'Big Little Lies' recap: 'Push Comes to Shove' 

Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgard, Laura Dern

This week’s episode is titled “Push Comes to Shove,” or, the alternate version: “When the S— Hits the Fan.”

Okay, what is happening in Monterey? Ed just turned into an Elvis-crooning creeper; Madeline is making out with her theater director, whom she’s apparently canoodled with before. (I do believe that’s the first time I’ve ever written the word canoodle, but hey, BLL inspires strange things in all of us). Celeste is getting all lawyer-y in the most gorgeous $4,000 suit you’ve ever seen, and Jane is literally about to jump off a cliff.

We’ll begin this episode with Madeline, the complicated stay-at-home mother who is struggling with the lack of control she now has over her teenage daughter, who’s just moved in with her ex-husband. The episode begins with Madeline driving to have lunch with Nathan — flashing back to Abigail leaving home while Alabama Shakes’ “The Feeling” plays in the background. She’s there to lambaste him for canceling Abigail’s SAT tutoring sessions. And even though he doesn’t know how to say the word “chasms,” which I found hilarious, she agrees to a dinner with Bonnie and Nathan to discuss their “transitional parenting paradigm.”

This was the moment we got to watch yet another BLL man turn on his rage — Nathan freaking out about being criticized for his shortcomings, clearly the reason he ran out on Madeline all those years ago. And the pain he feels having to carry Bonnie’s water. I think his idea of shoving an electric eel up his ass isn’t half bad. As much as this miniseries examines the challenges of these women, often in a very sympathetic and generous manner, the men here are not treated in similar fashion. That in itself makes this show feel unique.

Now when we talk about Madeline, we have to talk about Ed. Just when I said he wins the prize for best husband on BLL, he loses it. Sure, his duet with Chloe to Elvis’ “Pocket Full of Dreams” was super cute, but it’s not enough to redeem him for his love of costume dress up. Hey may be Madeline’s “nut job,” but the whole matter is giving his beard a bad name. Add in his scene at Bonnie’s Piloxing class, peering through the window and then muttering, “I love sweat on women,” and he’s falling fast in my eyes. Then he calls Bonnie “a seemingly perfect step-mom,” and takes a creepy side-glance at the women walking into the studio, and he becomes yet another typical man. So disappointing.

But maybe that’s because Madeline is making out with her theater director. Sure, the guy is hot. The hair alone tops Ed’s immediately, but I wasn’t expecting Madeline to be the one to walk out on that marriage, considering she was previously left.

Did you all feel the same? And though I loved her confession to Celeste, including the “I might have grabbed his ass,” moment, things turned quickly when he showed up unexpectedly to confront Madeline. You could feel stalker all over it, and the exciting, spontaneous moment suddenly turned into something with much graver consequences. Will Joseph Bachman (Santiago Cabrera) blow up the MacKenzie family? We’ve got three more episodes to find out.

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