First Word

The final episode of my favorite show this season, Little Big Lies delivered a great ending. ( Spoiler alert: don't read if you want the big surprise ending ).  I hadn't quite figured out why the five women involved in the end were so closely tied in story line except that they were feuding. How the show actually connects the dots at the end was absolutely perfect. Now it makes sense why the police interviews focused on all five. The stories leading up to the murder left open many possibilities. What I hadn't considered was that Perry could be Jane's assailant. As Perry's abuse toward Celeste escalated, it became obvious that he was probably the one to get the proverbial ax. Other reviewers presented numerous scenarios, but I kept thinking it was going to involve Perry. Additionally, the abuse of Ambella started to point toward the twins whom Celeste was convinced had not been witness to their father's abuse. As I connected the themes behind the stories, ...

Big Little Lies Rating: ***** Big Little Lies starring heavyweight actresses Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley is yet another great limited series from HBO. As always I look at TV shows and movies from the viewpoint of storytelling. What impresses me about this show is how each woman’s story is woven together and somehow linked in the murder that we have yet to discover who is the victim. As you watch the show unfold you’re aware that their stories are tied to the murder, but the tension and mystery lies in the question: which woman did it and to whom was it done? I will find out the coming weeks, as many audience members will as well. I love two things about this story: the way it’s constructed around the mysterious murder and the individual women’s stories. The first layer is the murder and we see the rest of the story in flashbacks. A police interview of outsiders looking in on the women’s stories is used almost like a narrative to retell wh...

*****Five Stars Walking and/or running to journey not out but within -- a theme of the year, especially with the 3L Publishing award-winner In the Footsteps of Greatness by Josh Mathe doing so well. Wild is more inward journey than outward exploration, but it is through the challenge of the physical world that Cheryl Strayed heals her inner wounds. After her mother dies and her marriage falls apart because of her infidelity and drug abuse, Strayed finds herself in need of change. After an unexpected pregnancy she cries out and asks herself, "How did I become this shitty person?" At that point she finds a book on the Pacific Crest Trail (1,000 miles from Mexico to Canada) and with no training or experience determines to walk to a new future. As her outward hike unfolds, the viewer watches her inward story and how she got to where she is on this trail. Her relationship with her mother who passed away is very inspiring. Her mother taught her important lessons at that th...