Blog: ‘Little Fires Everywhere’
I’m convinced that every project Reese Witherspoon is a part of is content worth watching.
I stumbled across Little Fires Everywhere while scrolling through Hulu this past weekend. I hadn’t heard anything about it. The cover image was Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington on either side with a flaming rip between them. Hmm.. this looks dramatic. I watched the trailer. That was even more dramatic. A little mystery, a little drama, and a lot of brilliant subtext underneath the characters’ words. If the trailer isn’t enough to entice you into watching this eight-episode miniseries, take my word for it- it’s exhilarating.
I’ll refrain from writing about any spoilers even though I want to talk about every little thing! The story centers around the perfect, wealthy Elena Richardson (Reese Witherspoon) and her family in the town of Shaker Heights, Ohio in the 1990s. That facade is dismantled when Mia Warren (Kerry Washington) and her daughter Pearl (Lexi Underwood) move to town and live in the Richardson’s rental house. You see, Elena has this superior demeanor because of her wealth and status, and Mia is a woman of color who doesn’t have much but her daughter and her art. Quickly, these mothers clash and everyone around them is pulled into the crossfire. Dark secrets are exposed and motherhood, status, and race become the central focal points of this narrative.
These episodes are long (approx. one hour each) but this show is so damn good I watched five in one sitting when I started. The first minute or two of the pilot shows a massive house destroyed by a fire and it’s alluded that someone named “Izzy” (Megan Stott) may have done it intentionally. There were little fires set everywhere in the house. We come to find out that Izzy is the youngest of Elena’s four children and she is also the only one who doesn’t meet her mother’s ideal standards. She sticks out like a sore thumb. My heart broke for Izzy throughout this series because she’s bullied, unloved, and highly encouraged to hide a big part of who she is. I just wanted to give her a big ol’ hug! The one person she feels she can turn to is Mia- and you can bet that Elena has something to say about that.
So within the first couple minutes, you are thrown into this whodunit mystery and you learn as the show goes on that really anyone could have had a motive. I love this type of drama. But even more prominent than the mystery at hand are the subjects of racism and classism. Elena is often making mindless racist comments and phrases like “people like them don’t win” are said regarding a child custody court battle. It isn’t until Mia and Pearl enter the Richardson’s lives that they are confronted about their pompous ways. And it is fascinating to watch.
You also spend half the episodes wondering why Mia has this whole, always looking over her shoulder mentality going on (MAN is it a bombshell). I bet you can’t guess the reason why. I sure didn’t. Kerry Washington’s acting is so complex and layered, you can clearly see she has the gears turning behind her eyes. She’s fantastic, Reese Witherspoon is fantastic (as per usual in everything she does) and actually, every person in this show is fantastic. That felt very Oprah of me…
Little Fires Everywhere is also based on a book written by Celeste Ng (you KNOW I will be getting my hands on that very soon). There are a few pivotal changes between the show and book from what I’ve read but it seems like those changes received positive feedback. Right now it’s unclear whether or not there will be a second season but I really hope there’s not. Some stories just shouldn’t be dragged out, you know what I mean? The way this one ended, it was perfect.
You can watch Little Fires Everywhere now on Hulu.
