Big Little Truths

Madeline learns that the lump in her breast is a benign cyst. Overwhelmed with relief, she turns to plans for her daughter Abigail’s wedding. However, Ed reveals that he has been diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The cancer is widespread, and he will need extensive treatment. Madeline is devastated. 

In the counselling session narrative, Chloe recalls her parents telling her the news about Ed’s cancer. The news was very upsetting and distracted her from telling them about the man at the café.

Celeste arranges for the cars to be returned; Mary-Louise and her sons, especially Josh, are furious with her. Josh refuses to go to school for a week, claiming to be sick but offering no details. Celeste feels powerless, unable to physically force her teenage son to do anything. She pleads with Josh to open up to her, and asks him about the incident at the restaurant, suggesting that him telling Max not to hurt her implies he remembers their father’s abuse. Josh denies remembering anything but admits he hates Perry and cannot stand it when Mary-Louise compares him to his father.

At the high school, Quinlan continues to investigate. When he asks to see the box in which the finger arrived, he and the school staff notice a new detail. The finger was packaged inside a box, resting in a cutout labeled with the name Melody Montclair.

In the counselling session narrative, the teens explain that the school was aware of a man harassing students. They try to recall if Dr. Seawright sent out a campus-wide warning about a man approaching students but get distracted mocking him for a mishap where he sent a personal email to the entire school. The parents What’s App group also mocked the principal for the same mistake.

Ed begins chemo, and the community rallies to support him and Madeline. However, Madeline is overwhelmed by trying to support him, her mother, and Abigail’s wedding plans. While Madeline accompanies Ed to an appointment, Jane and Bonnie meet at her house to complete some chores. As they work, Bonnie confides to Jane that Skye has been angry with her ever since learning (at the birthday party) about Bonnie’s role in Perry’s death. Bonnie then makes a startling confession: She admits that when she pushed Perry, she intended to kill him. She alludes to her childhood, watching her father abuse her mother, and how it enraged her to realize that Perry was abusing Celeste. 

Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Chloe, Skye, and Amabella, who have skipped school and are vaping. When Bonnie demands to know where the girls got the vapes from, they are evasive, but Jane notices that they look at her strangely. 

In the counselling session narrative, the teens recount the same afternoon. They explain that as they were leaving school, they noticed a man sitting in a car outside of the school and recognized him as the same man who watched them at the birthday party. They waved at him and nicknamed him “Pedo Pete.” However, in the confrontation about the vapes, they didn’t bother to tell Jane or Bonnie.

While accompanying Ed to chemotherapy, Madeline receives a text from Bonnie. Bonnie informs her that Skye, Chloe and Amabella were caught skipping school and vaping; she has forbidden Skye from seeing the two other girls until she can figure out what is causing her daughter’s rebellious behavior. Madeline is irritated with Bonnie, reflecting that she protected Bonnie after Perry’s death and that she thinks Bonnie is being too strict by forbidding Skye from seeing Chloe. Ed interrupts by mentioning a community warning about a man approaching local girls, but Madeline dismisses it, confident Chloe can handle herself.

Detective Quinlan questions Dr. Seawright about his relationship with Melody Montclair. Seawright insists their relationship is purely professional. He suggests that the finger could perhaps connected to the man who approached students after all. He looks up the email he sent out months earlier: in it, he cautioned the school community that a man had been spotted lingering near the school and talking with female students. He also linked the warning to the length of the girls’ school uniforms, sparking criticism from both students and parents.

After confronting the teen girls at Madeline’s home, Jane suspects that Ziggy got them the vapes. Back home, she and Tom search Ziggy’s room and discover a shoebox filled with vapes and a ledger tracking his sales. When Ziggy returns home and finds them, he violently slams his door and runs off. Tom tries to calm Jane by sharing a story of his own teenage anger, but Jane is terrified by her son’s outburst and the realization that he has a secret life she knows nothing about.

In the narrative from the teens, they express how upsetting they found it when their parents violated their privacy.

