Big Little Lies' Season 2 Finale Delights and Divides Viewers: 'What a Cliffhanger'

Big Little Lies' Season 2 Finale Delights and Divides Viewers: 'What a Cliffhanger'

Warning: The following post contains spoilers.

The Monterey Five faced the music in Sunday night’s season 2 finale of Big Little Lies.

When we left off last week, Celeste (Nicole Kidman) had asked to grill mother-in-law Mary Louise (Meryl Streep) on the witness stand during their trial for custody of her twin sons. Madeline (Reese Witherspoon), Jane (Shailene Woodley), Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz) and Renata (Laura Dern) waited anxiously, hoping the secret of their role in Perry’s death wouldn’t come back to haunt them.

And her examination unearthed a secret from Perry’s (Alexander Skarsgard) childhood: Mary Louise lost her temper while driving her sons, resulting in the accidental death of Perry’s brother. Celeste suggested that Mary Louise had abused Perry emotionally and perhaps physically in retaliation, turning him into a domestic abuser and rapist in return.

Celeste also played video footage of her late husband battering her for the court — and his mother. After the hearing, Mary Louise accosted Celeste at her home, insisting Perry’s stories about her hitting him were lies.

Jennifer Clasen/HBO
Jennifer Clasen/HBO

But in the end, the judge allowed Celeste to keep full custody of her children.

RELATED: Will Big Little Lies Return for Season 3? It’s ‘Not Realistic,’ HBO Executive Says

Meanwhile, Bonnie’s mom died, and she left Nathan (James Tupper); Renata took a baseball bat to her loser husband’s prized train collection and his chest; Madeline and Ed (Adam Scott) renewed their vows on the beach.

Finally, we saw Bonnie solemnly driving in the rain to the police station. Just as she pulled up, the rest of the women joined her, presumably turning themselves in.

Viewers had mixed reactions to the Five coming clean about everything they’d been trying to hide all season.

See some of the best tweets about the episode below:

The HBO series has not yet been renewed for a third season.