“Little Fires Everywhere” Makes Big Problems for Everyone

Reese Witherspoon’s latest showcase feels repetitive and sophomoric

Ever since the season finale of HBO’s widely popular television series “Big Little Lies,” Reese Witherspoon fans everywhere have a burning question: what has our favorite woman been up to? The answer is just as fiery. 

Premiering on Mar. 18, 2020, the same day as the Bay Area’s official shelter in place commencement, “Little Fires Everywhere” marks the next step in Witherspoon’s quest to dominate the prestige television scene

The series takes place in the suburban, ultra-white town of Shaker Heights, Ohio during the 1990s. It’s the kind of town where every car has a bumper sticker that says, “Proud parent of an honor roll student!” They even have a six-inch limit for the height of your front lawn. It is picket fence perfection and home to Elena Richardson, the main character played by Witherspoon, and her quintessential nuclear family. 

Based on Celeste Ng’s novel of the same name, Witherspoon and her production company Hello Sunshine adapted “Little Fires Everywhere” to give Witherspoon another moment in the spotlight. And while she is undeniably a talented actress, her place in this series is questionable.

One glaring issue is the blatant disregard for Elena’s character. In the book, she is Asian-American, yet she is played by Reese Witherspoon, who is white, in this adaptation. Not to mention, Witherspoon’s production company is the same one that produced “Big Little Lies,” and it is apparent in the same way that both shows start. Both shows start in media res with a dramatic crime and no known perpetrator. The show then goes back in time leading up to the crime. There is definitely a repetitive blueprint in use here.

Enter Mia Warren, played by Kerry Washington and her daughter Pearl, played by Lexi Underwood. They shake up Shaker Heights to say the least. Mia is a single mom and tortured artist with a burning secret. Meanwhile, Pearl is a brilliant writer and student, and unlike her mother, she wants to fit in with and get closer to the Richardsons. 

Mia lives her life on her own terms. She is passionately consumed by her art, sometimes forgetting the needs of her own daughter. On the other hand, Elena gave up her dreams of being a big-time journalist and seemingly puts the needs of her family before her own. Naturally, Mia and Elena could not be more different. 

Their fundamental differences in parenting styles and ethics prime the two for searing disagreement. At first, their disdain for each other boils beneath the surface, with Elena making snide remarks about the frivolity of Mia’s art “career,” and Mia befriending Elena’s black sheep daughter. Finally, this tension erupts with the emergence of a custody battle over Bebe Chow's biological daughter—currently the adopted daughter of Elena’s friend Linda. 

The war over Bebe’s baby represents Elena’s and Mia’s principal dispute over what makes a good mother, one of the central themes the series explores. The show does an excellent job at portraying the variations in parenting styles, but does not outwardly value one over the other. 

Mia and Pearl are black and the Richardson’s are white. It is 1990s America, and people are just learning to be politically correct and sensitive to each other. While the book itself covers issues of racism, motherhood, and socioeconomic divisions in an understated, more tasteful way, the show really amps up these tensions for the drama factor. So much so that viewers can feel the awkward tension when suburbanite Elena squirms at the thought of the Vagina Monologues being read at her book club, and her eventual refusal to use the word “vagina” at all. But instead of this awkwardness serving the story, it all feels overdone and cartoonish. 

While the show’s central storyline is gripping, the characters themselves leave little to be desired. The show’s revelations about Elena and Mia’s pasts are more surprising than their actual growth. The shock-factor of these surprises in contrast with the present fail to make for meaningful growth.Elena and Mia are the same people they were when they were in college.