Kill Me

## Navigation

"**Kill Me**" is the fifth episode of the second season of *Big Little Lies*. It is the twelfth episode of the series overall. It was released on July 7, 2019 on HBO.

## Premise

Renata deals with the fallout from Gordon's legal troubles and attempts to help Celeste. Bonnie relives painful memories of her mother.

## Synopsis

In this episode, Celeste is dealing with Mary Louise in the fight for custody of her twin boys. She meets with a lawyer, although Celeste isn't too pleased with her lawyer since she isn't very aggressive. Celeste insists on full custody of the twins and won't lean in to Mary Louise's request for partial or full custody. They decide to fight it out in court.

Celeste is devastated by the custody battle and looks to her friends for advice. Renata offers to help talk to Mary Louise in hopes that Mary Louise will drop the suit. Renata then invites Mary Louise to tea, who happily accepts under the assumption that it's just a friendly tea to chat. Mary Louise quickly realizes that Renata has other intentions.

Meanwhile in Renata's life, she was supposed to be on a magazine's list of most powerful women in the world, but her name was withdrawn from the list in regard to Gordon's legal troubles. Renata is furious. In addition, their house is completely empty because they had to sell all of their nice furniture to battle the bankruptcy.

At the school, Ziggy gets bullied by a kid who says that he was "a mistake." Max and Josh run to defend their brother, and the bully then turns on them exclaiming that their dad, Perry, was a rapist. The boys are furious and all three of them gang up on the bully and beat him up. They get suspended for several days because the bully had to go to the hospital. Celeste and Jane take this opportunity to spend some quality time with their boys, kayaking.

Madeline and Ed go to a very cheesy couple's retreat. They leave, laughing about how awful it was, and Ed finally opens up completely to Madeline about how he feels. He feels that he was a safe backup, who Madeline was sure would never hurt her, and he believes that's the only reason she married him. Madeline says that she has loved him more than anyone in her life and she promises she will never cheat again.

Celeste realizes that with the custody trial, she will be expected to go on trial and swear the truth or risk perjury. She believes that she might be questioned about Perry's death, which in turn could risk everything – lying under oath means she could lose the boys, but telling the truth means she would expose Bonnie and the truth about his death. The girls all decide to stick together and keep their story, because this way no one will get hurt. They are all worried.

Bonnie goes to visit her mother frequently in the hospital, as she recovers from her stroke. She has some intense encounters and disputes with her father during this time. She returns home from the hospital to find a treadmill, a present from Nathan who knows she loves running.

Renata decides to pull Amabella out of school to have a mother-daughter day, being conscious about the accusations from Mary Louise about her not spending enough time with her kid because she was a working mom for so many years.

At the end of the episode, Bonnie's at the police station, pondering whether to enter – when who should walk out but Corey, who seems to spot her as he exits.

## Credits

### Cast

* Reese Witherspoon as Madeline Mackenzie
* Nicole Kidman as Celeste Wright
* Shailene Woodley as Jane Chapman
* Laura Dern as Renata Klein
* Zoë Kravitz as Bonnie Carlson
* Adam Scott as Ed Mackenzie
* James Tupper as Nathan Carlson
* Jeffrey Nordling as Gordon Klein
* Kathryn Newton as Abigail Carlson
* Iain Armitage as Ziggy Chapman
* with Alexander Skarsgård as Perry Wright
* and Meryl Streep as Mary Louise Wright

**Also Starring**
* P.J. Byrne as Principal Nippal
* Becky Ann Baker as Judge Marylin Cipriani
* Darby Camp as Chloe Mackenzie
* Cameron Crovetti as Josh Wright
* Nicholas Crovetti as Max Wright
* Martin Donovan as Martin Howard
* Merrin Dungey as Detective Adrienne Quinlan
* Crystal Fox as Elizabeth Howard
* Ivy George as Amabella Klein
* Poorna Jagannathan as Katie Richmond
* Denis O'Hare as Ira Farber
* Douglas Smith as Corey Brockfield
* Sarah Sokolovic as Tori Bachman
* Mike Bradecich as Carl Swallow
* Santiago Cabrera as Joseph Bachman
* Feodor Chin as Kevin
* Chloe Coleman as Skye Carlson
* Mykal-Michelle Harris as Young Bonnie
* Will Hawkes as Esalen Husband
* Khalilah Joi as Young Elizabeth
* Bellina Logan as Mindy
* Paul Nygro as Kevin's Partner
* Benjamin Plessala as Brian
* Melinda Ratner as Esalen Wife
* Travis Schuldt as Michael Something
* Eliza Shin as Vice Prinicipal Coolidge
* Deb Snyder as Marsha
* Tim True as Detective Walt Gibson(archive footage)

#### Cast Notes

* Becky Ann Baker (Judge Marylin Cipriani) and Poorna Jagannathan (Katie Richmond) make their first appearances and are billed as Also Starring.
* Mike Bradecich (Carl Swallow), Feodor Chin (Kevin), Will Hawkes (Esalen Husband), Bellina Logan (Mindy), Paul Nygro (Kevin's Partner), Benjamin Plessala (Brian), Melinda Ratner (Esalen Wife), and Deb Snyder (Marsha) make their only appearances and are billed as Co-Starring.
* Travis Schuldt (Michael Something) makes his first appearance and is billed as Co-Starring.
* Tim True (Detective Walt Gibson) makes an appearance in archive footage only.
* P.J. Byrne (Principal Nippal) makes his final appearance.
* Santiago Cabrera (Joseph Bachman) and Eliza Shin (Vice Principal Coolidge) make their final appearances.

## Gallery

### Videos

Season 2 Episode 5 PromoEd Rejects Nathan's Apology (Season 2 Episode 5 Clip)

## Note

* In the opening credits, P.J. Byrne is erroneously credited above Becky Ann Baker, as Baker's name alphabetically precedes Byrne's, and should thus be credited before him.

## Episode Guide

 **Season 2** | "What Have They Done?" **·** "Tell-Tale Hearts" **·** "The End of the World""She Knows" **·** "**Kill Me**" **·** "The Bad Mother" **·** "I Want to Know"

## References

1. ↑ *Big Little Lies* 12: Kill Me | HBO
2. ↑ Search Results | HBO