Celeste, Renata and Bonnie attend a talk about communicating with teenagers. The lecture is unhelpful, but Celeste becomes intrigued by a handsome man in the audience. They exchange a brief, charged smile. The man asks the speaker about how to know if a child’s sudden withdrawal is normal or the result of a traumatic event. Celeste is disappointed when he leaves before the lecture ends.

On their wedding anniversary, Jane and Tom have dinner at a local restaurant. They encounter Melody Montclair and her husband, Seth. Jane notices that Seth is strikingly handsome and significantly younger than Melody. Afterwards, Tom confronts Jane about having another child, asking her to give him a clear answer. Jane finds herself overwhelmed by memories of the sexual assault that led to Ziggy’s conception and the traumatic birth. Jane finally admits she is not willing to have another baby. The confession devastates Tom. Upset, Jane leaves the table, meeting Melody’s eyes as she flees the restaurant. 

In the counselling session narrative, the teens recall that they saw Seth a few times and noticed that he was very attractive.

Celeste talks on the phone with Perry’s sister, Adele (who lives in Dubai). Adele expresses worries that her mother, Mary-Louise, may be developing dementia. Adele cites Mary-Louise’s erratic behavior, such as buying the cars and failing to pay bills. Most alarmingly, Adele reports that Mary-Louise has become fixated on Bonnie (who pushed Perry to his death). Mary-Louise claims Bonnie has never apologized and has been making strange jokes about knowing mobsters who could handle the situation for her. The call leaves Celeste deeply unsettled.

Madeline runs into Bonnie while grocery shopping. Bonnie apologizes for overreacting to the vaping incident and banning Skye from seeing Chloe. Both women now know that Ziggy was the one who supplied the girls with the vapes. They reconcile and have coffee together. They discuss Abigail’s engagement and confirm that they are both suspicious of Abigail’s fiancé. 

Bonnie also confides that Skye has become distant and hostile ever since learning about her involvement in Perry’s death. She worries she is losing her daughter. Madeline, drawing on her experience raising Abigail, reassures Bonnie that this is normal teenage behavior. Nonetheless, Bonnie continues to worry and reflects that perhaps her strained relationship with Skye is her punishment for killing Perry.

Jane, Celeste, and Melody linger after their workout class. Jane thanks Melody for comforting her after she and Tom argued at the restaurant. She confides that her marriage has been strained ever since she told Tom that she is not going to have another baby. Celeste admits that she cannot persuade Josh to go to school and Melody offers to talk to him. Celeste gratefully accepts.

The narrative switches to the counselling session narrative, and Josh recounts the meeting with Melody. He explains that Melody helped him feel more relaxed, and he began attending school regularly.

Madeline endures a challenging day. At her event planning job, an entitled bride cancels her wedding at the last minute and threatens her. Simultaneously, her mother calls to and reveals she has fallen for a scam. Messages flood in: Chloe is in trouble at school; Renata’s mother has died; and Ed texts that he has a high fever, a dangerous sign during chemo. Overwhelmed by the barrage of crises, Madeline finally breaks down in her office just as Abigail arrives to discuss wedding plans.

In the aftermath of her terrible day, Madeline’s family rallies. Abigail’s fiancé rushes to Madeline’s mother’s house and stops the scam just in time. Meanwhile, Ed is admitted to the hospital with a fever and a critically low white blood cell count. When he is neglected during a shift change, Madeline creates a scene, demanding immediate attention. Her outburst works, and Ed gets prompt medical attention.

Detective Quinlan continues his investigation. The severed finger is sent to a forensics lab, and he drives to Melody Montclair’s home, as she has not been answering her phone. A colleague from the Organized Crime Squad responds to Quinlan’s inquiry about a local gangster; the gangster is not in the area and there is no connection to Pirriwee High School. The colleague mentions that his daughter cancelled her wedding a few months earlier (this was the woman who became irate with Madeline).

Celeste takes the boys to Sunday lunch at Mary-Louise’s house. Mary-Louise mentions that she knows the wife of the man who is involved in organized crime, while the twins discuss knowing a girl who lives next door to someone who was recently killed in gang-related violence. Aware that her family suspects she has dementia, Mary-Louise mocks the standard cognitive tests but also behaves erratically during the lunch, leaving Celeste confused.