy-worthy
This article contains spoilers for season 2, episode 1.
'Big Little Lies' season 2 has gifted us with the grand reunion of the Monterey Five as they meander through the consequential realizations of what they have done (spoiler alert: they killed a man in season 1). But the biggest highlight of the premiere proved to be this season's best addition - Meryl Streep as Mary Louise Wright, the grieving mother of Perry Wright (Alexander Skarsgard) - the man killed by the Monterey Five. Why? Purely because of a deafening, haunting, and quite frankly unsettling scream the exquisite actress belts out in character - something that has made fans convinced that it will steer Streep towards an Emmy in the coming awards season.
Streep's Mary Louise bears a striking resemblance to some of her most popular characters from the past. She is driven with conviction and likes establishing that she knows better, just like Streep's Miranda Priestly from 'The Devil Wears Prada'. But on the other hand, she is also an emotional family matriarch having a hard time processing her emotions, while all she holds dear slips out of her hands - just like Streep's Violet from 'August: Osage County'. But while we have seen Streep burst into maniacal laughter and indulge in violent sobbing sprees on the screen several times now - each time as exquisitely as the other - this was the first time we saw her as a woman both we and the Monterey Five should watch out for.
Her agonizing scream grieving the loss of her dead son as she sits at the dinner table with his widow and children established that. And as her performance in her very debut episode intimidated the hell out of viewers, it also managed to lay down that no other actor could have done justice to the character better than her. At that moment, Streep's Mary Louise was both vulnerable and fierce - simply a force not to be messed with and that has several fans convinced that this was her winning ticket to the upcoming 2020 Emmys.
"Meryl Streep already deserves an Emmy for this iconic scream. This scene is so brilliant and should be shown in any film study class #BigLittleLies," shared one awestruck fan on Twitter, among many others who cheered in unison "Give Meryl her Emmy now!" Another one noted how terrifying the scream was and tweeted: "This is one of the most incredible yet terrifying things i’ve ever heard. honestly, just give Meryl Streep an Emmy for this scream alone."
It wasn't just the scream alone, as the season 2 premiere also showed Streep's character dissing other lead characters. For instance, Reese Witherspoon's fierce and sassy Madeline was at the receiving end of Mary Louise claiming "You're very short...I don't mean it in a negative way...maybe I do...I find little people to be untrustworthy." And when it came to her daughter-in-law Celeste (Nicole Kidman), Mary Louise very calmly brought up how Celeste was planning on leaving her abusive husband, Perry - implying that there is more to his death than the newly widowed woman was letting on.
Taking into account all of that, one very enthusiastic fan tweeted "Hello hi I’m here to announce my new position as Meryl Streep’s new chief emmy campaign strategist. Thank you! #Streep2020"
We don't blame them; Streep's debut in Big Little Lies via the season 2 premiere was every bit above and beyond that!
'Big Little Lies' season 2 premiered with on June 9, and will air on Sundays, at 9pm ET, only on HBO.
