Big Little Lies Season 2 finale recap: Who wins custody of the twins?

Find out who wins the custody battle for Celeste’s twins and what the ladies decide to do about the lie in the season two finale recap of Big Little Lies.

We’ve arrived at the season finale of season two. Big Little Lies goes out not with a bang, like how the first season ended, but with a better sense of resolution.

Although there is plenty of room left open for a third season. Especially since at least two main characters, Bonnie and Jane, had little to do with the central storylines in the past seven episodes. So how did it all wrap up in the final hour?

Court is adjourned

I wish I could watch Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman go head-to-head every week forever. They’re both in their glorious element this week as Celeste calls Mary Louise to the stand.

In the beginning, she finds a disturbing video on the iPad. It turns out the boys saw far more of Perry’s violence than anyone would have liked to believe. They filmed a particularly brutal altercation between Perry and Celeste that becomes pivotal to the courtroom case.

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That and Celeste conveniently recalling a memory Perry once told her about his mother. Abuse breeds abuse, and there have been some subtle implications through the season that Mary Louise may have been less the kindly grandmother she pretends to be.

We find out through the questioning that her other son, Perry’s brother, died in a car accident while she was driving.

To make matters worse, she repeatedly emotionally battered a young Perry about it. She blamed him for killing his brother. Celeste also claims Perry told her his mother got violent with him on a few occasions. Ultimately, Mary Louise is finally rendered speechless on the stand.

It’s a close call, but the judge does rule in favor of Celeste. The boys have been through enough trauma. She doesn’t want to make it worse by taking them away from their mother. In a gracious act, Celeste allows the twins to hug Mary Louise. They won’t be seeing her again for a while.

No more lying

Bonnie’s mother passes away after having another stroke. Elizabeth briefly wakes up, long enough to whisper “I’m sorry” to Bonnie, but then she’s gone again not long after. Bonnie decides to come clean with Nathan. She confesses she’s not in love with him, and that she has never been. Ouch.

We never officially find out whether or not Ed cheated on Madeline with Tori, but I think we can safely assume he didn’t. He decides he does want to work on his marriage with her after all, and the two have a quiet vow renewal ceremony with only their daughters present.

Laura Dern shines as the season’s biggest scene-stealer yet again when she unleashes her wrath on all of Gordon’s toys with a baseball bat. She comes home to an empty house to find him playing with his toy set. A collector purchased everything for $410, but Gordon can keep it, as long as it stays in good condition.

Renata is rightfully pissed. They had to give up everything else, but Gordon gets to keep his most valuable possessions despite him being the one responsible for their bankruptcy? Coupled with the fact he was screwing the nanny the entire time!?

He dares to respond, “well, I needed something new to play with.” And Renata LOSES it. Hand Dern her Emmy now.

In the final scene, the Monterey five meet up at the police station to confess to their lie. It seems a little dissatisfying that Celeste just fought so hard for her kids only to potentially lose them again though, doesn’t it?

By the way, what was up with all those drowning motifs when no one wound up drowning, or even coming close to it? It appeared too heavy-handed to simply be metaphorical. Release the Andrea Arnold cut, HBO.

You can currently catch up on the full season of Big Little Lies on HBO.