'Big Little Lies' Just Exposed So Many Secrets & The Biggest One Could Be Next

Spoilers ahead for Big Little Lies Season 2, Episode 2. We're only two weeks into Big Little Lies Season 2, but the Monterey Five's marriages are already beginning to crumble. In Sunday night's episode, not only does Ed find out about Madeline's affair with Joseph, but Renata learns her husband, Gordon, knowingly made a bad business deal and is now facing criminal charges. If Season 1 was about keeping secrets — Jane's assault, Celeste's abuse, Madeline's affair — then Season 2 is about exposing those secrets one by one. And it could be a sign that the truth about Perry's death won't be kept hidden for long.

Elsewhere in the episode, Celeste tells Mary Louise that Perry was abusive, and the truth about Perry being Ziggy's father comes out. Between that, Madeline, and Gordon, at this point, the only thing that hasn't been revealed is what happened to Perry the night he died — and if Mary Louise has anything to say about it, that secret will soon be uncovered, too.

It's not just that these secrets are coming out, though — it's how they're coming out and the consequences that they bring. For Renata and Madeline, these revelations have been devastating. Renata is facing losing her house and her money — as well as her marriage, if she can't find a way to forgive Gordon for what he's done to their family. Meanwhile Ed has told Madeline that they're "done here," and given how shaky their marriage was last year, he seems gravely serious. These two women could lose everything, even without the truth about Perry being unveiled.

Jane's life, too, has been severely shaken by Ziggy and the other kids finding out that Perry was his father. Jane harbored the secret of her assault for years, afraid of how others would judge her and not yet able to find the words to explain what happened to young Ziggy. Now, however, she's forced to do just that — a heartbreaking moment, and further proof that nothing stays a secret in this town for very long. If it were up to her, Jane might never have shared the details of Ziggy's conception with the tight-knit community of Monterey. Sadly, it reached the point where it was no longer her choice.

It's how Celeste's secret is revealed, however, that is perhaps the most significant: whereas the other women's secrets were inadvertently outed, Celeste made a deliberate choice to open up about Perry's abuse to Mary Louise. What took her a year to say out loud in Season 1 takes a week in Season 2, and it shows just how much progress she's made in confronting her trauma. After months of listening to Mary Louise hail Perry as a perfect man, it seems that Celeste can no longer keep silent — no matter how much suspicion and disbelief she'll now have to face from her mother-in-law.

Could this foreshadow the path that Bonnie will take in Season 2? Right now, Bonnie's guilt over what happened with Perry is making her pull away from everyone: Nathan, her friends, and certainly the watchful eye of her visiting mother. Bonnie is suffering deeply, and may decide that the relief of telling the truth outweighs the risks — just as Celeste did. Either way, this season has shown how difficult it is to keep secrets in Monterey. Given that five increasingly distraught women know the secret about Perry, how much longer will it be before someone lets it slip?

Even in his death, Perry continues to wreak havoc on the town: the Monterey Five's relationships are in shambles, Mary Louise is stirring up trouble and asking questions, and even their children are whispering amongst themselves. Now more than ever, Monterey's picture perfect facade can't contain the secrets and lies kept within: for the price of keeping Perry's death a mystery, it seems every other secret they have will rise to the surface. And judging from this week, not every family will be able to handle what comes out.